Meat loaf is essentially a bake block of ground meat, spices, and other additives. Typical additives are eggs and some source of starch, which absorbs some of the meat juices to keep the loaf moist and acts as a binding to hold it together. Eery ingredient is easily substituted: different kinds of meat (ground beef, pork, turkey, sausage; if venison add a little oil or shortening), different spice combinations (Italian, poultry blend, Cajun, southwest, barbecue: I usually add something sweet along with such as ketchup, molasses, applesauce, or barbecue sauce), and different starches (instant potato flakes, crushed crackers, leftover mashed potatoes, oatmeal, crushed cereal flakes). The proportions can be varied fairly freely as well, although too lean a meat without some other source of moisture can result in dried out, easily burnt meat, and too little egg and starch will result in a crumbly loaf more appropriate for soup than slicing. Small vegetables can also be added (we usually add chopped onion and I've seen shredded carrot added by others) but they don't adhere well and most vegetables are better served at the side.
Here's one of my favorite combinations (all measurements approximate: I don't use measuring cups or spoons for this one:
1 lb ground turkey
1 lb spicy sausage (bulk, not cased)
1 finely chopped onion
1/4 c. catsup
2 T parsley
1 t powdered rosemary (less can be used with milder sausage such as breakfast or sage)
opt with milder sausage - 1/2 t. marjoram
1 egg
1/2 c. (5 or 6 squares) crackers, crushed (they can be crumbled by hand and don't require the fineness of mortar and pestel crushing)
Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Though it feels weird, it works best to squish the ingredients between your fingers until egg and cracker crumbs are well dispersed in the meat.
Press all ingredients into a loaf pan that has an insert for draining liquids. Alternatively, line the loaf pan with a small rack, roll the mean into a bread-like loaf, and drop onto the rack. Press very lightly to fill pan without pressing meat through the rack. (If no rack is available, a regular loaf pan or casserole dish will suffice but make sure the meat fills the pan no more than two third,s and remove the meat from the pan immediately upon completion of cooking.) Decorate the top with a little more ketchup. Bake at 375 or 400 for 30 to 45 min until meat pulls away from sides, ketchup is darkened, and cutting in the center reveals no pink or red meat. Lift from excess broth, slice, and serve. Depending on the sausage, the broth may be fairly fatty. Let cool, skim off fat, and pour through a fine sieve for a tasty broth that can be used with leftovers as a soup base.
For a more tame but still belly-warming meatloaf, use a mild sausage or unseasoned ground beef or pork instead of the sausage. For spices, try:
ReplyDelete3 T. chopped fresh parsley or 1 T. dried parsley plus
1 t. ground pepper
1/2 t. turmeric and/or cumin
and a generous sprinkling up to 1/2 t. each of:
marjoram
rosemary
savory
sage
thyme
For a lowfat meatloaf:
ReplyDeleteA reduced fat meatloaf is possible by using all ground turkey or other lean meat, but it can easily dry out. To help avoid this, add moisture generating things like more chopped onion, up to 1/2 c. finely diced apples or 1/3 c. applesauce, and moisture-absorbing starches like instant oatmeal.
Adding mashed potatoes (not just flakes), more egg, whole grains or finely chopped nuts, and chopped vegetables will also stretch the meatloaf so that there is less fatty meat per serving. Serving after a green salad and with potatoes (using fat-free sour cream and not butter) and more filling vegetables such as corn and peas on the side also helps to keep portion sides appropriate.