Meatloaf will stick to your ribs

Old meatloaf pans never die, they just keep on baking family memories around Southern dinner tables…generation after generation. 

Meatloaf is a classic, four-seasons all-American dish that began to appear in U.S. kitchens in the late 19th century, following the invention of the meat grinder by Karl Freiherr von Drais of Karlsruhe, Germany. 

Fannie Farmer’s 1918 edition of “The Boston Cooking School Cookbook” included three meatloaf recipe variations. 

That’s part of the fun of meatloaf, wrote Nadia Arumugam for The Atlantic magazine. Your grandma’s meatloaf recipe may be the best in the world…but “there is no one way to create meatloaf.”

 

“It’s precisely this capacity for re-invention that’s allowed the iconic mélange to keep in step with the ebb and flow of American life over the last century,” she said. 

“Supermarkets began packaging an inexpensive ground meatloaf mix of 1/3 pork, 1/3 veal and 1/3 beef,” Arumugam wrote. “And so the sacred triumvirate that many advocates hold as gospel was born.” 

It was sort of a blend between North and South. New Englanders killed their cows before winter, when feeding them would prove more difficult; they tried to take full advantage of every last bit of the meat, looking for uses for the cheap cuts. 

Homemakers added pepper, salt, onion, slices of milk-soaked bread and egg, wrote cookbook co-authors Frank Bruni and Jennifer Steinhauer. “You’ll find these very ingredients and steps in many a meatloaf recipe today,” they said.

 

In the southern states, to further stretch the yield of a slaughtered pig – after the steaks, loins, chops, hams, bacon and sausages were cut and produced – the meat that was left was scraped from bones, forming a version of a pork meatloaf, Arumugam said. 

“Fillers” were added to the ground beef, pork and veal, she said. “In addition to bread and crackers, quick-cooking oats, tapioca, breakfast cereal and powdered sauce mixes could pad out a meatloaf, and condiments such as mustard, bouillon, canned soup and ketchup added flavor and moistness at small cost.” 

Bruni and Steinhauer said: “Meatloaf became a staple of many Americans’ diets during the Depression, because it helped home cooks extend precious protein farther than it might otherwise go, so that more people could be fed with less meat.”

“By the 1950s, meatloaf was here to stay,” they said. It is not just a food to sate one’s hunger, but is “also an existential balm, served without undue fuss or expensive implements. Meatloaf rules. It reigns supreme. It’s the fluffy caftan of comfort foods.” 

In 1964, Hunt’s Tomato Sauce published a cheese-filled meatloaf recipe that is absolutely sinful. It uses only ground beef, egg, bread crumbs, chopped onion, salt, pepper, thyme…and six slices of processed American cheese and a half a can of tomato sauce.

 

Half of the cheese slices are layered between the meat mixture in a meatloaf pan, with the remainder of the cheese slices placed on top. After baking at 350 degrees for 40 minutes, drain and pour the remainder of the tomato sauce over loaf. Bake 30 more minutes or until done. 

 

Southern Cooks Share their Meatloaf ‘Secrets’

 No meatloaf pan? No problem. In fact, two popular contemporary Southern cooks don’t use them to make their family meatloaf specialties. 

Julia Jordan of Pickens, S.C., the creator of “Julia’s Simply Southern” online blog, says: “I prefer to cook a meatloaf in a rimmed sheet pan lined with aluminum foil. It will slice better.”

 

“Perhaps the most important part of an amazing meatloaf is the glaze. Step away from slathering ketchup on the top and prepare an easy, tasty glaze that will set your meatloaf over the top,” Jordan said. 

She makes her glaze with a bit of ketchup, brown sugar and dry mustard powder, then adds a few shakes of Lea and Perrins Bold Steak Sauce. Half the glaze gets brushed on the top of the meatloaf. Bake at 375 degrees for one hour. 

“Apply the remaining glaze to the top of the meatloaf and bake an additional 15 minutes, or until done. Allow the meatloaf to rest for 10 minutes then transfer to a serving platter. Slice meatloaf into 1-inch slices for serving.”

 

Blair Lonergan of Rochelle, Va., creator of the blog “The Seasoned Mom,” is also a fan of adding a glaze to her meatloaf. She says her three young children “have come to love this meal just as much as I do, so it has become a regular in our kitchen.”

 

“Instead of oatmeal or breadcrumbs, cornbread crumbs serve as the binder in this Southern meatloaf recipe,” she said. Additionally, Lonergan uses a 50-50 blend of ground beef and ground pork. 

“Pork is a source of Southern pride – so any chance that we get to add it to a meal, you know we will! I just love how much flavor these two simple ingredients – cornbread and pork – add to the traditional dish.” 

She mixes in onions, eggs, basil, oregano, garlic, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper. Separately, she combines ketchup and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl, adding half to the meatloaf mixture. 

“Shape into a large rectangular loaf on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet,” Lonergan said. “Spoon or brush the remaining ketchup-Worcestershire sauce on top to form the glaze.” 

“Bake in a 375-degree oven for about one hour, or until done. Let the meatloaf rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing and serving.”

 

Jordan and Lonergan agree that a “must have” side dish with meatloaf is mashed potatoes. Jordan likes to add peas and carrots to her plate. Lonergan prefers to pair her meatloaf with collard greens or green beans “for a simple, cozy dish that everyone loves.” 

Jordan remarked: “As much as I love the meatloaf dinner, I think my favorite part of all is the leftover meatloaf sandwich. Toasted bread, a slather of mayonnaise, a warm slice of meatloaf….heavenly!”