cooking @ home

There are so many combinations of meatloaf in the world. Use 100 percent beef. No, use beef and pork. No, has to be the tri-meat combination of beef, pork and veal. No, it’s lamb as the third, not veal. You can use milk-soaked bread, big crouton things purchased or made yourself. You can use breadcrumbs. Nope, use the oats in oatmeal. With and without eggs. Mayonnaise as an extra binder; no way, hold the mayo. Gotta have some gravy. Gravy has to be brown. No, it’s gotta be tomato. No gravy anywhere; that ruins it. … And the list goes on and on.

And then, like myself, many cooks have more than one meatloaf. Why? Same as above. There’s so many ways to do it and there’s no one right way. In fact, it’s pretty tough to mess up. Hope all you newbie cooks are listening up. Meatloaf is many things: The perfect comfort food being one. And an excellent dish to start on if you’ve never or rarely cooked before.

I mentioned various meatloafs myself. I recall it being one of the first things I ever did, back around the age of 18 or 20. I followed the directions on the side of the Quaker Oats box, and yeah, oats, the stuff I would have for breakfast on freezing cold winter days here in Philadelphia, it actually worked. It was a pretty decent meatloaf as I recall.

Since then, who knows how many variations. Many of the early ones I would overcook and make too dry inside, and sometimes burn the glaze (if I remembered to have one, that is.) Sometimes myself I use the triple combination of meats, sometimes it’s all beef. Each has it’s own interesting characteristic and flavor from the other. I came up with another interesting variation about a year ago when I had a big jar of salsa left over after a party. It dawned on me, the ingredients were basically three I would normally use in a meatloaf: tomato, and red and green peppers. And yes, the jalapeno gave it a really nice kick, not too hot either. I’ll no doubt get to making that one later in the season and of course, when I do, I’ll publish it here complete with the requisite photos.

For this recipe, I decided to do a gravy. I don’t always do that. This time it was simple. I had a half pound of gorgeous pre-sliced mushrooms I picked up from the store and needed to do something with. While a vegetable or chicken ratatouille came to mind, I knew with Thanksgiving days away, the last thing I needed in the fridge was going to be not one but two kinds of leftover poultry. In fact, each year the same thing happens. Before Thanksgiving you can’t wait to “get to the bird”, and days later you get tired of eating turkey and turkey and turkey. One of the best things I know is to get around that — besides creative leftovers, I mean — is to vary the leftover meals by having something beefy to switch off from. Meatloaf will work perfectly.

So, that meant I knew what I was going to do with my mushrooms, make a chunky gravy with them. I decided to go for the creamy and the wine version. Yes, it is more of a contrasting gravy than a complementary one, but I think it still works. That said, no, this meatloaf — and this new glaze I tried on it, big yums! — does in no way need the gravy. It’s got a bit of crispness on the outside and it’s moist inside. So, feel free to skip the gravy by all means, you will not miss it. On the other hand, if you want to treat yourself to something extra, something involving mushrooms, heavy cream and wine, I say go for it. You’re worth it.

     

Meatloaf with Tomato-Balsmic Glaze and Creamy Mushroom Gravy
©2007 Harry Kenney

Meatloaf:

2 lbs combination of ground beef, veal, pork

2/3 cup green pepper, cut finely
2/3 cup red pepper, cut finely
2/3 cup onion. cut finely
3 cloves garlic, cut into slivers
2 tbsps worchesterhire sauce
1 1/2 tbsps soy sauce
dash of hot sauce
2/3 cup grated parmegan
1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1 egg, whipped slightly
1/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup dijon
to taste:
salt
pepper
garlic powder
onion powder

Tomato-Balsamic Glaze

1/2 cup ketchup
4 tbsps balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp worchestershire
dash garlic powder
dash onion powder
2 tbsps light brown sugar

Creamy Mushroom Gravy

8 oz sliced button mushrooms
1 cup beef stock
1 cup red wine, Merlot
1/2 pint heavy cream
1/4 tsp corn starch
to taste:
salt
pepper
garlic powder

Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix all of the meatloaf ingredients well and by hand in a large bowl. Free-form into a loaf, place on baking sheet and put into oven.

Mix ingredients for glaze and apply to meatloaf, half-way through cooking (the 30-minute mark), covering the top and letting some spill down the sides.

For the gravy, medium heat, oil in pan, a light dusting of garlic powder in the oil, dump in the mushrooms, and cook well until browned, stirring often. Toss in the beef stock, mix, two minutes later toss in the cream and the wine. Reduce by at half to a third. Season. Add cornstarch. Let thicken and reduce until you get a nice gravy consistency.

Meatloaf should be done after one full hour. Check to make sure glaze is not getting burnt, and use a meat thermometer to check for doneness. Serve gravy a top of or on the side of the meatloaf. Makes 6-8 servings.

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