Making Your Meat Loaf!!

[+ Gar1eth]

Uh oh- I meant "Making A Meat Loaf". Please get your minds out of the gutter -if they were that is. ??

 

So I've been saying I was going to do it forever. And I finally did. It's in the oven cooking now. Here's the recipe in case anyone is interested. I got it from my Mom.

 

 

****

 

Ingredients:

COOK 75 MINUTES @ 350 F

 

2 pounds ground beef

 

2 eggs beaten

 

2 cups soft bread crumbs

 

1/4th cup minced onion

 

1 Tablespoon Horseradish

 

2 tsp Salt

 

1/4th cup milk

 

1/4th cup ketchup

 

1/2 tsp dry mustard

 

2 to 4 slices bacon to top

 

 

Directions:

 

1. Add eggs to meat and blend lightly.

 

2. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

 

3. Shape into oval.

 

4. Spread ketchup on top.

 

5. Put 2 to 4 bacon slices on top over ketchup.

 

6. Place in shallow pan.

 

7. Cook 75 minutes at 350 F

 

Variation-- Cook in ring mold. Fill center with mashed potatoes when serving.

 

****

Mom never made the mashed potatoes variation. And I don't think she ever put in horseradish.

 

I had to make two substitutions when I was concocting this.

 

1. I couldn't find my dry mustard. I think I have some. But I was in too much of a hurry because I have to get to what I laughingly call my job. So looking up a substitute, I find that you can use 1 tablespoon of Dijon Mustard for 1 tsp of dry. My Dijon was old-but still probably good. But to be safe I used some new Spicy Brown Mustard I had just bought. I went ahead and used a whole tablespoon instead of the 1/2 tablespoon the conversion called for.

 

2. I discovered my bread crumbs were actually rice. By mistake I had picked up gluten free crumbs. ?

 

I don't know about y'all. But I hate the feel of mixing ground beef together. It gets under my fingernails-ugh. So I wore my "protect-me-from Covid-19" blue gloves while mixing the meat.

 

 

I don't know why I never used gloves years ago which is the last time I made a meatloaf.

 

 

Here's a picture of the loaf in the raw.

 

 

 

 

I'm running late. So I'll share the finished product late this evening. But I have to tell you that the house is smelling incredible right now.

 

Gman

 

PS: The internal temperature of the loaf should be 160 degree Fahrenheit. That's 71.1 C for @mike carey and the rest of you outside the good old US of A.

 

PPS: The original recipe called for adding something like 1/2 pound of ground pork to 1-1/2 pounds ground beef. But Mom never used pork.

 

PPPS: I used dried minced onions from a bottle rather than cutting up some onions due to time constraints. I probably should have moistened them and allowed them to expand. But I didn't. I just measured out 1/4 of a cup of the dry minced onions and mixed it in. I don't think it will hurt anything.

 

Affectionately to all my fellow cooks, I remain your ....

 

Gman

Edited May 17, 2020 by Gar1eth

[+ Gar1eth]

Well I didn't start this quite in time. I'm going to be late for work. So might as well share the finished product now.

 

Taaaa Daaaaa!!

 

Photo courtesy of G. Man

Food Stylist: G. Man

 

Gman

Edited May 17, 2020 by Gar1eth

[+ azdr0710]

Everybody's Mom made meat loaf, I presume, and there are probably as many recipes and tricks as there are Moms. We had meat loaf fairly regularly and it was always made the same way and always tasted great.

[Epigonos]

I like, many others here, grew up on meat loaf and I love it to this day. I think my mother was the only person I've ever known who didn't top the meat loaf with ketchup. She always topped it with an undiluted can of “Dawn Fresh by Giorgio Mushroom Steak Sauce”. I still make it that way today. I do, however, put ketchup on it before eating it. Mother always served meat loaf with baked potatoes and string beans cooked with bacon. Don’t ask me why but the one thing I NEVER do is order meat loaf in a restaurant.

[MikeBiDude]

One of my favorite post in an older meat loaf thread: (thanks @deej )

https://m4m-forum.org/threads/meatloaf.121794/post-1232099

[thickornotatall]

Well I didn't start this quite in time. I'm going to be late for work. So might as well share the finished product now.

 

Taaaa Daaaaa!!

 

Photo courtesy of G. Man

Food Stylist: G. Man

 

Gman

I tried to rate "applause"...I make meat loaf every other week...sort of the same recipe....I use applesauce for moisture...2 raw eggs...1/2 cup milk...Italian bread crumbs....Lipton onion soup....always served with my famous mashed potatoes....green beans...carrots...dessert is always lemon meringue pie....

[MikeBiDude]

My mom’s was the Quaker Oats Classic

[+ oldNbusted]

I like to put my meat in a sling!!

 

Meatloaf on a sling

 

It lets the excess fat run away, so the loaf doesn't end up in a puddle..

 

I also like a meat mixture, so it doesn't end up tasting like a giant hamburger, and panko bread crumbs, I follow this recipe.

 

1770 Meatloaf

[thickornotatall]

I like to put my meat in a sling!!

 

Meatloaf on a sling

 

It lets the excess fat run away, so the loaf doesn't end up in a puddle..

 

I also like a meat mixture, so it doesn't end up tasting like a giant hamburger, and panko bread crumbs, I follow this recipe.

 

1770 Meatloaf

3 parts ground beef to 1 part ground pork....

[MikeBiDude]

I like to put my meat in a sling!!

 

Meatloaf on a sling

 

It lets the excess fat run away, so the loaf doesn't end up in a puddle..

 

I also like a meat mixture, so it doesn't end up tasting like a giant hamburger, and panko bread crumbs, I follow this recipe.

 

1770 Meatloaf

I love that meat trio, especially ground veal, yum!

[+ oldNbusted]

3 parts ground beef to 1 part ground pork....

 

I don't say no to some lamb, either...

[Guest]

I don't know if this makes anyone's lists...

[+ Charlie]

Meatloaf is my signature dish (well, OK, it's really my only dish). I like the mix of beef and lamb, when I can get ground lamb. I use Campbells' Golden Mushroom soup for moisture, chopped onions, and Worcestershire sauce. I hate ketchup on meatloaf.

[cany10011]

I made meatloaf yesterday... similar to the OPs. I made a few substitutions: homemade sourdough breadcrumbs pulsed in food processor and caramelized onions, and some honey bbq sauce glaze on top. Delicious.

[+ azdr0710]

I've pretty much entirely eliminated ketchup from my diet.....too much sugar

 

my Mom used barbecue sauce and Worcestershire sauce, I think, in her meatloaf........never ketchup........somehow (?), ketchup seems too pedestrian and plain for a great dish like meatloaf

[CuriousByNature]

For added umami flavour I like to chop a portabello mushroom quite finely like you are making a duxelle, and saute in olive oil with a bit of thyme and garlic. Let it cool and add it to the meat mixture.

[+ Axiom2001]

I haven't made meatloaf in some years, but if I were to do it today-- I'd use ground turkey and alter a few ingredients.

[+ bashful]

Instead of bread crumbs, half crushed no salt top saltines, half oatmeal for binder. Rest of ingredients depends on my mood.

[craigville beach]

i make a ground turkey meatloaf and use stuffing mix as the filler adding in: onions and carrots.

[mike carey]

I made a meatloaf last week for the first time in years. It didn't go all that well, nice enough but could have been better. The previous one I made had pistachios and cranberries in it (I forget what sort of meat, pork and veal I think) and that was great. I must try to find the recipe again! Although the mixture as a whole on this latest one wasn't the best, one part I will repeat is using rolled oats as the filler. Lining the loaf tin with streaky bacon with the ends of the rashers on top of the meatloaf would appear to be essential.

[Epigonos]

My mother always crushed the old fashioned "soda" crackers and used that for the binder. She never added pork or veal - always just beef. She topped the meat loaf with "streaky" bacon for flavor and added fat.

Languages differences have always been a major interest to me, especially the vocabulary differences between English speaking countries. I've always found it interesting that what we U.S. barbarians call bacon the rest of the English speaking world calls streaky bacon. Plus what we call Canadian Bacon the rest of the English speaking world calls bacon.

[CuriousByNature]

I made a meatloaf last week for the first time in years. It didn't go all that well, nice enough but could have been better. The previous one I made had pistachios and cranberries in it (I forget what sort of meat, pork and veal I think) and that was great. I must try to find the recipe again! Although the mixture as a whole on this latest one wasn't the best, one part I will repeat is using rolled oats as the filler. Lining the loaf tin with streaky bacon with the ends of the rashers on top of the meatloaf would appear to be essential.

Mmmmm.... Pistachios can make almost anything good ?

[RM]

My mom didn't use Ketchup. She used 1 can tomato sauce, 2 tbsp. ground onion (actually 1/2 onion) 1/4 teaspoon each thyme, nutmeg, celery seed, allspice, and chili pepper - boil and pour over meatloaf. Her recipe also included 1/4 teaspoon mace, but she never had any. I think this was grandma's recipe. Maybe I should make meatloaf sometime. My sister does, in the microwave nowadays.