I once worked at Alain Ducasse in Paris and everyone in the kitchen took turns cooking dinner for the chefs. My specialty is complicated french sauces with delicately filleted white fish, but the chef told me i must make something from 'chez toi.' What the hell does that mean, right? America is just one big collection of everything else that exists in the world. Anyways, I didn't argue and question the chef. Mostly because I couldn't phrase my words in French. All the frog's in the kitchen asked if I were making hamburgers. Jerks. So I told them hotdogs. I really couldn't think of something that was typical American other than Heinz ketchup. I love love love ketchup but the French despise it. Or at least they pretend to be disgusted by it. On the big day, I said I'll be making pain de beouf, or a loaf of meat. Nobody could imagine what this weird American thing was because they were only used to eating steak frites and croque monsieurs. As I was prepping and making my meatloaf I could feel everybody lingering to watch me fail. They kept wanting to help by adding some chicken stock in the pan with the meat and rubbing some butter or oil on the loaf. The kitchen staff were even more confused when I said the loaf was served with a ketchup sauce. They asked why I wouldn't use mustard. Weirdo's. It's obvious that meatloaf wouldn't be meatloaf without ketchup. It's be a gross disgusting meatloaf. I like meatloaf because it's another excuse for me to douse my food in ketchup and not look like a complete freak. I was sweating balls by the time I finished my creation but I was confident. I'm super Jamie! Goddess of the kitchen! And also because when I asked for some beef and veal, they brought me beef and veal tenderloin. How could a meatloaf not taste good. It'd be good raw! Well, most times, meatloaf can look like spam, but I have my secrets, which I shall reveal below. In conclusion, the chef's loved it! They said they were pleasantly surprised and the sauce was amamazing. Obviously. And then everyone else wanted in on the leftovers. Here is my meatloaf I made the other day. The sauce should have gone on perpendicular to the length of the loaf...but oh well...hindsight.
Close up of the interior. I like close ups.
Jamie's Fantastic Meatloaf
It's really important to make tons of ketchup sauce cause everybody's going to want to drink it and also its what goes inside the loaf to season it to perfection.
FOR 8 (6 for hogs)
INGREDIENTS:
For the Loaf:
1lb ground veal
1lb ground pork
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 small carrot, finely chopped
2 small celery ribs, finely chopped
4 sliced of white bread, cut into small cubes
2 cups of whole milk
1 egg
3 tablespoons of parsley, chopped
1/2 tablespoon of fresh thyme leaves
For the Sauce:
4 cups of Heinz Ketchup
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 large red bell pepper (or 2 small), finely chopped
1 overflowing tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
Freshly ground pepper
PREPARATION:
Make the sauce. Saute the onions and peppers in oil until soft. About 5 minutes. Add all the ketchup, bay leaves and pepper. Let simmer for about 10 minutes. If the sauce seems too thick, add a little bit of water. Let cool.
While the sauce is cooling, prepare the meat loaf. Put the cubes of bread in a big bowl with the milk and let it soak. Saute the onion, carrot and celery until very tender. Squeeze the milk out of the bread and put them n a big mixing bowl, add the sauteed veggies, meat, egg, parsley and a cup of the sauce. Get your hands dirty and mix everything.
On a baking pan, shape the meat into a nice looking loaf, baste with a little bit of the ketchup sauce and put it into a 350 degree oven for one and a half hours. Serve with lots of ketchup sauce.
No comments:
Post a Comment