5 Days 5 Lunches: Meatloaf

5 Days 5 Lunches returns with a American classic. Meatloaf, no not the singer Meat Loaf, but Meatloaf the delicious meat cake that has been comforting us all for as long as we can remember.

Meatloaf however is not unique to America and it actually finds its roots to Germans who immigrated to the states way back when in the 1800s. But some say its roots can be traced as far back as the ancient Romans and their cuisine. I mean lets face it, taking a meat mixture and putting it in the oven is not rocket science and it sure as hell is not a hard thing to grasp.

Nations all around the world have a Meatloaf esque dish in some shape or form. The varieties literally span across the globe and across the major continents. Iranians even have something similar in the dish called Koofteh which are big meatballs. My mom would make pan kabob for us growing up but it was essentially just a flat meatloaf in a pan. However you want to spin it, meat based loafs rule.

But the American version is the best. The combination of the sauce and the meat mixture make a comfort food dish that is hands down one of my favorite things to eat. The soft tender nature of the meatloaf also lends itself to being easily eaten so that makes it an even better comfort food. Who doesn’t love melt in your mouth goodness? (Yikes that sounded not so good. Apologies hahha)

So I made a meatloaf that reheats perfectly. I made so much that I had to freeze some, so it’s a perfect freezer lunch too! For the filler I made a panade and a soffrito to really build some great flavor in the meatloaf. A soffrito is a lightly browned mixture of veggies that you put into your food. For my soffrito I didn’t have carrots or celery so I used some tart apples instead, it did the job.

A panade (or at least what I think it is, don’t send me hate mail culinary experts), is some toasted bread that I ran through a food processor and mixed with whole milk. This helps make your meat extra tender.

The mashed potatoes you see in the dish were simply roasted potatoes that I baked whole in the oven. Once they were soft and the skin was puffy I just mashed them manually with a masher for a quick mashed potato.

Recipe

Ingredients

1 lb 80/20 ground beef

1 lb loose pork sausage or ground pork

2 slices of bread toasted and turned into crumbs

1/4 cup of Milk

1 egg

1 Onion finely diced (or run through food processor)

1 Small apple peeled and diced

2 Tbsp Garlic Powder

2 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce

2 Tbsp. Soy Sauce

1 Tbsp. Fish Sauce

1 Tbsp. Thyme

Glaze

1 Cup Ketchup

2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

2 Tsp. Brown Sugar

2 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce

1 Tbsp. Soy Sauce

Method

Toast the bread. Run the bread through a food processor.Mix bread crumbs with milk to make panade.

Take onions, apple, garlic powder, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, fish sauce, thyme, saute in a pan with some olive oil to make a soffrito. Make sure it’s nicely browned and the apple mushes up and caramelizes. Remove from heat.

Add panade, soffrito, egg, to pork and beef. Mix together. Don’t overmix, just mix it enough so everything is consistently spread throughout. Shape the mixture into a loaf onto a roasting pan. I don’t recommend using a loaf pan because the meat gives off a lot of juice and you’re going to have a mess if you don’t have anything to catch the juices.

Preheat oven to 325.

Make glaze, mix all glaze ingredients and heat slowly in a saucepan for 5 minutes, make sure it doesn’t burn.

Place the meatloaf into the oven, once it’s browned all around. Add glaze in coats, only 1 tbsp. per coat. Do multiple glazes.

Once you’re out of sauce, you can remove it from the oven and serve.

Enjoy