James Beard's Meatloaf

In his last couple of weeks at home, Ryan was continually campaigning for me to cook "something different", and plumbing the depths of my cookbooks in pursuit of that perfect "something".  One night, when I had a 2 pound package of ground beef at the ready, he announced that he wanted a new and exciting meatloaf, and found this recipe in The New James Beard Cookbook, copyright 1981, found at a used book sale a while back.

JAMES BEARD'S MEATLOAF

2 pounds ground beef
1 onion, grated
1 carrot, finely shredded
3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon crushed rosemary
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 egg white, slightly beaten
1/4 cup fresh bread crumbs soaked in 1/4 cup cream or milk

Combine the meat, onion, carrot and seasonings, and mix well.  Mix in the eggs and soaked crumbs.  Form into a firm loaf and place in a baking pan.  Optional: place bacon strips across the top.  Bake at 350F for about an hour.

Note that the original recipe also called for one pound each of ground pork and veal, which I didn't have (and didn't need a 4 pound meatloaf, anyway), and proportionally more of everything else, along with some Tobasco sauce, which I also didn't have (and don't like).  Given our fat reduction program hereabouts, I used egg whites only, and soaked my bread crumbs in milk instead of cream.  It didn't matter; the meat loaf was delicious, anyway.  I'd thought there would be some for lunch the next day, but Ryan and his father both went back for seconds.  It was just that good.

Happy Wednesday, everyone!