meat loaf question for little bit

[emptyspool]

I just did a search which wouldn't let me add to the thread. You had posted several threads which I also searched. I am just wondering if you did indeed come up with a meat loaf recipe you love. I am trying one today.

[Little Bit]

I wasn't certain I'd 'perfected' a recipe, but found this one in my files. I seem to keep tweaking it, to see if I'll ever create one that my dad actually likes well enough to request.

So far, I've had best results with the one below. It's baked in a loaf pan, with broth added. I do think I've left out the 1/4 cup ketchup from time to time, I think dad objects to the sweetness. I prefer the texture given by the oats, and can't be bothered to make a blend of beef, pork and veal, or whatever is actually 'traditional' for meatloaf, lol. I prefer the loaf pan/broth method, since I hate dry meatloaf.

I recently made Cook's Illustrated's Stuffed Peppers, and found that I liked it a lot. It has diced tomatoes mixed in with the ground beef, cheese and rice, and I can't help thinking that I may well try something along those lines (diced tomatoes instead of ketchup) next time I try a meatloaf.

I hope this helps!


Anna’s Meatloaf

(adapted from a CL recipe, using whole eggs, less ketchup, no onions, no sugar, adding a bit of Worcestershire and beef broth.)

Ingredients
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper (or 1/2 teaspoon Creole Seasoning, or more to taste)
Dash or two Worcestershire sauce
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 pounds ground round, ground finely in food processor
2 cups Beef Broth (or chicken stock, if that’s all you have)
Cooking spray

Directions
Estimated Total Time: 1 hour, 25 minutes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grind the oats in the food processor until fine. Remove to a large bowl and add the other dry ingredients and combine. Grind the ground round in the food processor, until very smooth, and remove to the large bowl and combine with the dry ingredient mixture. Add the other (wet) ingredients, except for the beef broth, and combine. Stir in some beef broth, and mix. The meat mixture will be quite soft. Place it in a loaf pan and top with extra beef broth.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

The meatloaf will ‘firm up’ on cooking, and will be fine to slice when prepared.

(Daddy likes the meat in his meatloaf to be ground as finely as possible.)

[Little Bit]

Just thought I'd add this one, since I liked the filling so much. The original was for bell peppers, but I used two poblano peppers we already had, and leftover rice. Worked out deliciously.

Stuffed Poblano Peppers

adapted from the “Stuffed Bell Peppers” recipe in ‘The New Best Recipe’ page 179

Salt
2 poblano peppers, seeded and cored (try slitting them in the side, next time for nicer presentation) (Full recipe, use 4 bell peppers)
1 cup cooked rice (Full recipe: use 1/2 cup raw rice, cooked)
1 tablespoon olive oil (or less) Full recipe: use 1 1/2 tablespoons)
1/2 medium onion, chopped fine (Full recipe: use 1 medium onion)
4 ounces ground round (beef) (Full recipe: use 12 ounces ground beef)
3/4 teaspoon minced garlic (Full recipe: use 3 medium garlic cloves, minced )
1/2 can (14.5 ounce) diced tomatoes, drained, reserve juices) (Full recipe: use whole can, drain, and reserve juices)
2.5 ounces grated Monterey Jack (I used Mozzarella, since that’s what I had) (Full recipe: use 5 ounces)
1 tablespoon parsley, diced (Full recipe: use 2 tablespoons)
black pepper
1/4 cup ketchup (Full recipe: same)

Bring 4 quarts water to a boil in a large stock pot or Dutch Oven over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon salt and the peppers. Cook until the peppers just begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Remove peppers from the water, drain off the excess water, and place the peppers cut-side up on paper towels. (If making the full recipe: Return the water to a boil; add the rice and boil until tender, about 13 minutes. Drain the rice, transfer to a bowl; set aside.)

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees

Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed 12 inch skillet, over medium high heat until shimmering. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking the beef into small pieces with a spoon, until no longer pink, about 4 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds longer. Transfer the mixture to the bowl with the rice and stir in the tomatoes, 1/2 cup of the cheese , the parsley and salt and pepper to taste.

Stir the ketchup and 1/4 cup of the reserved tomato juice together in a small bowl. (If you want more sauce, just double the amounts of each, there’s plenty of juice from the tomatoes)

Place the peppers cut side up in a small baking dish. Divide the filling equally among the peppers, spoon 2 tablespoons of the ketchup mixture over each filled pepper and sprinkle each with 1 tablespoon of the remaining cheese. Bake until the cheese is browned and the filling is heated through, 25-30 minutes.

[emptyspool]

Thanks for the note....the peppers look great too! My eyes are crossed from looking at so many threads today and so I might start with a combination of some recipes. I like the idea of a bit of tomato on top and I liked the idea for the mini meatloaves as we are down to only one DS at home. I like the idea of cooking it in a pan and wonder why so many are on a rack. That part I can't figure out. Thanks again. Hope you find your optimum recipe also.

[Little Bit]

Glad to help! :)

I think I may well try the tomatoes, next time, instead of ketchup, drained just as in the stuffed peppers, and mixed in, combining the juice with the ketchup for a topping that's not so sweet. (the ketchup/tomato juice mixture worked well as a topping for the peppers.)

I'm actually looking for/attempting to develop a plain-jane meatloaf that's plain enough to suit my dad.(i.e., no onions, not sweet, not too salty, etc.) I have no idea what sort of meatloaf he was fed as a child, but I suppose if I experiment around and ask him enough questions, eventually I'll come close. (The dish he describes, 'just' a plain-meat meatloaf sounds okay to me, so why not, right? I guess it's just a matter of paring down the ingredients until there's nothing left that's not essential. The trouble is that so many meatloaf recipes have SO much stuff it's hard to figure out what's not essential.

My next experiment will involve the meatloaf in The New Best Recipe, just for the fun of it, probably with some diced tomatoes added in for kicks.