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Last weekend, we invited Jeff's mom over for dinner. The menu was meatloaf, onion casserole and fried green tomatoes. While she always enjoys our meatloaf (we have a house recipe that we have come to consider the standard for the dish), she remembers fondly preparing meatloaf decades ago using a product "Compliment for Meatloaf." Information on this product is hard to come by. Indeed, the only real info or image that I could find online comes from Dave's Cupboard, from where I also lifted this image:
Evidently this can of goop enabled the cook in a hurry to make a meatloaf thus: "Just open a can of Compliment for Meat Loaf and add the ground beef. Shape it. Bake it. That's it! No eggs. No bread crumbs. No fixing. Everything is ready...already in the can." Hmm. Well, to me, this sounds like an abomination, though Mom seems to remember it with some fondness. I wonder if by now it's rather more the nostalgia for (than the reality of) those years.
Here's how we make meatloaf (measurements are approximate):
To feed three people (with leftovers for sandwiches the next day), you will need about 2 pounds of ground meat. Use a mixture of ground beef, ground pork and ground veal in equal measures. Or, if veal is to too expensive (as it was for us last week), use half beef and half pork. Do not use all ground beef. This can coarsen and toughen the texture and compromise nuances of flavor. Have on hand also about a pound of bacon. This should be a thick-cut, good quality bacon, and not the cheapest stuff at the grocery store.
Dice and sautee a medium/large onion and about half a head of garlic, minced, in your cooking fat of choice, until the onion is softened. Grind about half a baguette's worth of bread into fine crumbs (two cups or so). In a mixing bowl large enough to hold all your ingredients, combine the onions and breadcrumbs with two eggs, a quarter cup of milk, and about two tablespoons each of Worcestershire sauce and ketchup. Add a generous grinding of black pepper and a pinch of salt (you won't need much, as the condiments will bring some). Add also a generous pinch of dried leaf thyme, crushing the herb between your fingers as you sprinkle it into the bowl. Chop a big handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley and add it as well. Combine all these items completely.
Now add the meat and mix to combine it with the above ingredients. Form the mixture into an oblong loaf and place it on a half-sheet pan or in an iron skillet large enough to hold it, with plenty of room around the sides. Do not use a loaf pan. Why? Because we don't want the loaf to stew in its own grease as it cooks. Also, one can't bacon-wrap it in such a pan. I bet you were wondering what that bacon was for. But before you're ready for that, you need to slather the entire surface of the loaf with a meatloaf sauce consisting of roughly equal parts ketchup, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce and Louisiana-style hot sauce. Once slathered, the loaf is ready to be wrapped. Apply strips of bacon in a single layer, tucking the ends under the bottom of the loaf. Completely cover the meatloaf, or as much so as you can get it (it's OK to overlap the strips slightly). Grind black pepper over the bacon covering. Place the meatloaf in a 350F degree oven and bake until done. I don't know exactly how long this takes (because I am generally drinking wine and gabbing a lot during this phase and don't pay attention to the clock), but it's generally done when the bacon looks done (and the interior temperature of the loaf will probably be at least 170F). That's why it's important to use nice, thick-cut bacon because the cheap thin-cut stuff will get done and start burning before the meatloaf itself is done in the center.
When done. remove the meatloaf from the oven and let it sit unmolested for at least ten minutes before cutting into it. Depending on how thick you cut your slices, this recipe should yield six to eight generous portions. Then, the next day, you can take leftover pieces, put them back in the oven to reheat (with bacon rind still attached, even), and then place them between slices of toasted garlic bread with cheese, onion, pickle and mustard for a fine meatloaf sandwich.
Whatever that Compliment stuff was exactly, I am sure it couldn't have been this good.
Evidently this can of goop enabled the cook in a hurry to make a meatloaf thus: "Just open a can of Compliment for Meat Loaf and add the ground beef. Shape it. Bake it. That's it! No eggs. No bread crumbs. No fixing. Everything is ready...already in the can." Hmm. Well, to me, this sounds like an abomination, though Mom seems to remember it with some fondness. I wonder if by now it's rather more the nostalgia for (than the reality of) those years.
Here's how we make meatloaf (measurements are approximate):
To feed three people (with leftovers for sandwiches the next day), you will need about 2 pounds of ground meat. Use a mixture of ground beef, ground pork and ground veal in equal measures. Or, if veal is to too expensive (as it was for us last week), use half beef and half pork. Do not use all ground beef. This can coarsen and toughen the texture and compromise nuances of flavor. Have on hand also about a pound of bacon. This should be a thick-cut, good quality bacon, and not the cheapest stuff at the grocery store.
Dice and sautee a medium/large onion and about half a head of garlic, minced, in your cooking fat of choice, until the onion is softened. Grind about half a baguette's worth of bread into fine crumbs (two cups or so). In a mixing bowl large enough to hold all your ingredients, combine the onions and breadcrumbs with two eggs, a quarter cup of milk, and about two tablespoons each of Worcestershire sauce and ketchup. Add a generous grinding of black pepper and a pinch of salt (you won't need much, as the condiments will bring some). Add also a generous pinch of dried leaf thyme, crushing the herb between your fingers as you sprinkle it into the bowl. Chop a big handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley and add it as well. Combine all these items completely.
Now add the meat and mix to combine it with the above ingredients. Form the mixture into an oblong loaf and place it on a half-sheet pan or in an iron skillet large enough to hold it, with plenty of room around the sides. Do not use a loaf pan. Why? Because we don't want the loaf to stew in its own grease as it cooks. Also, one can't bacon-wrap it in such a pan. I bet you were wondering what that bacon was for. But before you're ready for that, you need to slather the entire surface of the loaf with a meatloaf sauce consisting of roughly equal parts ketchup, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce and Louisiana-style hot sauce. Once slathered, the loaf is ready to be wrapped. Apply strips of bacon in a single layer, tucking the ends under the bottom of the loaf. Completely cover the meatloaf, or as much so as you can get it (it's OK to overlap the strips slightly). Grind black pepper over the bacon covering. Place the meatloaf in a 350F degree oven and bake until done. I don't know exactly how long this takes (because I am generally drinking wine and gabbing a lot during this phase and don't pay attention to the clock), but it's generally done when the bacon looks done (and the interior temperature of the loaf will probably be at least 170F). That's why it's important to use nice, thick-cut bacon because the cheap thin-cut stuff will get done and start burning before the meatloaf itself is done in the center.
When done. remove the meatloaf from the oven and let it sit unmolested for at least ten minutes before cutting into it. Depending on how thick you cut your slices, this recipe should yield six to eight generous portions. Then, the next day, you can take leftover pieces, put them back in the oven to reheat (with bacon rind still attached, even), and then place them between slices of toasted garlic bread with cheese, onion, pickle and mustard for a fine meatloaf sandwich.
Whatever that Compliment stuff was exactly, I am sure it couldn't have been this good.
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