Wednesday, September 3, 2014

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!

7 comments:

Big Dude said...

Sounds like he's going to miss mom's cooking. If he's going to pick a meatloaf recipe, I'd think James Beard is a good one - it looks nice and moist.

Blond Duck said...

Sounds good to me! I hope you're doing well!

Pam said...

It looks moist and delicious! I bet Ryan is going to miss your cooking.

Anonymous said...

You always think there's going to be leftovers and you're always wrong. (The picture sells me, I'll give this a try.)

Sue said...

Rob loves meatloaf. I have a recipe I've used for years but this one looks really good.

Lapdog Creations said...

Oh, I love a good meatloaf! It's that time of year... mmmm!

SissySees said...

Not a meatloaf fan, but if Mr. Beard has one, maybe it can win me over?