Meatloaf - Pork and Beef

This is a really good, very traditional meatloaf recipe from Food 52. I will make it again, as I think it is my favorite meatloaf recipe thus far (I like mushrooms and carrots in there, and all the parsley). I modified it just a little to be GF. This hit the spot for something easy and filling, and cozy for this cloudy bit of weather. I ate it with fried potatoes. Yum.

Meatloaf
olive oil 
2 stalks celery
1 medium carrot
¹/₂ small onion 
¹/₂ cup parsley with large stems removed
1 small bell pepper diced
6 mushrooms, with tough part of stems removed
1 pound 80% ground beef
1 pound ground pork
1 cup GF oats
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
spoonful of tomato paste (or a small diced tomato)
2 tsp salt, plus pepper to taste
2 tablespoons heavy cream (optional)
splash of fish sauce (opt, for some umami!)
ketchup to slather on top of loaf

1. Preheat oven to 375° F and lightly oil a rectangular baking dish or loaf pan. Dice celery, carrot, parsley and onion into small bits. Alternatively, process in a food processor until the vegetables are ground.
2. Dice the pepper and mushrooms and sauté them in a small amount of olive oil until the pepper softens.
3. To a large mixing bowl add the meat, ground vegetables, sautéed pepper and mushrooms, oats, egg, tomato paste, salt and pepper, and cream (if using). Mix with your hands until it's all combined. (To check the seasoning, fry off a tiny test patty, taste, and adjust accordingly.)
4. Plop the meat into the oiled baking pan and shape into a loaf. Cover with ketchup. 
5. Bake for 1 hour, remove from oven, and let sit for 15 minutes before slicing. 

Meatloaf with Chimichurri Sauce

The snow is starting to fall! I am watching the snowflakes while I await the results of the Minneapolis mayor election and type up this blog post. It seems highly unlikely that this snow will stick around, but my mind does turn to some winter comfort foods in the midst of the chilly weather.

Last night I tried a new meatloaf recipe - more of an Argentinean take on things with a chimichurri sauce. It turned out delicious! Chimichurri is a parsley sauce that is typically served with grilled meat of any kind, though I have not actually had it prior to making it yesterday. It's really nice and fresh tasting, and was a great way to use up lots of parsley from the garden before this freeze/snowfall. I also liked the alternative to a tomato-ketchup-y sauce. The chimichurri is not so sweet, but is really flavorful and bright tasting.

My recipe is based on "Argentinean-style Meatloaf with Chimichurri" from my Odd Bits cookbook. It does not make use of any animal odd bits though - she makes it using brisket (that she puts through a grinder). I made it using ground venison - and ground burger would work just fine. I also made some mashed cauliflower - because what is meatloaf without it?! I also kind of freaked out when i was looking at my grocery receipt where my 3.3 lb cauliflower cost the same as the 2 lb pork belly, and as a large Callister farm chicken (which was on sale). I obviously had not paid close attention to the cauliflower costing over $4 a pound or some such. I mean - that is a little crazy! I will be buying conventional from here on out.

Not the best photo - but very tasty!

Meatloaf with Chimichurri
2 T beef dripping or lard
1 large onion, chopped
3/4 c. diced mushrooms
1 lb spinach, stemmed & chopped
(I used frozen nettles instead)
2 1/4 lb ground brisket
1 scant T coconut flour
1 large egg
coarse sea salt
cayenne pepper
freshly ground black pepper
Sauce:
3 c flat leaf parsley leaves
1 shallot, chopped
1 clove garlic, germ removed (opt)
1/3 c extra virgin olive oil
1 T red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp dried oregano

1. In a large frying pan over medium heat, add the drippings; when the fat is hot add the onions and mushrooms and cook until onions are softened, about 5 minutes. Increase the heat to medium high and add the spinach/greens and continue to cook, stirring, until the all the water from the spinach and mushrooms has evaporated. Set aside to cool.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
3. In a large bowl mix meat, cooled spinach mixture, and coconut flour. Whisk the egg with 2 teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon cayenne and season with pepper; add to the beef and mix well. (From here you can take a small spoonful of the mix and fry it up as a mini patty to taste it and check the seasoning, or just forge ahead. Mine tasted good.)
4. Pack the meat mixture into a 6 cup loaf pan, mounding it in the center. Bake for 55 minutes; meatloaf will have shrunk (is that a word?) from the sides of the pan.
5. Meanwhile, place the parsley, shallot, and garlic in a food processor and process until finely chopped. Add olive oil, vinegar, oregano, and a pinch of salt and cayenne and process until well mixed. Transfer the chimichurri to a small bowl.
6. Remove the meatloaf from the oven and let it rest 10 minutes. Slice and serve with the chimichurri sauce. This is delicious with mashed cauliflower, and also tastes nice cold.

Mish Mash and Paleo Meatloaf

Well, I seem to not be posting my meals lately, though I am eating lots of delicious recipes from last year, including coconut kale, bohemian brussels sprouts, lots of roasted delicata squash from my garden, and various venison steaks.

I did make this crock pot meatloaf last week...mostly because I had one of those weeks where I was not home long enough to cook but needed many meals, and why not let it all cook while I am away?! I love crock pots. It tasted great - it looked slightly strange because you get some excess liquid - but no problem.

The recipe I followed/modified is here from a blog called PaleoPot. All of the recipes are for a crock pot - so clever! And I thought the tomato topping was one of my fave paleo ketchup sort of substitutes. It was super easy and really good.

Meatloaf:
2 pounds of lean ground meat
2 eggs, beaten.
4 ounces of bacon, crisped and chopped.
1/2 of a med white onion, small dice.
2 stacks of celery, sliced thinly or chopped
1/2 small green pepper, small dice
2 tsp of dried oregano
1 tsp of black pepper
1 tsp of thyme
2 tsp of smoked paprika
1 tsp salt

Sauce:
1 small can of tomato paste (can also use 1/4 cup of tomato sauce)
2 to 3 tbsp of dijon mustard
2 tsp of smoked paprika
1 tsp of apple cider vinegar
salt to taste

1. Chop up your bacon and cook until brown and crispy.
2. In a large bowl combine your ground meat, beaten eggs, bacon, veggies and seasonings. Mix everything together by hand, forming a loaf. Place your loaf in your slow cooker and press it down so that the top is flat and you have about of inch of space between the loaf and the sides of the slow cooker. (this is where all that liquid fills in later.)
3. Mix your tomato sauce ingredients together and spoon them over the loaf. Use a spoon or a knife to frost the loaf’s top as evenly as possible. (I did this later after the loaf was done because I ran out of time in the morning - still was great!)
4. Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours.

*This also reheats super well and was good cold.