Zippin' Through Dinner: A Swingin' Meatloaf Recipe

I found myself grumbling on social media a few weeks ago about the plight of the most American dish that I can think of, and how it needs a rebranding. Yep, that’s right, I’m talking about your meatloaf.

 Many of us grew up eating renditions our amazing mothers put together while managing a household and all that comes with it. The meatloaf I ate growing up was mostly just a mixture of ground beef, onions, bread crumbs, and a couple of eggs. I still enjoyed eating it, with a little ketchup to assist with the sometimes dry piece of meat sliding down my throat.

Oddly enough, my first job after I moved to New Mexico to go to culinary school is where the rebirth of meatloaf came alive for me. I took a position at a James Baird-nominated restaurant called Monte Vista Fire station. But I wasn’t hired to cook for the restaurant, I was hired to cook for the upstairs bar that featured mostly pub food.

Mondays at the bar were known as “Meatloaf Monday”. We would make big batches of meatloaf before service, then slice it to order, grill it to reheat, and put it on a bun with some cheese for meatloaf sandwiches….And they were really good.

After that, meatloaf took another hiatus in my life while I was working in mostly 4-star kitchens for the next decade. Other than the occasional staff meal, meatloaf didn’t come into play.

A year or so into this job with the Pabst Theater Group, I started to realize that I’m not just feeding rock stars, I’m also feeding their tour staff. Which includes stagehands, truck drivers, merch folks, and the like. So more and more over the years, meatloaf would show up on lunch menus. People of all stripes seem to really appreciate a well-made rendition with some nice sides.

This last week, however, I wanted to do a dinner version for our guests at Turner Hall, The Squirrel Nut Zippers. We’ve fed them a few times before and I know it’s a fun group to feed, and they appreciate what we do.

So, to come full circle here, after complaining about the plight of the humble meatloaf on social media a few weeks ago, I had some people mention they were really interested in learning how to make a really good one, and I’m here for it.

We were cooking for a group of 20+ for SNZ’s and I almost never use a recipe, but my sous Jake and I took some time to document the process while our kitchen mates, Julie and Katie tended to some of the other dishes for that night.

The recipe below approximates how we make meatloaf in our kitchen, but if you feel like the meat mixture is a little wet after mixing and needs some more bread crumbs, go for it. Be sure you season it well with the Quebec seasoning. I’d guess for the recipe below 2 Tablespoons would do the trick. I usually use a meat ratio of roughly 3-2-1. This means 3 parts ground beef, 2 parts ground pork, and 1 part ground veal. If you want to omit the veal and use ground beef and pork, you will still end up with good results.

As I mentioned earlier, I’m not above dipping a bite of my meatloaf in ketchup, but I’ve included a recipe for what traditionally would be the sauce for a nice steak au Poivre dish at a bistro in Paris. It works nicely with our meatloaf and is fairly simple to make, so I think you should give it a go.

Bon appetite!
 

Meatloaf - Serves 6

What you will need:

For the sauce:

½ Shallot, minced

1 cup Brandy

3 T Veal demi glace or reduced beef stock

½ Heavy cream

1 T Green or Pink peppercorns

Procedure:

In a medium sauce pan over medium to high heat, sweat your shallots in a little oil or butter. After a couple minutes and before the shallots start to brown, remove your pan from the burner and add your brandy. Put the pan back over the burner but beware, the brandy will flame up pretty quickly, so lean back a little while doing so. Once your brandy reduces by a little more than half, add your demi glace, your heavy cream and peppercorns. Turn the heat to low and allow to simmer on a low flame for about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and cover until service.

For the meatloaf:

2# Ground chuck

1# Ground pork

½# Ground Veal

3 Eggs

1 cup bread crumbs

¼ cup Heavy cream

1 cup Bell Peppers cut into a small dice

½ Shallot minced

Quebec seasoning from Penzey’s

Medium thickness, sliced bacon

Meat thermometer 

Procedure:

In a large mixing bowl add your beef, pork and veal. Mix them together for a moment then punch a well in the middle of your meat mix. In the well add your eggs, heavy cream and Quebec seasoning. Sprinkle in your bread crumbs, diced bell peppers and shallot. Use your hands (preferably with kitchen gloves on like Jake) to combine and evenly distribute all your ingredients.

Once properly mixed, pull out a sheet pan and line it with parchment or foil. Put your mixture on the pan and form into your loaf.

It’s a good idea to slap it around a little bit to get rid of any air pockets. Once a nice tight, even loaf has been formed, take your bacon and drape over the loaf. Feel free to modify your bacon slices (cut in half) if they are too long for the size of the loaf.

I usually like to cook meatloaf around 400 degrees. I’ve had success doing so at a lower temp but often the bacon isn’t rendered by the time the meatloaf is finished. So 400 degrees is a good temp for this.  

Putting your meat thermometer to use, we are looking for a finished internal temperature of 160 degrees. So I usually pull it from the oven when it’s around 155 (It will continue to cook after you pull it out of the oven) and lightly tent it with some foil. After resting for about 15 minutes your meatloaf will be ready to slice and serve.

Pair with your favorite sides (we did charred brussel sprouts and roasted garlic mashed potatoes) and spoon the sauce over all of it.

Did you enjoy this recipe? Let us know! 

Author

By: Kevin Sloan

Kevin Sloan is the executive chef for The Pabst Theater Group, leading the backstage experience for artists who visit the Group's venues. He has lead the full-service catering team since 2010.