My Meatloaf
Meatloaf is such a tricky subject. The tricky part is that meatloaf as a dish evokes certain feelings in people. The populace is divided into three parts about the subject of meatloaf. Part A hates meatloaf because their mom made it and it was gross. Part B loves meatloaf because their mom made it and it was AWESOME! And Part C is iffy on the subject because they didn't have a mom that made it AWESOME! and they only know of its existence from that steamy pile of mess in the Luby's Cafeteria line.
Meatloaf is soul food. If done properly, it can warm the soul and send you into heaven. The problem is that as a dish from yesteryear, the luster was lost long ago and the teaching of proper meatloaf preparation failed to be passed down from generation to generation. And as tastes in the American palette changed, meatloaf didn't change alont with it. Case in point ... ketchup. Old style meatloaf recipes used tons of ketchup as the binder liquid, and some even used ketchup smothered on top of the loaf.
But in 2007, ketchup has been demoted to 2nd string condiment right behind the almighty salsa. It's for french fries and tater tots.
So here is my recipe for meatloaf. All of the basics are there ... meat, breadcrumbs, eggs, and seasonings. But I've added some seasonings and stripped away a lot of the unnecessary 1950's parts.
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. ground sirloin (lean-ish)
- 0.5 lb. ground pork (not sausage)
- 1/2 cup minced shallots
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup milk
- Breadcrumbs equal to 4 slices bread
- 2 TBSP dijon mustard
- 1 Tsp. Liquid smoke
- 1/2 Tsp. each of dried thyme, dried basil, cumin, black pepper, salt, and margoram
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well. Pack mixture into an ungreased loaf pan. Bake uncovered for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes or until internal temperature is 160 degrees.
Remove from oven and immediately drain grease or siphon off with a turkey baster. Let sit for 5-10 minutes before slicing and serving.