RL Anger

Roz

@surreality Common meatloaf mix is beef, veal, and pork. Meatloaf without doing a mix of meats -- not necessarily that specific mix, but something! -- is so weird to me. I don't just want a loaf of ground beef! One of my favorite mixes I've done is bison, lamb, and pork.

I do think doing a mix of meats in your meatloaf is perfectly normal, though. Not everyone does it, of course, but when there's a standard "meatloaf mix" that's gonna be pretty normal.

surreality

@Roz I think that's what ours is, yeah. I know it has beef and veal, it was the pork I was blanking on. And agreed: it's like... if it was just beef or pork, wouldn't it be beefloaf? Or porkloaf? Which sounded like it should be a thing until I typed 'beefloaf' and instantly and unavoidably read it aloud in my head and realized how strange and wrong 'beefloaf' sounds.

Ganymede

@Roz said in RL Anger:

Common meatloaf mix is beef, veal, and pork. Meatloaf without doing a mix of meats -- not necessarily that specific mix, but something! -- is so weird to me. I don't just want a loaf of ground beef! One of my favorite mixes I've done is bison, lamb, and pork.

I like to use lean pork, turkey, chicken, and beef chorizo.

Roz

@Ganymede said in RL Anger:

@Roz said in RL Anger:

Common meatloaf mix is beef, veal, and pork. Meatloaf without doing a mix of meats -- not necessarily that specific mix, but something! -- is so weird to me. I don't just want a loaf of ground beef! One of my favorite mixes I've done is bison, lamb, and pork.

I like to use lean pork, turkey, chicken, and beef chorizo.

Hello I'm here at your house for dinner

Auspice

Can I just... not be tired?

For one day, maybe?

Ganymede

@Roz said in RL Anger:

Hello I'm here at your house for dinner

You'll have to wait in queue. I have a partner and two hungry monkeys ahead of you.

Also -- bread is super important in meatloaf. Really. I liked to grind up focaccia for flavor, but challa works as well.

Because I'm a bit insane, I'll mix all of the above in with a bit of mire poire, and then let it sit in the fridge for 24 hours to allow the veggie goodness to seep in and become one with the chorizo spices and fat.

Kanye Qwest

Meatloaf pisses me off, too.

Arkandel

hedgehog

For mine, I use 80/20 beef, either matzo meal or oatmeal, egg, season salt, dried onion, parsley and black pepper. I have discovered that oatmeal (good old Quaker in a cardboard can) does a great job of both binding the meat and keeping moisture in. I have made it both in a loaf pan and a 8x8 pyrex by shaping it in the middle.

I hate vegetables in it; especially plain onion (hence the dried). My in-laws have been known to use a mix of kosher turkey and beef, and put hardboiled eggs in the center, eastern European style.

Penzey's Spices used to make a multi-spiced sausage blend that was good for flavoring, but it looks like they discontinued it. Their Tsardust Memories blend sounds fun, though, and would give the sweet-salty tang that ketchup does without the need for it: https://www.penzeys.com/online-catalog/tsardust-memories/c-24/p-624/pd-s

Jaded

So am I the only one who puts green pepper and Worcestershire sauce in their meatloaf?

TNP

I don't put vegetables in mine. I do though add some Worcestershire for flavor.

Arkandel

You jerks are making me hungry.

Ganymede

@Jaded said in RL Anger:

So am I the only one who puts green pepper and Worcestershire sauce in their meatloaf?

I find that the green peppers are either too crunchy, which ruins the texture of the meatloaf, or too soft, which ruins the texture of the vegetable.

Worcestershire sauce is a fantastic addition; however, I prefer to add stuff like sweet chili sauce (which crusts up nicely around the edges) and soy sauce.

As for oatmeal? Ugh. Fuck that. I go with crumbled bread.

gasket

Dry mustard is another super-tasty addition to meatloaf. Breadcrumbs > saltines > oatmeal as far as filler/binding goes, IMHO, but oatmeal would definitely make the meatloaf toothier.

Jaded

@Ganymede
I sautee the green peppers first so they maintain their crunch. At least they usually do. I've never had an issue with it.

surreality

@Ganymede You reminded me of the other thing we used to make with that stuff with the green pepper mention. My grandmother (and then mother, even though that grandmother amusingly was not her mother, but my father's) would cut the top off of a green pepper, hollow it out, fill it with the same meat mix, drizzle her homemade tomato sauce over the top, and throw it in the oven. SO GOOD.

There was a weird tuna variation for Fridays, too, because Catholics, and even not being a huge fan of canned tuna, it came out weirdly delicious.

Catsmeow

I'll be honest. I tend to use whatever is left over and that goes in the meatloaf. It's sometimes (for me) one of those 'kitchen sink' meals. If I'm buying stuff I tend to do pork and beef. Sometimes I even bacon wrap it because YOLO.

TNP

@surreality Yeah, stuffed peppers. It was a relatively common dish growing up.

Catsmeow

I hated stuffed peppers as a kid and would refuse to eat them. Now as an adult (I think I am one?), I nom nom nom the hell out of them.

surreality

Some day, when I win the lottery and have the kitchen to end all kitchens, I'm inviting everyone over for the MSB Meatloaf-and-Similar-Foods Cookoff. That's just all there is to it.

...though maybe we should start a recipes/nom nom nom thread at this point?