Margie and I have a very, very happy marriage.
But meatloaf has not been a part of it.
I grew up with The One True Meatloaf Of Which All Others Are But Shadow, which involves as its loafy filler breadcrumbs.
Margie, on the other hand, grew up with some Vile, Corrupted Travesty Of Meatloaf Against The Laws Of Man And God that involved in the same role (gag) oatmeal.
We decided, long ago, never to further discuss the matter.
But the subject did come up while Mary was last visiting, and she offered to send her mother’s meatloaf recipe. Which she did. And which I made a variant of this evening. (Variant because hers calls for ground beef, ground pork, and ground veal, and what we had was ground beef, ground buffalo, and uncooked beer brats).
While Mary’s Mother’s Meatloaf does include some True And Proper Breadcrumbs, the majority of “filler” in the loaf is, in fact, made up of shredded (grated / chopped) potato.
And while it is not perhaps The One True Meatloaf Of Which All Others Are But Shadow Of Blessed Memory, it did turn out, in fact, to make a quite tasty meatloaf. And Margie agreed. As did Katherine.
And we learned that, all other differences aside, we could agree as well that meatloaf should be garnished with catsup.
Mary is welcome to visit any time she wants.
I regret to inform you that the only acceptable meatloaves are made with soda cracker crumbs. Ketchup is, of course, mandatory, both on and in the loaf.
Since my beloved despises meatloaf, I have had nothing but the slab of hamburger and ketchup that they serve at Boston Market for many, many years. So, I would welcome all of the above with relish (and perhaps even some mustard).
Blame my mother for the oatmeal!
A hearty laugh at other people’s food foibles is definitely the way to start Monday. Thanks so much.
And I’m glad the meatloaf was good, I guess I’ll have to make one again myself. It’s just that as one person, that’s a lot of leftover meatloaf!
Avo: Soda cracker crumbs … next thing you know you’ll be telling me you make Mock Apple Pie with Ritz Crackers!
Mary: I am informed by Margie that it makes for splendid meatloaf sandwiches as leftovers. (I consider that a “rude and horrid feast” concept, but to each their own.)
It’s totally not fair for you to tempt me and not share the recipe.
Mary’s Meatloaf
1 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground veal
1/4 lb ground pork
1 grated potato (use chopper)
1 grated onion
salt, pepper, 1 t Worcestershire sauce
1/2 c brad crumbs
2 or 3 eggs
1 cup milk
Bake 1.25 hours in 350º or 400º oven
As you can see it’s one of those old time recipes that leave a lot of room for choices. The instructions also call for grinding the meats together, but I never did that. I used a regular grater for the potato since I had no idea what “use chopper’ meant. And I don’t think I’ve ever used the entire cup of milk, so it should probably read a scant cup of milk.
Thanks Margie!
In this instance, we used 1# lean ground beef, 1# ground bison, and 3/5# beer brats … about five grated “ButterGold” potatoes … 3 eggs, 2 tsp Worcestershire. This made 1.5 loaf pans, so I fortunately had a half-loaf pan (which was done in about 55 minutes) to cook the extra in.
And it’s really my mother’s recipe, so it’s Shanna’s Meatloaf (via Mary).
And on a non-related note, ***Dave, have you been following the Dork Tower Recaptcha storyline?
Yup. Quite amusing.