Time Out for Meatloaf
Have spent most of my day getting my summer online classes ready in the new courseware USD is switching to as of Monday. Amid the questions of whether or not I want to do the scheduling by weeks or by units, and how the heck to get certain features to work, I decided to do a little fridge cleaning (a.k.a. cooking) project.
It’s a skosh chilly outside today, so I closed the windows and doors, turned the oven on, and decided to make meatloaf–the ingredients were on hand, and the oven’s heat will keep the house cozy while I continue to mess with my classes.
Here’s what I used (all amounts approximate):
- Slightly over 2lbs. ground grassfed (very lean) local beef
- Three slices lean local bacon, crisped, crumbled, and fat reserved
- cup of (local) milk
- one (local) egg
- 3/4 cup dry breadcrumbs (from locally made bread)
- handful of Scottish oats
- small bunch green onions (from my garden), chopped
- about 1/3 cup gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
- assorted herbs and spices: marjoram, basil and hot pepper flakes (from last year’s garden), black pepper
- ketchup to top
I combined the oats and breadcrumbs in a big bowl and poured the milk over them. Then I whipped the egg in, added the gorgonzola and herbs and mashed it all together. Added the crumbled bacon plus a little drizzle of the fat, and the green onions.
Then I worked all this sloppy goodness into the slightly over 2lbs. of ground beef, and patted (not packed) it into a large loaf pan I’d greased lightly with what was left of the bacon fat in the frying pan.
(Meatloaf is usually made with a fairly fatty grind of beef–generally ground chuck. Since my beef was so lean, I had to add a little bacon fat and grease the pan to keep the thing from drying out. I don’t add salt–there’s salt aplenty in the cheese, bacon, and ketchup topping.)
Finally, I glazed the top with ketchup as is traditional with a homemade meatloaf, and slid it in the 350 degree oven, where it will cook for slightly over an hour.
This’ll make a lovely hot meal tonight, plus leftovers for a couple days of sandwiches as I enter the hectic crunch time of final grading for spring semester and course prep for summer semester.
Filed under: FOOD and DRINK, Local Foods | Tagged: local food, meatloaf, recipes
Sounds wonderful! I top my homemade meatloaf with Western Dressing. It’s alittle sweeter than ketchup and we really like it!
god. meatloaf sandwiches. one of the very ultimate comfort foods. wish i had a slab o’ that. i’ve been rather lazy as of late in cooking my own meals, though still hardcore on the desserts. my latest: bittersweet chocolate sorbet. mix 3/4c. cocoa and 3/4c. sugar (add 1/4c. more or less depending upon taste, take 2c. hot water and drizzle enough in while whisk-mixing to make a thick paste, then add rest of hot water and stir until smooth. add 1/2t. best quality vanilla and mix, refrigerate until cold, mix it up in your ice cream maker and eat, preferably within a couple hours of making.
intense flavor guaranteed to wow your guests.
though a meatloaf sandwich would wow me plenty, ya know. which reminds me. i should never let my meat loaf.
In lieu of good green things which are slow in coming, I’ve been eating a couple of these sandwiches a day–on walnut beer bread.
I have got to lighten up my diet! It’s spring for goodness sakes!