October 2005
Dear Friends,

This month I want to share secrets to making a great meatloaf. But first, I must share an easy way I found to remove tea and coffee stains from the countertop and dishes. I drink tea by the pot full and my husband enjoys his coffee. I find tea and coffee stain our cups as well as our laminate countertop. Some cleaning products would remove stains quite well, but they scratched or bleached the countertop. Baking soda and vinegar helped a little but did not remove all of the stain. I found that soaking my cups with hot water and a little dishwasher detergent, then wiping them with a dishrag, made the cups look like new. Then I poured the solution onto a rag and rubbed the countertop, adding just a little dry dishwasher powder on the countertop. It worked like a charm and did not discolor or scratch the laminate. Word of warning here! Results may vary, so try this on a small, out of the way area first.

Last week I made a large meatloaf – true comfort food and a favorite at our house. You’ll find many recipes for this humble dish, and over the years, I think I’ve tried them all. Too often though, my meatloaf turned out too dry and dense, and we ended up bathing it in ketchup or gravy to make it more palatable! What went wrong?

In my quest for a mouth-watering meatloaf, I tried many recipes: some used a mixture of ground pork or ground turkey with the ground beef, and most used some kind of binder – bread crumbs, crackers, oats among the most common. Then I found an interesting article in “Cook’s Illustrated” magazine (my favorite cooking magazine that explains the science behind the recipes).

Here is what I learned. For starters, ground chuck works best. Add some ground pork if you like, but the main problem with my early meatloaves was that I used lean ground beef. Like many people, I like to watch fat intake. My mother used to lay strips of bacon over the top of her meatloaf. That added flavor, and fat. Okay, I leave the bacon off, but I switched to ground chuck, which is about 20% fat. I decided I’d rather eat a smaller piece of meatloaf that tasted good, than a bigger piece of lean, but dry meatloaf.

Now, before I get e-mails about the merits of low-fat eating, let me say that if you have special health needs, by all means use lean meat! Overall, at our house we don’t eat many high-fat foods, so a higher fat piece of meatloaf every now and then has not seemed to do us any harm. You may want to compromise and try ground sirloin or ground round, about 10% and 15% fat respectively. The meat department at our grocery store clearly labels the fat content for each type of ground beef. If you don’t see that information, ask the butcher at your store.

If you add ground turkey or chicken to your meatloaf, be sure to read the nutrition labels on these, too. They are not necessarily low fat! In fact, much ground turkey and chicken on the market today is made with dark meat and skin and the fat content is very high – sometimes higher than ground chuck. For lean ground turkey or chicken, be sure to use ground breast meat.

Whatever meat you choose, meatloaf can end up very dense and heavy unless you add something to lighten the texture a bit. Often bread or crackers are used in meatloaf as “extenders” especially when trying to stretch the food budget. But dry bread or cracker crumbs, oats, or other dry ingredients absorb fat and moisture in the meat. Once again, the result is a “hockey puck” meatloaf!

Cook’s Illustrated test kitchen found that soft white bread cubes (crusts removed) soaked in milk provided the moist, creamy consistency that produced a melt-in-the-mouth meatloaf. They suggest two slices of white bread, cubed, soaked in ½ Cup of milk for every pound of meat. I found that worked well, but must confess that I usually don’t measure the ingredients in this recipe all that exactly; I can tell by the feel of my meat mixture if it needs adjusting.

What about other ingredients? You can add an egg if you want, but I didn’t find it made much, if any, difference. We like a little onion flavor, but chopped raw onions cook down, leaving little holes in the meatloaf. And, many children do not care for onions and some will pick out any little pieces of onion they can find! It was easier to use ¼ - ½ t. onion powder instead. Adjust seasonings to suit your family’s taste. I use a little ketchup, mustard and Worcestershire sauce, but if you don’t have these on hand it won’t hurt to leave them out.

A word about loaf pans. They come in many sizes. I usually use my large 9” x 5” loaf pan. That holds nearly three pounds of meat and makes a large meatloaf. But it also takes at least an hour and a half to cook through, sometimes longer.

It is so important that you cook ground beef thoroughly because ground meats have a greater risk than a single cut of meat of carrying e. coli or other harmful bacteria. Make sure your meatloaf is at least 160 degrees in the center; a meat thermometer is essential to safeguard your family’s health. You can find them at Wal-Mart and other stores for less than $10.

If you’re in a hurry, you can make mini-meatloaves by spooning the meat into a muffin tin. The meat should cook in about 30 minutes, but again, check with a meat thermometer. Whatever pan you use, line it with foil to make clean-up a snap!

One more tip and then I’ll share my basic recipe. Wear latex or vinyl gloves while mixing ground meat. When you’re done mixing and shaping the meatloaf, just discard the gloves and wash your hands. It’s so much more pleasant and, for those of us with arthritis in our fingers, it helps keep your joints warm, too.

I hope you enjoy this recipe; it can be used for meatballs, too, but it’s a little too soft for hamburgers (they’re likely to fall apart while cooking).

Mouth-Watering Meatloaf
2 ½ pounds ground chuck
¼ - ½ Cup ketchup
2 T. mustard
3 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 t. Italian Seasoning
¼ t. onion powder
½ t. salt
Dash of pepper
4 – 6 slices soft white bread, crusts removed, cubed
1 Cup milk

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Put the ground chuck in a large bowl. Place ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and seasonings on top of meat. Put the bread cubes on top and pour milk over the bread. Let it soak in for a minute, then mix with hands until all ingredients are thoroughly blended. Put into a loaf pan. Bake for 1 ½ hours or until internal temperature is at least 160 degrees.

Next month: Turkey Tips including an easy, foolproof way to fix your Thanksgiving turkey. This will be a “mini-class” on turkey so be sure to send a link to your friends.

Until next time ~

Yours in Him,

 

Copyright, 2005, Laurie Latour.  www.FutureChristianHomemakers.com

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