[Sca-cooks] Re: Meat loaf (was Peppers and Mangoes)

[Phlip]

Ene bichizh ogsen baina shuu...

> I have got to admit mystification about the average American "Meatloaf" -
I
> constantly see it mentioned in various books (most notably the Janet
> Evanovich "Stephanie Plum" ones since I'm reading through the set atm) but
> have never really been able to work out what the full ingredients are, or
> why it's such a revered dish.
>
> So what is it really? - I'm assuming ground beef is involved (aka "mince
> meat" as it's known in australia).
>
> Is it some larger grander variation on the common Aussie Rissole? (mince
> meat + diced onions + egg to bind it together to a ball shape and then
fried
> in oil in a pan. Think "hamburger patties" without them being flattened)
>
> Mari

Well, meatloaf can be a bit more complex than that. It consists of ground
meat, onion (usually) and egg (usually) for a binder, but may also include
bell peppers, mushrooms, and bread or cracker crumbs, as well as spices, a
hardboiled egg, and Heaven knows what else.

Classicly, it contains a 50/50 mix of ground pork and ground beef, with
bread crumbs, salt and pepper, and an egg binder, baked in a bread pan (why
it's called meat "loaf"), and covered with a tomato sauce to bake.

Practically, it is made of ANY ground meat combination, and whatever you
happen to have in the kitchen, and can be shaped in a ball, as you say, or
in a heap, rather like bread you don't bake in a loaf pan.. One I make uses
venison, with mayonnaise as a binder, and I never put bread crumbs in it
because I don't like the texture. As was mentioned, there are at least as
many meatloaf recipes out there as there are home cooks- probably more,
since I myself make at least three different variants.

Saint Phlip,
CoD

"When in doubt, heat it up and hit it with a hammer."
 Blacksmith's credo.

 If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is probably not a
cat.

Never a horse that cain't be rode,
And never a rider who cain't be throwed....



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