I never cared for meatloaf nights when I was a kid
- Scott Daniels: We Ate Well and Cheaply
- August 15, 2021
- 926
When my daughter was quite young, perhaps in first or second grade, her teacher became alarmed when she couldn’t identify a casserole from a picture. Her mother indignantly explained that any child in our house would never see such a thing as we never made casseroles. I did most of the cooking.
I still don’t generally make them, not out of business but because I generally find them uninteresting to make or eat. I’ve also never made a meatloaf, so my kids went from birth to adult without ever eating a casserole or meatloaf. They seemed unharmed by this laxity in their upbringing until it came time for picture tests.
I remember meatloaf nights when I was a kid, and I didn’t care for it. Baked hamburger swimming in ketchup was just plain unappealing. When I left my parent’s house, I said goodbye to a number of things, and meatloaf was among the top five. I didn’t touch it again until this summer when I had it at a family gathering, and now we’ve actually made meatloaf at my house, on purpose, and it was quite good.
I may have to climb off my high horse and admit loaves of meat and baked catchall dishes are just fine.
The recipe comes from 1770 House restaurant in East Hampton, New York and doesn’t end with ketchup but rather with a simple sauce with plenty of garlic.
I found the recipe by way of Ina Garten. The original includes ground veal, which I have omitted. You won’t need a loaf pan because the loaf is formed by hand, free form style. This is the perfect time to make the snowflake mashed potatoes with sour cream and cream cheese I shared with you last December.
1770 HOUSE MEATLOAF
For the meatloaf:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, in small dice
1 stalk celery, in small dice
1 pound ground beef, 80% lean
1 pound ground pork
1 tablespoon chopped flat leaf parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup whole milk
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 3/4 cups panko bread crumbs
For the sauce:
3/4 cup olive oil
10 garlic cloves, peeled
2 cups chicken stock
3 tablespoons room temperature butter
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat your oven to 350 F. Place the bread crumbs in a food processor and process until fine. Set aside.
Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat and add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the onions and celery. Cook until translucent but not browned. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
Place the remaining meatloaf ingredients in a large mixing bowl, adding the bread crumbs and onion/celery mixture. With clean hands, mix all together until well combined, but not smashed and compacted. Turn the mixture out onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Flatten the mixture out in a rectangle to remove air pockets, then begin pushing in from the sides and ends to form a loaf in the center of the pan. Bake at 350 F for 40-50 minutes until the internal temperature is 155-160 F. Remove from the oven, tent with foil and allow to rest.
While the meatloaf bakes, make the sauce. Heat the olive oil in a small sauce pan and add the garlic. Cook the garlic gently for 10 minutes or so, watching it carefully. It can brown a bit but must not burn. Remove the garlic from the oil, which can be saved to use as garlic-flavored oil in other dishes. In another small pan, heat the chicken stock, butter and cooked garlic until boiling. Boil gently until reduced and thickened a bit, about 40 minutes. Smash the garlic with a fork, season with the salt and pepper, and serve warm with the meatloaf.