I Am Woman, Eat My Meatloaf

It's been a challenge transitioning from vegan/vegetarian cooking to a meatfull cuisine. There are so many more rules when it comes to temperatures and marinades. Despite my many failed attempts at meat dishes, my first success story came on the night I cooked my very first meatloaf. I always thought of meatloaf as the ultimate challenge. Even though it is just a mash of meat, eggs and onions, I truly believed if I could bake a successful meatloaf then I could impress even my most critical of cooking friends and family. So I put on my apron and prepared to get my hands meaty.

Meatloaf is one of those meals we were fed as children that we generally forced down due to the economical value of it as well as how much our fathers adored it, much like American Chop Suey. Even on an episode of Roseanne she teaches Darlene's home-ec class how to feed a family of five on a really tight budget and meatloaf was the answer! This episode is one of those fantastic examples of Roseanne breaking the traditional ideals of the housewife and burping them back up in your face. She is fantastic, just watch for yourself.



Ok so back to my meatloaf! I didn't quite follow Roseanne's recipe, no corn flakes were involved, but I found a great recipe to work off of from the Food Network's show Barefoot Contessa. The ingredients were basic and I think the real trick was caramelizing the onions before adding them to the meatloaf. The other trick, cook it on a flat baking sheet rather than a loaf pan so the juices don't leave the loaf soggy. The worcestershire sauce is also key. And don't skimp on the ketchup! One thing I found in a lot of recipes was adding cheese. Trust me, I love cheese, I could live off cheese for the rest of my life but this meal is much better without it. I couldn't believe how much meatloaf this made! I fed eight hungry people with this one recipe.



To add to the meatloaf I made some green beans, biscuits and garlic mashed potatoes made with red bliss potatoes. I've made this recipe a half dozen times since my first attempt and it always comes out delicious and is a real cost saver and always a crowd pleaser. Someone even told me they felt like they were shaming their mother eating my meatloaf because they loved it so much.

This was definitely one to add to my list of simple, down home, successful cooking.