It was clear that he thought I had taken a culinary wrong turn. How could that brown, ketchup-slathered, stale-crumb mountain of 1950s dinnertime infamy be, you know, good food? Food especially that I would make, with my reverence of real, whole, unprocessed foods?
I'm not sure where the spark of inspiration came from. Maybe I was seduced by the childhood memory of piling up the red, eggy loaf on a pan in my mom's kitchen. Maybe serving hundreds of plates of meatloaf to old men at the diner when I was sixteen inoculated me against the disdain people seem to have for this all-American dish.
Either way, I really wanted to make it. Of course, I wanted to make it a new way. An upgrade.
So here are my substitutions: grass-fed beef; 100% whole grain, home-toasted breadcrumbs; organic tomato sauce; and freshly roasted tomato topping. Earthy sage and oregano add depth, and a splash of balsamic vinegar barely hints at the tang you remember from this meatloaf's ketchupy cousins. And oh is it delicious.
This is meatloaf made whole and nourishing. This is meatloaf good enough for a dinner party.
"This is the best meatloaf I have every had," Scott said as we ate. "I feel like I could eat that whole loaf."
Great! (But don't do that! Then you won't have leftovers.) Enjoy it with your family!
Grassfed Meatloaf with Roasted Tomato Topping
Hands-on time: 20 minutes
Total time: 90 minutes
Serves 6
1 lb grassfed beef
1 fresh egg
2 slices 100% whole grain bread, like Ezekial brand
1/2 sweet onion, chopped small
1/2 cup tomato sauce (I used Muir Glen organic, which is BPA-free)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp. dried sage
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 medium tomato, chopped
Preheat oven to 350, and rub a little olive oil into the sides and bottom of a standard-sized loaf pan.
Toast bread until it's nice and dry, and add the slices to a large mixing bowl. Use your fingers to grind and break it into crumbs, as finely as you can, within reason.
Add all other ingredients except fresh tomato to the mixing bowl (I give the egg a quick whisk right in the bowl). Season with salt and pepper, then use your hands to mix everything well.
Pack the mixture into the loaf pan. Flatten that puppy out (mountainous loaves just dry out at the edges).
Sprinkle the chopped tomato evenly across the top of the loaf.
Bake for just over an hour, using a kitchen thermometer to make sure the loaf is over 160 degrees in the middle. (One hour and ten minutes has been the sweet spot for me.)
Slice and enjoy! We love ours topped with sauteed garlicky mushrooms.
Hi there, I found your web site via Google while looking for a related topic, your website came up, it looks good. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks
ReplyDeleteorganic rice
Thanks for the nice blog. It was very useful for me. Keep sharing such ideas in the future as well, and I am glad to came here! Thanks for sharing the such information with us.
ReplyDeletethompson raisins
Nice Website. You should think more about RSS Feeds as a traffic source. They bring me a nice bit of traffic
ReplyDeleteread more
Useful information shared.. I got good information to read this article, thanks for giving us nice info. Fantastic walk-through. I appreciate this post.
ReplyDeletearticle read
Excellent post. I want to thank you for this informative read, I really appreciate sharing this great post. Keep up your work… high quality thompson raisins in USA. Thank you for this blog. That's all I can say. You most definitely have made this blog into something thats eye opening and important. You clearly know so much about the subject, you've covered so many bases. Great stuff from this part of the internet .For more information visit my siteAgain, thank you for this blog.
ReplyDeleteThe varieties of rice are typically classified as long-, medium-, and short-grained.The grains of long-grain rice (high in amylose) tend to remain intact after cooking; medium-grain rice (high in amylopectin) becomes more sticky. Best wholesale dates distributors offer rice that are used for sweet dishes, for risotto in Italy, and many rice dishes, such as arròs negre, in Spain. Some varieties of long-grain rice that are high in amylopectin, known as Thai Sticky rice, are usually steamed.
ReplyDeletevisit our website for further information.......
This is an awesome article a debt of gratitude is in order for sharing this useful data. I will visit your web journal consistently for some most recent post. https://www.akccommodities.com/rice-suppliers-in-usa Useful info. Hope to see more good posts in the future. recipe basmati rice This is great website and owner of this website is also great because he give help full information with us thanks for sharing great and wonderful information.
ReplyDeleteRice is the seed of the grass species Oryza sativa (Asian rice) or less commonly Oryza glaberrima (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species dry food of the genera Zizania and Porteresia, both wild and domesticated, although the term may also be used for primitive or uncultivated varieties of Oryza.
ReplyDeleteUseful information shared.. I got good information to read this article, thanks for giving us nice info. Fantastic walk-through. I appreciate this post. high quality organic rice suppliers in USA Hi there, I found your web site via Google while looking for a related topic, your website came up, it looks good. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks
ReplyDelete