I've seen meatloaf baked in bread pans and meatloaf baked in free form shapes (mock lobster, anyone?). But I've never seen anyone think to bake up a meatloaf in a tube pan until I was scanning through my RSS reader last night. But if anyone was going to think of a bundt meatloaf, I'm not surprised that it came from the minds of the chefs/bloggers behind the site Ideas in Food. They are always thinking creatively about food and manage to produce a number of interesting (and I'm sure tasty) dishes. I think that this is what I'd like to eat for dinner tonight.
Happy National Meatloaf Appreciation Day! If you haven't done so already, today is the time to take out your baking pans and your mom's (or dad's) recipe for meatloaf and put one together. Serious Eats (National Meatloaf Appreciation Day is their brainchild) is going to be posting meatloaf submissions throughout the day, so if you are looking for a little meatloaf inspiration, go check them out.
In order to get in the spirit of the holiday, I made not one, but two meatloafs. The first was a veggie-infused loaf that was close to what my mom used to serve when I was a kid. You can watch me make that one here. Another meatloaf I made strictly for Slashfood readers (and the happiness of my belly). Riffing on the traditional meatloaf recipe that calls for a variety of meats, I went with ground turkey and a Italian seasoned chicken sausage (1 pound each). Make sure to cut the sausage out of the casings and combine well with the turkey.
In a medium frying pan, I combined 1/3 chopped onion, 3 crushed cloves of garlic, 1/3 chopped green pepper, 2 chopped celery stalks (for crunch), one very finely grated potato (I used a microplane) and four large mushrooms, chopped (all chopping was done pretty finely). I cooked the veggies together just until they lost their rawness. I let them cool a little and then added them to the meat, along with a beaten egg, salt and pepper. I mashed it all together until combined and scooped it into a loaf pan. I baked it for about 50 minutes at 375 degrees. If you grate the potato finely enough, it gets really tender during baking, absorbing a lot of the juices. This one was a real winner.
When I was a kid, my mom only made meatloaf occasionally. It wasn't in the regular dinner rotation and so when we heard it was on the menu, instead of complaining (ala Randy in A Christmas Story, singing-songing "Meat-loaf, beet-loaf, I hate meat-loat."*) we'd celebrate. My mom made good meatloaf, filled with grated carrots and potatoes, seasoned with spaghetti sauce spices and baked in a white stoneware loaf pan (also the vessel for many a loaf of banana bread). It was the kind of meatloaf that got even better the next day and made a really excellent sandwich.
Serious Eats has declared October 18th National Meatloaf Appreciation Day. They are inviting everyone to participate in the festivities. It's easy to be involved in the celebration. All you have to do is make a meatloaf before October 16th and take a picture of your creation. If you have a blog, post the picture and recipe and send the link to the folks at SE. If you're not the blogging sort, send the picture and recipe to them via email (make sure to go over and check their post for the complete instructions). They'll put up a round-up of all the meatloaf creations on the 18th.
If we had had an Easter "Show Me Your Peeps" contest this month -- we didn't, but if we had -- there is no doubt in my mind that the grand prize winning Peep would have been the Peep that served as inspiration for Brian Shilling's Peepy Bunny meatloaf. Brian simply shaped his recipe for meatloaf into the Peeps bunny, used black olives for the eyes and nose, and baked away. Now, the final product was much, much darker than your regular neon pink or sunshine yellow Peep, but I think that's okay. I don't know if I could eat neon pink meatloaf, Peeps-shaped or otherwise.
When you hear the term "quick loaves," most home cooks will assume that it refers only to quick breads/cakes, especially if they like to bake. In the book Quick Loaves: 150 Breads and Cakes, Meat and Meatless Loaves, however, the term applies to all kinds of baked loaves, both sweet and savory. It is divided up into five main chapters. The first deals with the basics of loaf-making and, to ensure that every one of the recipes really is "quick," the author includes directions for some basic, homemade mixes, to which you can add just a few simple ingredients to turn out a number or different finished products. Most of the things made from the mixes are cakes and breads, but once you become familiar with the strategies that the author has used to turn them into very different things, you should be able to experiment with flavors a bit yourself. The following chapters deal with quickbreads and coffee cakes; cakes and other desserts; meatloaves; and vegetarian loaves (as main or side dishes). For the baked good lovers, Devil's Food Cake in Two Shakes and are good bets, while Quick-Mix Five-Ingredient Meatloaf and Thai Turkey Loaves will please those looking for something more substantial.
Perhaps you haven't noticed it because you are a victim of the phenomenon. You called up your girlfriends on your cotton candy pink cel phone adorned with sparkly cupcake-shaped charms, went out to get frozen yogurt topped with Cap'n Crunch cereal, and sat around talking about the "cuuuuuuutest" Hello Kitty makeup bag at Sephora and gossiping about "boys"...just like all the other junior high girls.
But wait. You're 35.
I was just reading an article about a new book called Rejuvenile: Kickball, Cartoons, Cupcakes, and the Reinvention of the American Grown-Up, in which author Christopher Noxon says very plainly, "'People all over are refusing to act their age." Basically, grown-ups are going through a period of regression back to their childhoods. Though his book talks about the trend from a broad perspective, I couldn't help but think how very true this trend is in food. I mean, how else do you explain a craze for cupcakes, those tiny treats that we ate as children in our homeroom birthday parties? What about the recent throwback to "retro" foods that many of us associate with growing up in mom's kitchen like macaroni and cheese, and meatloaf?
Are we regressing as a society? I know I am. Are you one of these grownups who still lives with his/her parents, postpones marriage, watches cartoons, all the while eating Hello Kitty Pop-tarts, dipping your dinosaur (chicken) nuggets in ketchup and having a Twinkie for desert? If so, what other "rejuvenile" foods are you eating?
A good meatloaf makes a great dinner, but it makes an even better sandwich the next day. I like to use barbecue sauce or ketchup to complement mine, but Jennifer, at Kiss the Hem of Her Apron used soy cheese and mustard to spice up her "meat"loaf sandwich. Soy cheese? I should mention that the delectable looking "meat"loaf that she made is completely vegan, from a recipe that she put together using the vegan loaf generator. Her loaf used primarily rice and beans for the base, but the generator allows you to put together a combination of many different ingredients, including soy-based meats, if you are so inclined to try. Whatever you make your meatloaf out of - beans or beef - a sandwich is surely the best place for it to end up.
No, this isn't just a meat cake because it has a T-bone steak in the icing. This is actually three layers of meatloaf and ketchup glaze frosted with mashed potatoes. So far, it's the only thing posted at BlackWidowBakery.com. The meat cake's creator says it was made for the wedding of friend who wanted "A guy's cake. Like..made out of meat." The meatloaf recipe looks pretty standard, as does the glaze. The mashed potatoes came from flakes, however, to ensure a smooth frosting. The results were "delicious" according to the baker. I wonder what the groom thought.
The vegan loaf generator, which we have mentioned before, is a little application that pairs various combinations of veggies, spices and binders to create veganized "meat"loaves. As strange as that may sound, many of the loaf combinations are delicious and since there are so many options, you can probably make one without having to take an extra trip to the store. But if you don't want the responsibility of selecting the ingredients yourself, there is now an automated mystery loaf generator, which automatically generates loaf combinations and names them. The recipe changes every 5 minutes, so if you don't like a given option, just hang in there and hit refresh. As the site promises, you'll never be "loaflorn" again.
The
Food Network editors put together a list of their favorite comfort foods of the past
year and if anyone needed any confirmation that Paula Deen is the darling of the network, this is
it. 7 out of the top 10 recipes are hers and the Sweet Potato Casserole credited to the "Food Network
Kitchens" has a distinctly Paula feel, albeit with less butter than she would use. Their top picks are:
It's hard to believe that they didn't pick any macaroni and cheese for their list, particularly since a search of
their site turned up 64
hits, two of which are Paula Deen recipes. It is also a surprise that no Rachael Ray recipes made the list, since
her specialty is quick and easy comfort food. Instead of going with a list comprised mainly of casseroles, it would
have been nice to diversify the list with some chocolate chip cookies, soups or other non-pasta dishes, too.
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.
What is it exactly that happens to our taste buds between the ages of 11 and
20? Why do we eat certain foods when we are kids but abandon almost completely when we become adults? When
you're an adult, and you move into different social circles and experience new foods and you're a little more
adventurous, you can say that you do or don't eat certain foods because your palate has become more mature (or whatever
the food-centric phrase is). Unless, of course, you're the type of nine-year-old who used to eat caviar,
risotto, Caesar salad, or elaborate chicken dishes.
Below are the 8 foods I loved and always ate as a kid, but don't (or rarely) eat now. What's on your list?
1. Meatloaf: I don't eat much meat in general anymore
(just chili during the fall and winter and maybe a random pepperoni pizza here and there), but my mom used to make
meatloaf once a week and I loved it. It's probably because (in addition to the above don't-eat-much-meat factor) I
don't want to take the time to make it, and if I do have hamburger, it won't be in loaf form.
2. Marshmallows: Used to toast them on the flame of
my old stove in the house I lived in as a kid (once started a small fire, but that's a story for
another day). Used to plop them in hot chocolate, and even ate them out of the bag as a snack. Now I never have them
(nor do I have anything that has marshmallows in it).
A
recent
AP article tracks the trajectory of meatloaf from a depression-era dinner staple to the current darling of many hip
restaurants. Writer Jeff Barnard uses chef Gavin McMichael of Bend, Oregon's Blacksmith--where meatloaf (pictured here) shares the menu with items
like coq au vin and quail--as his main example.
I don't know that meatloaf was ever really gone,
because, honestly, I don't know too many people that don't like it. I suspect that it just fell out of favor with many
home cooks who were distracted with more, shall we say, exciting recipes, ones they didn't grow up with. Then,
all of a sudden, we go out to dinner and there it is--meatloaf. Of course it's popular, because everyone still likes it.
They've just forgotten.
I know I went for it when I saw it on the menu the other night at Sarabeth's.
Perhaps you haven't noticed it because you are a victim of the phenomenon. You called up your girlfriends on your cotton candy pink cel phone adorned with sparkly cupcake-shaped charms, went out to get 
Meatloaf is one of the ultimate comfort foods, and two Boston chefs have 
The
One of the most popular comfort foods is meatloaf. But how do you put one together? Meat in a loaf pan? 
What is it exactly that happens to our taste buds between the ages of 11 and
20? Why do we eat certain foods when we are kids but abandon almost completely when we become adults? When
you're an adult, and you move into different social circles and experience new foods and you're a little more
adventurous, you can say that you do or don't eat certain foods because your palate has become more mature (or whatever
the food-centric phrase is). Unless, of course, you're the type of nine-year-old who used to eat caviar,
risotto, Caesar salad, or elaborate chicken dishes.
A
Cakes so amazing they'd be hard to cut into
Fruit juice: An invitation to diabetes?
Morbid thoughts? Have a cookie
