Meatloaf is one of those truly American dishes that I didn’t eat when I was growing up. In fact, the only time I ever really eat meatloaf is when we are in San Francisco and have lunch at ‘wichcraft, where I order the truly incredible meatloaf sandwich with cheddar, bacon, and tomato relish on a ciabatta roll. But perhaps once every 2 years or so, I get a hankering for meatloaf and make some at home.
I got such an urge last week and found this wonderfully adult tasting meatloaf recipe. Instead of squirting tons of ketchup into the meat mixture, this recipe has the surprise ingredient of chopped prunes instead. Sounds disgusting is what I bet you are thinking, right? If so, you are wrong. The prunes add a nice sweetness to the meatloaf that tastes so much better than cloying effect of the normally used ketchup. In fact, while we were eating dinner, I had Carlo guess what the mystery ingredient was and after a few mouthfuls, he still had no idea. He named pretty much all of the other ingredients in the dish, but was stumped at what was the pi?®ce de r?©sistance of the dish.
Anyway see for yourself just how good prunes could taste (seriously, who knew?), and stump your loved ones by making this meatloaf and have them guess the mystery ingredient. This recipe for meatloaf makes enough for 8 large slices of meatloaf at $1.60 per serving.
Meatloaf, adapted from Gourmet, February 2008
1 cup fine fresh bread crumbs (from 2 slices firm white sandwich bread)
1/3 cup whole milk
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium celery rib, finely chopped
2 medium carrot, finely chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 pound bacon (about 4 slices), chopped
1/2 cup pitted prunes, chopped
1 1/2 pounds ground beef chuck
1/2 pound ground pork
2 large eggs
1/3 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
Before you start preparing the mixture for the meatloaf, preheat your oven to 350¬?F with the rack placed in middle.
Start the meatloaf by soaking the bread crumbs in milk in a large bowl.
Then cook the onion, garlic, celery, and carrots in the butter in a large heavy saucepan over a medium heat for about 5 minutes and stir occasionally. Cover the saucepan and reduce the heat to low, then cook everything until the carrots are tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, allspice, 2 teaspoons of salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of pepper. Add this veggie mix to the soaked bread-crumb mixture.
Finely chop the bacon and prunes in a food processor, then add to the vegetable mixture along with the beef, pork, eggs, and parsley. Mix everything together with your hands.
Coat a 9- by 5-inch oval loaf pan with a light spray of olive oil and pack the meatloaf mixture into it. Once you have shaped the meatloaf, turn the loaf pan upside down in the middle of a 13- by 9-inch shallow baking dish or pan and remove the loaf pan. The meatloaf should retain the shape of the loaf pan, but will be able to cook in the pan so the three exposed sides get a bit crispy while it all cooks.
Bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into center of meatloaf registers at 155¬?F, about 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Once the meatloaf reaches the ideal temperature, remove it from the oven and let it stand for 10 minutes before serving.
After cooking the meatloaf, a lot of drippings remained in the baking dish, so I asked Carlo to make a gravy from them to top the meatloaf. He drained the drippings into a small saucepan and whisked them with a little bit of flour to create a roux. Then he added some water until he had the right gravy consistency and kept on whisking over a low heat.
The meatloaf tastes great smothered with gravy and a side of creamy mashed potatoes. It also tastes pretty amazing the next day on a sandwich too.
This is delicious! And one out of two kids liked it, so that’s a win in my book. Not quite as cheap as you describe, since I used Niman beef and fancy pork and bacon — I can’t quite do cheap meat as much as I’m trying to save money.
I try to stock up on ground beef and pork when it goes on sale at Whole Foods and then just freeze it until I need to use it. I’m off the cheap nasty meat wagon too, which is why we aren’t using much meat these days. But I’m all about buying great meat at cheap prices!