Was there something in the water this week? Did the meatloaf lobby inject our lakes and rivers with some sort of serum that induced mindless meatloaf cravings nationwide? On Monday, Jon had a discussion with Dave, a friend of his in Los Angeles, who was bragging about the meatloaf he made. During this discussion, I was at home making a delicious meatloaf of my own. And later in the week, Jon’s mom disclosed that she, too, made a great meatloaf this week.
The reason, I’m guessing, is the weather: when it finally gets cold, you seek comfort food. I was walking to the grocery store on Monday, thinking: “Ground turkey. Cheap. Hmmmm.” Then, it struck me that I should make meatloaf — something I had never made in my life. So I turned, of course, to Mark Bittman, author of How To Cook Everything, which is kind of like the Joy of Cooking, but for cool people. I usually use Bittman’s recipes as a guide for cooking times, but make adjustments as necessary. In this case, I followed the recipe pretty closely, but made a few important adjustments, which are noted below.
I think my most brilliant addition was the celery. If you’re making meatloaf, I would definitely encourage you to include the minced carrots and celery in addition to the onion. The extra vegetables add depth of flavor and keep the meat moist. Also, I would definitely recommend roasting the meatloaf in a large pan, surrounded by vegetables (potatoes, an onion cut into eighths, garlic cloves, brussel sprouts, Jerusalem artichokes), which will absorb the juices.
I would also encourage you to consult Alton Brown’s meatloaf recipe for seasoning ideas. He makes his own seasoned bread crumbs by combining croutons with chili powder and other spices. I just used bland breadcrumbs from the grocery store, but if I were feeling more ambitious I would certainly make my own.
First, here are the ingredients:
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup milk
2 lbs ground meat (Bittman suggests beef, lamb, veal, and/or pork, and reluctantly adds that you can use turkey or chicken instead. But I used half turkey, half beef, and as I mentioned, the meatloaf was amazingly deliciously great.)
1 egg, lightly beaten
Veggies and herbs: 2-3 minced garlic cloves, 1 small or medium onion, 1 small or medium carrot, 1 stalk celery, parsley (Bittman says 1/4 cup, I probably used 1/2 cup), and some other fresh herb. Bittman suggests Sage, which I’m sure is delicious, but I used rosemary because I had some in the freezer.
Salt (I would estimate two teaspoons but the key is to test your batter before making the loaf)
Pepper
Heat the oven to 35o or 375 degrees. Soak the breadcrumbs in milk for five minutes (this is Bittman’s direction, and I think it really helps keep the batter moist). Mince the carrots, onion, garlic, and celery. I used a mini-prep food processor — you could do it by hand but just make sure you get them really small, so they blend in with the meat. You don’t want to be munching on chunks of carrots. Then combine all the ingredients together in a large bowl.
Now, here’s the key: once the batter is thoroughly mixed, make a small meatball in a saucepan and taste it. If it’s not flavorful enough, add a bit more salt and pepper. I started with about one teaspoon of salt and then added another teaspoon after my meatball test. Then I tested the batter again. This may seem like an annoying step but it’s totally worth it.
Shape the meat into a free-form loaf, so it gets crispy on three sides instead of just one, and put it in a large pan. Surround it with bite-size potatoes, an onion cut into eighths, brussel sprouts, or any other vegetables you like to roast. Coat them with some olive oil, salt and pepper. I cooked the loaf for 50 minutes at 375 degrees and it was delicious. If you try it, let me know how it works out.
