Monday, November 10, 2008

Meat and Potatoes

I don't make meatloaf that often--once a year, if that. And then when I do make it, I'm reminded of just how good it can be. This is all beef meatloaf, essentially the same recipe my mom made when I was growing up. I only realized fairly recently that there was something called "meatloaf mix"--a combination of ground veal, pork, and beef sold in grocery stores specifically for meatloaf-making. But frankly, I didn't care for it when I tried it. One alternative to that mix that I saw recently was adding gelatin to two kinds of ground beef, with bacon all over the top. I'm sure the flavor is good, but really, meatloaf doesn't need to be that complicated and I don't want to add gelatin to my dinner. I soaked some bread (in this case an organic Tuscan loaf, though anything would be fine) in milk for about 15 min., and then mushed it up with my hands. I added this to the beef, along with eggs, garlic, grated onion, tomato paste, Italian seasonings, salt and pepper, and a little parmesan cheese, and mixed well--hands work best for this, however cold and squidgy it feels. I put this in a foil-lined baking dish, and baked it for an hour or so. In the meantime, I caramelized a couple of onions, adding a little tomato paste and Marsala towards the end. I served it all on top of some mashed Yukon golds along with some fresh green beans ... yum.

2 comments:

Ali said...

I just went back to being a vegetarian a few weeks ago and even when I ate meat I hardly ever ate beef but I think this looks so tasty. Maybe I will have to go back on the meat for one meal... hum

Cherie said...

Yum! Talk about Comfort food!