Meatloaf

Community and church cookbooks are remarkable historical artifacts to those interested in the evolution of food and the preservation of our culinary heritage. As far as No Free Lunch is concerned, such books were instrumental in recreating party salad and klub. My grandmother, Irene Storey, was a pillar of her Twin Cities church and contributed numerous recipes to their cookbook. One of these was meatloaf. While it's not a dish I particularly remember her making, we had meatloaf somewhat regularly when I was a kid, and it was also in regular rotation at the business school cafeteria at Carnegie Mellon. It's safe to say it's a comfort food for many people all over the United States.

As a true American classic, there is tremendous variation in meatloaf recipes. For my version, I wanted to stay true to the structure of the fairly basic church version while incorporating ideas from more modern recipes. I consulted my usual group of online sources, including Kenji, Alton Brown, Adam Ragusea, and Elise Bauer. Typical meatloaf recipes do have a lot in common: about 2 pounds of meat, some kind of vegetables, and texture modifiers including eggs, breadcrumbs, and milk. Ketchup-based toppings are also a frequent addition. The unique features of this recipe, retained from the church cookbook, are the Worcestershire sauce and an additional egg not present in most I've seen. The main change I made is adding more vegetables and cooking them before folding into the meat. The classic meat blend consists of beef, pork, and veal, similar to a traditional meatball. As veal is hard to find these days, I did a 50/50 blend of beef and pork, which is also what I use for hotdish. There's a lot of room for experimentation with different meat blends. 

The cooking method also varies quite a bit from recipe to recipe. Adam Ragusea hand-forms the loaf. Elise Bauer bakes it in a loaf pan. Alton Brown uses the loaf pan to form the meatloaf, but flips it out for cooking. Kenji cooks it in the loaf pan for a while, then flips it out to finish. As the church cookbook is silent on this issue, I went with Alton's method. This allows us to get a nicely formed loaf while also maximizing surface area on which to spread the ketchup topping. I used a 9x5 inch silicone loaf pan (I think we got it at Aldi), and the meatloaf came out easily. A slightly smaller pan would also work fine, yielding a taller loaf. 

Since I had 4 pounds of meat, I made two meatloaves. I froze most of it after slicing, in preparation for busier times once classes start. The recipe given here is for one loaf, but the pictures show the doubled recipe. I made one with bacon on top and one without. The bacon adds some smokiness, but is definitely not necessary and makes the loaf a little tricky to cut. The end result of both was a tender, juicy meatloaf full of flavor. The only thing I would do differently is to put on more of the ketchup topping. There's also plenty of room for experimentation with different seasonings beyond this classic version. Mashed potatoes make a perfect accompaniment, which can be easily done on the stove while the meatloaf is in the oven. 

Ingredients

• 1 small onion
• 1 carrot
• 1 rib celery
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 Tbs. butter
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 lb. ground pork
• 1 cup breadcrumbs (I used half regular and half panko)
• 1 cup milk
• 1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
• 2 eggs
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 2 Tbs. brown sugar
• 6 strips bacon (optional)

Equipment

• Food processor
• 9x5 inch loaf pan

Instructions

Peel and roughly chop the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Add to the food processor and pulse with the blade until finely chopped. A few bigger chunks here and there are fine. In a skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the chopped vegetables and cook a few minutes, until softened and fragrant. Season with salt and pepper as they cook.

In a large bowl, combine the meat, breadcrumbs, cooked vegetable mixture, milk, and Worcestershire sauce. Use hands to mix thoroughly. Add eggs and continue mixing. Season to taste with salt and pepper (and any other spices you want). I added 1 tsp. of salt.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Pack the meat mixture into the loaf pan. Invert the loaf pan over a baking sheet and allow the meatloaf to drop out. 

In a bowl, combine ketchup and brown sugar. Stir vigorously until fully combined. Brush the mixture all over the meatloaf. If using bacon, lay on top of the meatloaf, slightly overlapping each strip. Transfer to the oven and cook for about 1 hour or until cooked through.

Let cool for a few minutes, then carefully slice (I used a serrated knife) and serve with mashed potatoes.