I'm not an expert on cooking. It's a family joke that I never sit down to a meal that I have prepared without criticizing something about it. My kids think that I inherited this trait from my mother who always did the same thing. She was a good cook - so maybe we both were just fishing for praise. :)
There is one thing that I do make that I always like - my meatloaf. It is a recipe that I got from a Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook that I got over 50 years ago for a wedding gift. That cookbook is long gone as it finally fell apart, but I kept a lot of recipes from it.
In an attempt to get my children, when they were little, to eat more vegetables, I added the carrots in the recipe. They add moisture to the meat loaf, and my children did not seem to know the difference. Here is the recipe.
EVERYDAY MEATLOAF
2/3 cup bread crumbs dry
1 cup milk
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup onion chopped (I usually add more onions than this.)
2 carrots, grated
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sage
1 dash pepper
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup catsup
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon dry mustard
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix well bread crumbs, milk; meat, eggs, onion, carrots, and seasonings. Form into loaf and place into loaf pan.
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup onion chopped (I usually add more onions than this.)
2 carrots, grated
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sage
1 dash pepper
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup catsup
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon dry mustard
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix well bread crumbs, milk; meat, eggs, onion, carrots, and seasonings. Form into loaf and place into loaf pan.
I use a flat pan with sides instead of the loaf pan so that I can pour off any grease that accumulates around the meatloaf. I usually start doing this about half-way through the baking. I shape the loaf with wet hands. This seems to work better and is supposed to keep the meatloaf from cracking when it bakes. I used to make my own bread crumbs in the blender or food processor but for the past few years I buy the ready made kind - much easier!
Spread with Piquant Sauce made by mixing brown sugar, catsup, nutmeg and dry mustard. Bake 1 hour. Servings: 8
This is a good dish to prepare in the morning. ( Remember to take the ground beef out of the freezer the night before, if it is frozen.) I cover it with plastic wrap and stick it in the refrigerator. Then I can just put it into the oven an hour before dinner is to be served.
Ready to stick in the refrigerator until time to bake for dinner
Baked and ready to eat. (I started slicing it before I remembered to take the photo.) Makes a messy pan!
My meatloaf is not a tomato one. I use 1 lb ground beef, one egg, four slices of dried bread cut into squares, one package of dry onion soup. 1/4 c. water, 1 T. Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Blend the egg, water and onion soup. Lightly toss in bread crumbs. Add Worcestershire and seasonings and fold in ground beef. Make a loaf and bake at 350 for one hour. (If double bake 375 or about 1 1/2 hours. My kids and grandkids love this meatloaf. I guess it's all in what you are raised on.
ReplyDeleteI think you are right. Everything my mother made always tasted great to me. However, for some reason, she never made meatloaf. I don't remember where I first had it. Maybe at the hospital where I was in nurses' training.
ReplyDeleteYour recipe sounds great. Anything with onion soup mix in it has got to be good!
My children also roll their eyes every time I apologize for something I cook that I don't feel that great about. Yes, my propensity for doing that came from Mother. But she made the point of explaining that she simply had discriminating tastes, and she was well aware when something turned out well and the rare occasions on which it didn't. So I tell my family that I don't apologize because I'm fishing for compliments, but simply because I have discriminating tastes!
ReplyDeleteBoth yours and Grannie Annie's recipes sound good, and I'd like to try them. Incidentally, I still have my original Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook -- and my aunt's.
I will try to remember that!
ReplyDelete