Friday, March 14, 2008

FOOD FRIDAY!

JOHN'S SAGEY MEAT LOAF

A quick perusal of the ingredients here will show you this is not your mother's meat loaf. Anything that calls for cracker crumbs, marjoram and vermouth has got to be interesting, at least...that was my thought when I first tried this recipe 20 or so years ago. It's now a special treat for when I want to totally pig out. This is the best meatloaf I've ever tasted and we can hardly stop ourselves from finishing the whole thing in one sitting. It's adapted from my good old Doubleday Cookbook, 1975 edition.

Notes: use this three-meat mixture. The textures of each meld into a smooth, almost creamy finish. Just beef will be just another (your mother's? Mine, yes) meatloaf. I usually have trouble finding ground veal, so I buy whatever I can, usually what's been sliced for scallopine, and chop it in the food processor.

As usual when it comes to seasonings, take the recipe amounts with a grain of salt, as it were. I use a heavy hand with all of them, especially the garlic. I bet you will, too!

1 lb. pound ground beef'
1 lb. ground pork
1 lb. ground veal
1 cup finely chopped sweet onion
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
1 cup coarse soda cracker crumbs
3 eggs
1/4 cup dry white vermouth
1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons minced fresh sage or 1/2 teaspoon dried
1/4 teaspoon parsley flakes
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon marjoram
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix all ingredients thoroughly, using your hands, and form into loaf shape in rimmed baking pan. Bake, un­covered, 1 hour and 25 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 160 F. Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes. Pour off any drippings and serve.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Ralph,

This seems to be a special Friday. Yummy meatload recipe - sounds very good!

And a few fav's of mine musically. Jay & The Americans played at my freshman Orientation Dance - I remember them doing She Cried - anything else escapes memory. I think one of the Jay's was an alumni.

Conway Twitty was a country singer. I tend to agree with you about It's Only Make Believe as the first time I heard it, it was on American Bandstand. For awhile I thought he was a "one hit wonder" until I learned he was a country music star. Perhaps, at this time, they didn't measure a song in terms of crossover hits.

Thanks for a Fun Friday read!

Linda
SE PA

Kat said...

Ralph,
I adore meatloaf and have been known to make mine from whatever I find in the fridge. That means I can never recreate the best one I ever had so I'll be glad to give yours a try. It's great to have a recipe to return to over and over.

Ralph said...

You'll LUV this meatloaf, Linda!

Twitty: when I first heard him I never dreamed he was country, I guess because I didn't listen to counry stations when I was a kid. This and "Loney Blue Boy" seemed straight, Elvis-like rock to me. In fact, I thought he was what we'd now call an Elvis wannabe, just a copy.

Ralph said...

Kat, I guarantee you'll love this one! I forgot to say--use the cracker crumbs as directed in the recipe. They have their own toasty flavor that add to the whole.......

Anonymous said...

Yup! Gotta try this one but three eggs??? Are you sure? Seems like alot for one meatloaf.

Ralph said...

Try it with less, Z&M. No cholesterol probs here, so I've always just done what it says---it holds together well, I'll say that. Try fewer eggs and let me know what you think.

Anonymous said...

Hi Ralph,

Thanks for posting this recipe. I used to make it years ago but I lost my cookbook during one of my moves and could never quite recreate it. It's cooking now. I'll let you know what happens.

BoBo

Ralph said...

BoBo, how cool that you and I have made that same meatloaf and we both liked it! I do it a little differently from the book, with three kinds of meat instead of just the beef--I like the smoother texture of the mix. So glad I could refresh your memory-I hope you'll let me know it came out!