Cooking as a result of craving . . . meatloaf
In the car on the way home from work (I don't usually drive, but I left too late to catch the bus and still get to work on time), I found myself with a craving to make meatloaf. Not necessarily to eat it, mind you, just to make it (though I did eat it when it was done). I haven't had meatloaf in decades, but I remember my mother making it when I was a kid. I know that my brother makes her recipe every now and then. He's got her recipe card; I don't have a copy of it and have no recipe of my own. So on my way home, I stopped at the grocery store, picked up the stuff I thought I might need (ground beef, an onion; I had other ingredients at home already) then came home and went to work on theory and memory, not going to the internets for help. I wanted to see what would happen if I just winged it. This is what I did:
1.25 lbs ground beef (90% lean)
1/2 onion chopped fine
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
1 egg
garlic salt to taste (I went light with it)
1/2 cup DiParma Classico Four Cheese Pasta Sauce
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Except for the pasta sauce, mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl, then stuff into a meatloaf pan. Bake for 40 minutes. In the meanwhile, heat up the pasta sauce. When the timer goes off, pour the pasta sauce over the meatloaf, then bake another 20 minutes, then serve.
I served it with a brown rice medley and steamed carrots.
I ended up adding a little more salt for taste. Salt wasn't what I wanted, but it was a quick solution because I needed to add something more for flavor, I think; I wanted more flavor than I got. More onion may help, or maybe adding paprika. (Paprika! Yes!) I had forgotten than I have some sun-dried tomatoes in the house and I should, perhaps, add some of those next time I try this (or the next time I heat up what I've still got in the refrigerator).
I think, the next time I make the rice, I'll add a little more salt there, too, and maybe some sauteed onion.
After I completed the experiment, I decided to hunt down recipes on the internet and found that in its simplicity, the recipe I put together was pretty accurate to what I found online. The big difference was that most recipes called for ketchup rather than pasta sauce. Ketchup, which absolutely has its place in the kitchen, would have seemed too aggressive to me, though. I'm pleased with what I did.
I made enough for at least three servings, more properly four. I'm not sure that meatloaf is something I'd make for company; it feels like family food, being hearty and unshowy. But now I know I can do it in a pinch. I don't know why I felt the urge.
1.25 lbs ground beef (90% lean)
1/2 onion chopped fine
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
1 egg
garlic salt to taste (I went light with it)
1/2 cup DiParma Classico Four Cheese Pasta Sauce
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Except for the pasta sauce, mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl, then stuff into a meatloaf pan. Bake for 40 minutes. In the meanwhile, heat up the pasta sauce. When the timer goes off, pour the pasta sauce over the meatloaf, then bake another 20 minutes, then serve.
I served it with a brown rice medley and steamed carrots.
I ended up adding a little more salt for taste. Salt wasn't what I wanted, but it was a quick solution because I needed to add something more for flavor, I think; I wanted more flavor than I got. More onion may help, or maybe adding paprika. (Paprika! Yes!) I had forgotten than I have some sun-dried tomatoes in the house and I should, perhaps, add some of those next time I try this (or the next time I heat up what I've still got in the refrigerator).
I think, the next time I make the rice, I'll add a little more salt there, too, and maybe some sauteed onion.
After I completed the experiment, I decided to hunt down recipes on the internet and found that in its simplicity, the recipe I put together was pretty accurate to what I found online. The big difference was that most recipes called for ketchup rather than pasta sauce. Ketchup, which absolutely has its place in the kitchen, would have seemed too aggressive to me, though. I'm pleased with what I did.
I made enough for at least three servings, more properly four. I'm not sure that meatloaf is something I'd make for company; it feels like family food, being hearty and unshowy. But now I know I can do it in a pinch. I don't know why I felt the urge.