Good day to you, my friends! Today's installment is intended to demystify one of those old American family dishes that may or may not have struck fear into your heart when you were young. I speak, of course, of meatloaf. Now, if the mere mention of that word didn't cause you to run screaming, you might be able to use a couple of these nuggets and reinvent this most quintessential of American family staples.
Ok, so if we break it down to its most basic elements, what is meatloaf? If you've cleverly answered "well, it's meat baked into a sort of loaf-ish shape," then you may have missed your calling as a stand-up comic. Read on, I beg you! Ok, but seriously, meatloaf is quite simply meat baked together with some sort of binder, and flavored traditionally with a tomato-based product like tomato sauce or ketchup. It is a very versatile dish in that it is truly a blank canvas for whatever flavor combination you can dream up.
The traditional meatloaf that you may fondly (or not so much) remember from your childhood was a mixture of ground beef, eggs and another binding agent like oatmeal, crackers, or bread crumbs, and tomato sauce or ketchup. Add a few sliced onions and maybe another layer of ketchup on top, and voila! you have meatloaf. That's the most basic of preparations that I can think of, and forms the foundation for your favorite blend of flavors and spices.
You may read the previous paragraph and say to yourself: "well, it's no wonder I hated the stuff when I was a kid; there's nothing to it!" Well, in many ways you're absolutely right. Meat, tomato sauce, binder, and sliced onions is a combination that would send any adolescent screaming for the hills. Thankfully, due to new innovations in cooking (well, not that new...), we can doctor up this basic recipe to cater to even the most delicate of palates.
In building your masterpiece, it's important to remember a few basics; things that will form the foundation of the meatloaf and give you the body and texture on which you can build your flavor profile. First is the meat you decide to use. If you want to build a basic meatloaf foundation, then simple ground beef is the ticket. 85% lean ground beef (like you'd use for good burgers) will give you plenty of flavor from the meat and the fat while not being too greasy when it cooks. Additionally, the fat content will keep the meat moist, where a leaner mix of ground beef needs a little help to stay moist. Now here's your first opportunity to get creative. If you prefer a more Italian flair, then you can mix a bit of Italian-style sausage into your meat mixture. If you prefer Southwestern flavors, then you could add chorizo. If you don't feel like adding multiple kinds of meat to your meatloaf base (or can't find them), then read on.
Whether or not you decide to mix up your meat mix, you can impart different flavor profiles to the meatloaf with the addition of spice combinations that will meet your meat needs. We'll get to that in a minute. First, we need to cover a couple more basics. You need to add a binding agent to the meatloaf to add body and texture; basically to make it a better vehicle for all those flavors you're going to add, and also to treat it as something other than a big hamburger, which is all it is without the binder. Oatmeal, crushed saltine crackers, or bread crumbs will fit the bill, but only if you remember to combine them with eggs to make the mixture fluffy when it cooks, and not like a heavy meat brick.
Now for the last of your basics, you need to add something to form the basis of your flavor platform. For your most basic meatloaf, tomato sauce does the trick. This works if you prefer the traditional meatloaf flavored with ketchup and onions. For something bordering on Mexican or Southwestern flavors, you might substitute your favorite salsa instead of plain-Jane tomato sauce. For an Italian-style meatloaf, you might use the juice from a can of San Marzano tomatoes.
So to recap, your basic foundation needs to include your meat or meat mix, binding agent (eggs + oatmeal, crackers, or bread crumbs), and flavor baseline (tomato sauce or ketchup). Add heat in the form of a 350-degree oven, and you've got a meatloaf.
So for those of you who want to make it a little more exciting, here's where you get to explore your culinary wild side. The basic meatloaf concept is so plain that it forms a perfect base for your favorite flavor combinations. You can go with something traditional, or go completely off the reservation and experiment with literally anything. I already alluded to adding different meats to your meat mix to form the flavor base. Chorizo, Italian-style sausage, or even andouille would start to nudge your meatloaf in the ultimate direction you wish to go. A word of caution though: be careful of the fat content of what you add. If you add too much of a very fatty ingredient you risk making your meatloaf greasy or overly mushy.
If you decide not to use other meats and go strictly with ground beef, you can add flavor profiles with a variety of spices. For Italian-inspired flavors, consider basil, oregano, marjoram, and parsley. You could go with fresh herbs if you want, but keep an eye on how much water content you're imparting to the meat. The reason for this is the same as for overly fatty meat mixtures. For something south of the border, consider cumin, coriander, chili powder, and cayenne pepper. If you really want to light your face on fire, add a handful of minced habanero or serrano chiles and make sure to have a fire extinguisher handy.
Basically what I'm getting at is to add spice combinations which achieve the sort of flavor you're looking for. And if you're not sure, just throw something in there that smells good and see what happens. You could even experiment with diced vegetables, whole herbs and spices (garlic, fennel seed, etc.), or whatever! Just keep an eye on how moist they are so you don't waterlog your meatloaf.
Finally, once you've assembled everything you want, mix it all together with your hands (this is the fun part!!) and press it into a suitable glass baking dish. If your mix is lean and devoid of moisture-rich ingredients, you might want to consider placing your vessel in a water bath in the oven. For well-hydrated (high moisture/fat content) meatloafs, you could probably get away with no water bath. It can't hurt, so do whatever you feel like. Depending on the size and thickness, start with an hour on 350 and see how that does. Feel free to adjust the temperature and cooking time to produce your perfect meatloaf.
Well, that's it for this installment. I hope today's info helped demystify this American staple (or at least make it less gross to your kids), and give you something new and exciting to try in the kitchen. Until next time, my friends, I wish you happy cooking!
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