Wednesday, June 20, 2007

MEATLOAF



Luscious, thick, robust, I can never seem to get enough. Some people call me sick, but I can't help it. I am one of the few people in this life who will openly admit an unashamed love for MEATLOAF. Ummmm, but not this Meatloaf. Don't get me wrong, I still lip sync to a few of this man's songs, and he does look a little bit like a meatloaf... but no, he doesn't hold the same power over me. I'm talking about my mom's meatloaf. I'm talking about the big ol' slab of spicy beef covered in a candied tomato glaze with a side of buttery peas sticking to the soft mashed potatoes on my fork. Ooooooh yeah! I grew up with this heavenly meal and I always wondered at the jokes I would hear about bad meatloaf. There is the famous line from A Christmas Story, "Meatloaf, smeatloaf, double beatloaf, I HATE meatloaf." I never understood the disdain or the mockery. That is, until I actually tasted a meatloaf that was not my mom's meatloaf. What was this person thinking? There were actually whole oats sticking out of this fatty, rubbery, tasteless mass of 'meat' that had ketchup slipping off the top of it. I wanted to shed tears for the children of the world who were lied to when told they were eating meatloaf. I have, since that first bad experience, come to taste many other meatloaves. Some were not as bad, some were worse, but none were better or even as good as my mom's rockinly awesome meatloaf. Now, I may be wrong, I'd be the first one to admit that I may be a bit biased in this judgement, but you will have to be the judge of that. All I know is that I do not believe in eating the food that my children have left on their plates, but I will eat the tasty morsels of meatloaf that they have foolishly left behind because it is that good to me. So, without any more of my silly dramatic attempts at persuasion, here is that lovely meatloaf recipe:

Momma’s Meatloaf
*Don’t laugh, meatloaf really can be yummy. The only way you can make this turn yucky is by putting a hard boiled egg in the middle of it (its o.k. mom, we all know you were just trying to be creative). But the real treasure is the topping. It can be used on any meatloaf recipe. I even use it when I make meatloaf from a quick powder mix.

Ingredients
1 egg
1 C. bread crumbs (I use whole wheat)
1 c. milk
1 lb ground beef
¼ C. minced onion (I like to use ½ C. of fresh very finely diced onion)
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp dry mustard
½ tsp celery salt
¼ tsp pepper
¼ tsp sage
1/8 tsp garlic powder (optional and you can also use 1 tsp. garlic salt instead of this and the other salt)
1 Tblsp. Worcestershire sauce

Directions
Heat oven to 350. In large bowl, beat egg slightly; mix in remaining ingredients thoroughly (you can use your hands, or use a handheld mixer to keep your hands clean). Spread or press into an 8x8 pan. Bake one hour until done
Meatloaf Topping
3 Tblsp. brown sugar
¼ c. ketchup
1 tsp. dry mustard
¼ tsp. nutmeg
Mix and spread over meatloaf after it has been baking for 15 minutes.
Please let me know if you find this as heavenly as I do.
*Recipe can easily be doubled for a big crowd but as is it can feed a young family of 6. For a bit of variety you can add small cubes of extra sharp cheddar to the loaf mix before baking. It is yummy that way too.

10 comments:

D-HOR said...

I am so going to print this off and make it. My moms was always scary dry and with large chunks of green pepper and onion baked in. ACK. Perhaps this will bring me into the world of loaf lovers.

BTW- I saw you ice cream thing. Do you like the Ben and Jerry's "Everything but the?" I freakin LOVE that one. OH lord it's so my fave.

Anonymous said...

This looks a lot like my mom's except she doesn't have that topping! I just might have to try this one. DH LOVES meatloaf. Of course he'll eat just about anything.

An Ordinary Mom said...

Meatloaf is one of our favorites meals, too :) !!

Lucy van Pelt said...

I love my mom's meatloaf and it sounds like just about the same recipe. My mom just had it in her head, so I can't confirm, but it is good. We didn't do the glaze, but it sounds good enough to try.

Jennifer @ Fruit of My Hands said...

Love meatloaf & love Ben & Jerrys "Everything But The" and pretty much every flavor I've tried.

But Meatloaf the singer? He's OK...last year on American Idol I thought he was going to have a panic attack right there on the stage.

LaughterThoughts said...

i was always the same way about meatloaf. loved my mom's but couldn't stand the thought of eating it if anyone else had made it!

and i got very happy by the reference to a christmas story. that movie cracks me up!

Unknown said...

I have never liked meatloaf...of either varieties. Does that make me UnAmerican? Oh wait. ;-)

Misty said...

You know what?? I love meatloaf, too!!! Hooray for meat in the shape of bricks!! Bring it ON!!

Mrs. O said...

This is the recipe I grew up on - we always made it big enough to fit in a cake pan.

Once, though, I ate some at a boyfriend's house. Or should I say tried to eat some - horrible, horrible stuff masquerading as meatloaf. Blechhhh!

Anyway, we love this stuff and usually serve it with bake potatoes and green beans.

Stephanie ODea said...

Okay, Lizzie, that's it! We have GOT to get together. I adore Meatloaf. I know all of the words from all of the songs in Bat out of Hell I, and used Two Outta Three Ain't Bad as the song that I sang for highschool auditions.

I never got a good role...

thank you so much for the laugh and for the memories, I'm digging out my CD right now!

xox
steph