In this weekly series, home cook Bruce Watson works his way through a decades-old family cookbook, adapting the best recipes exclusively for Slashfood.
Going through my old family cookbook, I came across my Aunt Renie's recipe for blue cheese meatloaf. Like many of Renie's recipes, this one has a long pedigree and an old school gourmet touch. However, the original had a heavy touch of sage, which made the loaf fairly bland.
Experimenting with various sauces in my kitchen, I found that the meatloaf tasted amazing when served with a hearty dollop of barbecue sauce. My modified version, featured below, integrates the barbecue sauce into the meatloaf, along with a huge amount of blue cheese. This, combined with a shorter cooking time, yields a finished product that narrows the distance between meatloaf and paté. With that in mind, you might consider serving this dish with sliced pickles, mustard or other paté accompaniments!
Get the recipe for barbecue blue cheese meatloaf after the jump!
Having worked in a bakery setting since I was 18, I've seen my share of groom's cakes. Actually, I had never heard of the groom's cake until I started working in a bakery. Most of them are chocolate cake with a golf or foot ball theme. My best friend's groom went with a caramel cake, which was very delicious. This one really takes the cake, though.
The Black Widow Bakery came up with the best groom's cake I've ever seen. There's not even any fru-fru cake to ruin the manliness of it. It's a meat cake. The layers are made up of meat loaf, with a special glaze filling, and mashed potato icing. The decorations were created with that same glaze, which is made from Worcestershire sauce , brown sugar, and ketchup.
All the details are here. I'm pretty amused by this cake. I actually think it's a really neat idea. Have you seen any really great groom's cakes recently?
As readers of our TV Squad blog know, I'm a huge Amy Sedaris fan. She has a new book out that is not only "good," it's fantastic. A cookbook/entertaining book that isn't just all humor. It's a book you can actually use. It has some great idea, recipes (a couple hundred, actually), great pics. A lot of thought went into it. Oh, and it's funny as hell too.
Over at Gourmet magazine, they asked her to give some tips for the perfect Halloween celebration. It includes a discount movie theater dinner party, a meal made to be eaten in the dark (meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and corn - you don't have to see it to eat it), her famous cupcakes, and drinks (Bloody Marys and Zombies, of course). She even likes to have her Halloween night guests carve a pumpkin.
Click here to order Amy's book, and check out her tour schedule here.
Meatloaf is the ultimate comfort food. It is hearty, flavorful and can be subject to nearly infinite variations.
Some meatloaves are all beef, while some are made with turkey or even faux meat, which preserves the spirit of the
dish, if not the meat. Meatloaves have been around as long as ground meat and are larger versions of
meatballs. Due to their size, they can easily be served as a main course and the leftovers sliced for
sandwiches. Flavorings and some "filler," in the form of vegetables, egg, breadcrumbs or rice, are added to
help the loaf maintain its shape. The practice of "stretching the meat" with filler was popular and widely
practiced during the lean war years of the early 20th century.
After a decline in popularity, due in part to many years of inclusion in frost-bitten, over-processed,
microwaveable meals, meatloaf is working its way back onto the plates and into the hearts of diners everywhere. It is
on upscale restaurant menus, where it is recognized as classic American fare, as well as being a staple at diners and
neighborhood restaurants across the country.
One of the most popular comfort foods is meatloaf. But how do you put one together? Meat in a loaf pan? The Meatloaf Pages are here to help with
possibly the largest, tested meatloaf recipe collection on the internet. The have recipes from Emeril's Most Kicked Up
Meatloaf Ever to the posh Veal,
Chicken and Wild Mushroom Loaf, which is fit for the finest restaurant table but simple enough to serve on a
weeknight at home. Every recipe includes the observations and comments of their professional, experienced meatloaf
chefs, as well as advice for improving the recipes.
And if you're looking for meatloaf inspiration, take a look at the Flickr meatloaf gallery, with photos of
meatloaf, meatloaf sandwiches and the most popular meatloaf side dish: mashed potatoes. The photo above is one of my
favorites, and a Flickr member's first attempt at
homemade meatloaf.
A
As readers of our TV Squad blog know, I'm a huge Amy Sedaris fan. She has a new book out that is not only "good," it's fantastic. A cookbook/entertaining book that isn't just all humor. It's a book you can actually use. It has some great idea, recipes (a couple hundred, actually), great pics. A lot of thought went into it. Oh, and it's funny as hell too.
One of the most popular comfort foods is meatloaf. But how do you put one together? Meat in a loaf pan? 
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