If meatloaf isn't a comfort food, I don't know what is. I never make it the same way twice, because I don't follow a recipe. A long time ago I think it was Martha Stewart who had one with lots of vegetables in it. My mother's secret was to use one pound of ground beef and one-half pound of sausage. I've tried them all.
Recently I have been using Panko in my cooking. In case you don't know what Panko is, basically it is the Japanese version of bread crumbs. Panko tend to be lighter, crispier, and crunchier than Western bread crumbs. They are excellent for breadings, and make an excellent filler in things like crab cakes. It used to be that one had to go to an oriental market to find them, but now the boxes appear on the shelves of most every supermarket chain. In fact, the last time I looked there were boxes of "Italian-flavored Panko" on the shelves, and the Panko had been moved from the Oriental section to wherever the Shake and Bake items were -- I can't offhand remember the section, as my store changes the location of everything at least once a month!
Anyway, I'm going to give you a recipe here for a really tasty meatloaf that uses Panko. You'll notice in the top photo there is a reddish topping on the slices. That comes from an entirely different recipe and for the life of me I can't remember where it came from.
BOBBY'S MEATLOAF
1# ground beef, preferably 20% fat.
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
3/4 cup finely minced onion
1/2 cup ketchup
1 T Lawry's seasoning salt
1 tsp ground sage
1 tsp dried oregano leaves
Mix ingredients well. Form loaf in baking dish or meatloaf pan. Flatten top.
TOPPING
Blend together:
1/2 cup ketcup
3 T brown sugar
1/4 t nutmeg
2 t dry mustard.
Spread topping on meatloaf before baking. Bake uncovered for 1 hour at 350 degrees.
A number of years ago Jerry found this very novel meatloaf pan, I think in the Walter Drake catalog. The uncooked meatloaf is placed in the smaller pan, which is then set into the larger pan. Those holes let the grease drop away from the meatloaf. It's a nifty set-up, for sure!
I was pleasantly surprised at the texture of the meatloaf when I used Panko. I have used soda crackers, bread, dry oatmeal and rice at other times, but this recent meatloaf has topped them all!
And just in case you are wondering what those little white things surrounding the meatloaf slices are, they are Spaetzel!
2 comments:
I think I've had meatloaf once in the past 20 years. Love spaetsle, though I cannot even remember the last time I had that
It's not even 5 am and I'm hungry for meat loaf. Thanks a lot, Bobbie!
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