comfort food

Comfort food for my husband and I can mean a bowl of homemade soup, a dish of pasta or meatloaf. I normally make an all-beef meatloaf, but recently Kay Chun from The New York Times had a recipe that used, what else, a meatloaf blend.

When I was shopping the meat case at my local food stores I noticed one store’s meatloaf blend was a combination of ground beef and ground pork; the other used beef, pork and veal. What are the pros and cons of using just one type of ground meat versus a blend of either two or three. I visited the “Serious Eats” website and read an article by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, “The Food Lab's All-American Meatloaf Recipe,” with the following takeaway:

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1. Pure beef loses moisture and has a coarse texture. Pork has a milder flavor due to a higher fat content and yields a softer texture. Veal, on the other hand, loses very little moisture, remains tender and makes for a gelatinous texture.
2. Veal has muscles that are not quite developed yet and there is a higher proportion of soluble collagen. Collagen is the connective protein that turns to gelatin when cooked, thereby helping the veal retain moisture.
3. Using a combination of beef, pork and veal gives you the meaty flavor of the beef, pork provides the essential fat and veal provides gelatin during baking. If you’re adverse to using veal, you can substitute unflavored gelatin mixed with chicken stock to replicate the same effect.
4. Here’s Kenji’s observation on the use of breadcrumbs in a meatloaf: “Aside from absorbing and retaining some moisture as the meatloaf cooks, they physically impede the meat proteins from rubbing up to closely to one another, minimizing the amount of cross-linkage and thus dramatically increasing tenderness.”

 
Kenji made his own breadcrumbs with fresh bread. In Ms. Chun’s recipe she used white sandwich bread torn into small pieces then mixed with milk to form a paste, otherwise known as a panade. The bread starches create a gel that coats the meat keeping it loose, moist and tender during cooking.
 
For Ms. Chun’s recipe you’ll need extra virgin olive oil, a large yellow onion, fresh garlic, tomato paste, white sandwich bread, milk, eggs, fresh parsley, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, dried thyme and meatloaf mix. There’s also a tomato glaze for the meatloaf made using ketchup and Worcestershire sauce. When I prepared the recipe I used half the ingredients as it was just for my husband and I. As this was the first time making this recipe, I used the beef/pork/veal blend
 
The onions and garlic are sautéed until soft then bit of tomato paste is added. Once done, it’s set aside to cool. The meatloaf mix starts by creating a bread paste then incorporating eggs, chopped parsley, salt, pepper, thyme and, finally, the ground meat. I used a fork to make sure I didn’t over mix the meat. The meat will be placed on rimmed baking sheet and shaped into a loaf. The tomato glaze is spread on top of the meatloaf and baked. A quick mention, this recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt. After reading some of the other cook’s comments I eyeballed the salt without measuring and it was perfect. Some cooks suggested using 2 teaspoons and not tablespoons, use your judgment.
 
The meatloaf came out wonderfully. It was moist, tender and had a great flavor. I served it with smashed potatoes and green beans. My husband enjoyed it, however, due to ethical reasons prefers that I not use veal. The next time I’ll try adding gelatin to my beef/pork blend. Overall, it was a delicious, comforting meal.

Meatloaf
By Kay Chun
The New York Times, “Here to Help” column
January 6, 2023
 
Time: 1-1/2 hours
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
 
Ingredients
 
For the Meatloaf
 
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped (about 2 cups)
5 large garlic cloves, minced (about 2 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 (½-inch-thick) slices white sandwich bread (about 3 ounces), torn into small pieces
⅔ cup whole milk
3 large eggs
¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf or curly parsley​
​2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3 pounds meatloaf mix (or any combination of ground beef, pork and/or veal)
 
 
For the Tomato Glaze
½ cup ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
 
Preparation

1. Make the meatloaf: Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease a rimmed baking sheet with oil. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a medium skillet over medium. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in tomato paste until well combined; let cool.
2. In a large bowl, combine bread and milk, and mash with a spoon until a paste forms. Add eggs, parsley, salt, pepper, thyme and cooled onion mixture and mix until well blended. Add the beef, pork and veal, and mix gently to combine, being careful not to overwork the meat. Divide mixture into 2 equal portions and shape each into a 4-by-8-inch meatloaf on the prepared baking sheet.
   
3. Make the glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together ketchup and Worcestershire sauce until smooth. Use a spoon to spread mixture over the top and sides of each meatloaf. Bake until nicely browned and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center of meatloaf registers 160 degrees, 45 to 55 minutes. Let rest for 15 minutes before slicing.

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