Best Ever Meat Loaf

Consulting Wikipedia, by now you've gathered that is one of my favorite 'go to' resources...
The meatloaf has European origins; minced meat loaves were cooked already in the 5th century, and were mentioned in the famous Roman cookery collection "Apicius". Meatloaf is a traditional German, Belgian and Dutch dish, and it is a cousin to the Italian meatball. American meatloaf has its origins in scrapple, a mixture of ground pork and cornmeal served by German-Americans in Pennsylvania since Colonial times. However, meatloaf in the contemporary American sense did not appear in cookbooks until the late 19th century.


In many parts of the United States, meatloaf is a popular dish. In 2007, it was voted the 7th favorite dish in the United States according to the Good Housekeeping website.

During the Great Depression, cooking meatloaf was a way to stretch the food budget for families, using an inexpensive type of meat and other ingredients as leftovers; along with spices, it was popular to add cereal grains to the meatloaf to stretch the meat. The tradition lives on with the merits of producing a lower-fat dish with superior binding and consistency.

The meatloaf is typically eaten with some kind of sauce or relish. Many of these recipes call for pasta sauce or tomato sauce to be poured over the loaf to form a crust during baking. The tomato-based sauce may be replaced with simple brown gravy or onion gravy, but the meatloaf is prepared in a similar manner. Barbecue sauce, tomato ketchup, or a mixture of both tomato ketchup and mustard may also be used. American meatloaf may be garnished with ketchup.

Another variety of meatloaf is prepared by frosting it with mashed potatoes, drizzling it with a small amount of butter, and browning in the oven.

The meatloaf is normally served warm as part of the main course, but can also be found sliced as a cold cut. Meatloaves can also be considered as a typical Midwestern comfort food, or even soul food.




BEST EVER MEAT LOAF

2 pounds ground beef
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup Ranch Chip Dip or Sour Cream
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup catsup
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 tsp. prepared mustard
1 cup catsup for top of meatloaf (or however much you wish)


Heat oven to 375 degree. Mix ground beef, eggs, ranch dip/or sour cream, bread crumbs, catsup, soup mix and mustard. Spray a cookie sheet with sides with Pam. Lay aluminum foil on sheet, spray with Pam (aids with easy clean up). Form meatloaf mixture into a ball and dump on middle of sheet. Continue molding meatloaf into a rectangle shape and flattened top. Bake uncovered until done, 45 to 50 minutes. You may need to drain the cookie sheet of juices that cook from the meat, use a baster and rid the pan of excess liquid during the cooking process. Half way through the cooking cover the entire meatloaf in a layer of catsup, being liberal with it and continue cooking.

I have often doubled this recipe and baked two loaves side by side. Cool the extra, wrap in wax paper, then aluminum foil and slip into a zip lock bag. Freeze for a quick mid-week dinner option.

Want a fast meal fix? Take a bag of small petite/baby redskin potatoes and quarter them. (After washing of course, and leave on skin). Toss them with vegetable oil to coat each and put them around the meatloaf to roast as well. If the meatloaf needs 'drained' from the cooking juices take a meat baster and remove the liquid so the potatoes have a dry sheet to roast upon.

Need a great vegetable to go with it too? Take one package of frozen lima beans and one package frozen peas, 2 tablespoons water, 1/2 tsp salt, 3 tablespoons butter and 1/4 tsp dry dill weed. Combine in a 1 quart casserole with a lid, cook for 50 minutes until tender.

Your meat, potatoes and vegetables cook in the same oven...remove and serve!

Homemade Potato Chips

Ever wonder where potato chips came from?

Here's a bit of history:

As a world food, potatoes are second in human consumption only to rice. And as thin, salted, crisp chips, they are America's favorite snack food. Potato chips originated in New England as one man's variation on the French-fried potato, and their production was the result not of a sudden stroke of culinary invention but of a fit of pique.

In the summer of 1853, Native American George Crum was employed as a chef at an elegant resort in Saratoga Springs, New York. On Moon Lake Lodge's restaurant menu were French-fried potatoes, prepared by Crum in the standard, thick-cut French style that was popularized in 1700s France and enjoyed by Thomas Jefferson as ambassador to that country. Ever since Jefferson brought the recipe to America and served French fries to guests at Monticello, the dish was popular and serious dinner fare.

At Moon Lake Lodge, one dinner guest found chef Crum's French fries too thick for his liking and rejected the order. Crum cut and fried a thinner batch, but these, too, met with disapproval. Exasperated, Crum decided to rile the guest by producing French fries too thin and crisp to skewer with a fork. The plan backfired. The guest was ecstatic over the browned, paper-thin potatoes, and other diners requested Crum's potato chips, which began to appear on the menu as Saratoga Chips, a house specialty.

In 1860 George opened his own restaurant in a building on Malta Avenue near Saratoga Lake, and within a few years was catering to wealthy clients including William Vanderbilt, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jay Gould, and Henry Hilton. His restaurant closed around 1890 and he died in 1914 at the age of 92.


Have you noticed lately how many upscale restaurants are serving their version of the potato chip? I have sampled some, which are quite good! The price is quite inflated for as inexpensive as they are to make.

I was attending our State Fair the other day and "Sarasota Chips" or "Twisted Chips" where offered in concession stands all over. Again, they were hot, crispy and quite tasty, at five dollars a serving...

Here is a home version that is easy, fast and fun to make. Before Junior reaches for that expensive bag of name brand chips...why not make a little fun happen in the kitchen and make your own? I guarantee they are far better and cost pennies.



HOMEMADE POTATO CHIPS

3-4 Large, unblemished Russet Potatoes
Salt or Seasoned Salt
Corn or Peanut Oil (my preference, but vegetable can be used too)



Heat fryer according to manufacturer directions. If you do not have a deep fryer...no problem! Take your dutch oven and heat five inches of oil to 365 degree. You can test temperature with a candy thermometer.

Scrub your potatoes well and dry. No need to peel unless you prefer it. Slice the potatoes into very paper thin slices. Thin makes a very crispy potato chip which is what you want.

After you have sliced all the potatoes and the oil has reached desired temperature, add slices in small batches. Using a wooden skewer, stir around gently the floating chips occasionally to make sure they are not sticking to each other.

When they reach the golden stage, determine what is your favorite depth of golden color, let them fry to that point (the darker golden, the more crispy). Remove chips and lay to drain on paper towel. Salt or use Season salt right away after removing them from the fryer. A southwest 'dust' of herbs would be great. Experiment with herb sprinkles of your choice.

Continue in small batches until all have been cooked.

Enjoy!