Tuesday 16 March 2021

In Praise Of Meatloaf

In the 60s, when I watched American 'family' TV shows [Beverley Hillbillies, Dick Van Dyke, Bewitched, Green Acres...] the 'Moms' served meatloaf all the time, usually with beef. It didn't seem to feature much on English meal tables though. Occasionally my Mum would buy haslet from the butchers- which was a similar thing- minced pork, onions and breadcrumbs, usually sliced and served cold with potatoes and veg, or put into sandwiches. [haslet was originally made with offal, and gets its name from hastilles - the French word for entrails]

It is an excellent inexpensive meal, and a good way to use up freezer contents. I didn't have any beef mince, but there was a large yellow-stickered pack of turkey mince needing to be consume, and a tub of breadcrumbs. I took the recipe here as a base, and discussed the project with Bob over breakfast. We agreed there were problems with using the turkey mince

  • it can be a little bland and flavourless
  • it has less fat than beef, so can be a little dry
  • there wasn't quite enough to make up the weight in the recipe.
I had one slice of black pudding left, so I decided to chop that up finely and mix it in to add flavour. I had some suet in the cupboard, and a tbsp of that would add extra fat. These two additions would bring the weight up to the required 1½ lbs. 
But I have packed my loaf tins - so I created one with 4 sheets of tinfoil, shaped round a Tupperware box. I rolled and wrapped the corners firmly so it stayed in shape. Then I slid out the plastic box- and stood the 'tin' in 2 larger aluminium trays for stability.
It wasn't as deep as my loaf tin, but cooked beautifully alongside a couple of jacket spuds. It was shallower than my usual tin, and I served it straight from the pan, I didn't attempt to turn it out. But it was very tasty and served 6 generous portions.
In the 1980s I had Joscelyn Dimbleby's book which was an excellent source of thrifty recipes for all sorts of mince dishes. I have no idea where it went! But I definitely think it is time I started including meatloaf in my meal planning again. 
I am always amused by the fact that Meat Loaf, the singer, is a vegan!




15 comments:

  1. I've never had it. I do like mince and as well as spaghetti Bolognese, Mum used to make Brat Stew which was beef mince with peas, corn and other veg chopped up. I LOVED it.

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  2. I think I made meatloaf once, and once disappointed. I am wholly convinced that this reflects badly only on my own culinary abilities! Maybe I should return to it at this time of insatiable teenage boy appetites.

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  3. I am impressed by your ingenuity. I regularly make a meatloaf recipe from an old M and S cookery book which combines Turkey mince and a pack of stuffing mix made up with boiling water- the ones with cranberry and chestnuts are particularly good. I serve this with a tomato sauce made with a tin of chopped tomatoes. Good luck with your move. I have just discovered your blog while looking for material for an end of Lent course service acgroup of us are putting together
    Deb

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    1. Hi Deb - I like the idea of using stuffing mix instead of breadcrumbs. Glad you have found the blog. You can find all our church 2021 Lent material here - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU3xP9Vv-XFxYAXDs2hw43A

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  4. I love meatloaf and usually use a combination of ground beef and pork. I do have a great recipe for a turkey meatloaf that uses diced onion and green apple - cooked - combined with marjoram and sage and added to the turkey & breadcrumbs (soaked in milk for more moisture). I top it with any kind of chutney (but prefer peach or mango) and then bake it. It is especially good served cold.

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    1. I've never topped it with a chutney, usually tomato sauce. The mango sounds delicious

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    2. Tomato sauce when it's ground meat - chutney when it's turkey.

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  5. When I met my OH he was vegetarian and a Meatloaf fan. This song became "our song". We went to see Meatloaf at Sheffield Arena in the 90's and it was awful! We nearly left at half time but I objected to having forked out a small fortune for the tickets and not getting my money's worth so we stayed until the bitter end!
    We ate a lot of nutloaf (M&S a favourite) during the early 90's but meatloaf is something I always intended to make and never have.

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    1. I never really got on with nutloaf/roast. To have 'Bat out of Hell' as your song is quite...unusual, to say the least!

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  6. We love meatloaf here, served for dinner or sliced cold as a sandwich filling. I put either oatmeal or stuffing mix in mine and chuck in as many herbs or spices as I fancy, even curry powder. I top with a long squirt of ketchup and bake. Recently I tried mixing ground turkey with ground sausage and it is good. Will be making that for dinner tonight as I have my second Moderna Covid shot tomorrow and may not feel like fixing meals the next day.

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    1. I hope your vaccination goes ok. Curry in a meatloaf is another interesting twist.

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  7. I'm very impressed with your "loaf pan", but, meatloaf can be formed on a baking sheet/tray, as well. :)

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    1. Don't laugh - I have packed all the baking sheets! I should have kept one back I know - but then I used it to make a lid for one of my packing boxes!

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