Meat Loaf

Preparation Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter a loaf pan. Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl; your freshly washed hands are the best tools for the job. Pat into the loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes. Meat Loaf with Parsley and Tomato. Omit the Worcestershire sauce and mustard; in place of the milk, use 3/4 cup of juice from a can of tomatoes and add 1/4 cup minced parsley plus 1/2 teaspoon basil, crumbled. Pat into pan and cover with 3/4 cup of the tomatoes from the can, roughly chopped, or 3/4 cup tomato sauce. Meat Loaf with Cheese. Omit the Worcestershire sauce and add 1/2 cup grated cheese. Meat Loaf with Bacon. After patting the loaf into the pan, cover with 4 strips uncooked bacon. Meat Loaf with Three Meats. Instead of 2 pounds ground beef, use 1 pound ground beef mixed with 2/3 pound ground veal and 1/3 pound ground pork. Red wine may be used instead of milk if desired. Bake 1 hour. Individual Muffin-Size Meat Loaves. Instead of using a loaf pan, pack the meat into muffin tins or Pyrex baking cups, top each with a square of bacon, and bake for only 25 minutes at 400° F. Turn out and serve with tomato sauce. How do you make bread crumbs? For general purposes, use white bread, though whole wheat or rye crumbs add a robust touch to sturdy dishes like this. Do not use bread that is stale or the crumbs will have a stale taste. To make the 2 cups called for here will take about 4 slices of bread. Dry out the bread in a 250°F oven, and use some of the crust, if you wish. After drying the bread, tear it into pieces and pulverize it in a blender or food processor. Or spread the pieces on a large piece of wax paper and crush with a rolling pin, going back and forth until the bread is reduced to crumbs. If you store bread crumbs in the refrigerator for more than a short period of time, they may become moldy. It's best to put them in the freezer, wrapped tightly in a plastic bag, where they will keep and taste fresh for several weeks. If you buy packaged bread crumbs, avoid the seasoned variety. With my hands? Yes, with your hands. Mixing things with your (washed) hands is the best way to feel things and memorize them. Your fingers memorize recipes as much as your mind. You come to know what the texture of a given mixture should be, something you wouldn't learn if you had a piece of equipment between yourself and what you're doing. The same goes for tasting, though you should avoid tasting raw meat. It's amazing the number of times I've saved a dish, correcting something I've forgotten, by tasting at every stage. This is particularly important, for example, in cake batters. What else can be done with leftovers? Meat loaf is one of those things dishes that can taste even more flavorful the next day. Try crumbling it and adding it to a simple pasta dish. Reprinted with permission from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook by Marion Cunningham. © 1996 Knopf

Preparation Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter a loaf pan. Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl; your freshly washed hands are the best tools for the job. Pat into the loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes. Meat Loaf with Parsley and Tomato. Omit the Worcestershire sauce and mustard; in place of the milk, use 3/4 cup of juice from a can of tomatoes and add 1/4 cup minced parsley plus 1/2 teaspoon basil, crumbled. Pat into pan and cover with 3/4 cup of the tomatoes from the can, roughly chopped, or 3/4 cup tomato sauce. Meat Loaf with Cheese. Omit the Worcestershire sauce and add 1/2 cup grated cheese. Meat Loaf with Bacon. After patting the loaf into the pan, cover with 4 strips uncooked bacon. Meat Loaf with Three Meats. Instead of 2 pounds ground beef, use 1 pound ground beef mixed with 2/3 pound ground veal and 1/3 pound ground pork. Red wine may be used instead of milk if desired. Bake 1 hour. Individual Muffin-Size Meat Loaves. Instead of using a loaf pan, pack the meat into muffin tins or Pyrex baking cups, top each with a square of bacon, and bake for only 25 minutes at 400° F. Turn out and serve with tomato sauce. How do you make bread crumbs? For general purposes, use white bread, though whole wheat or rye crumbs add a robust touch to sturdy dishes like this. Do not use bread that is stale or the crumbs will have a stale taste. To make the 2 cups called for here will take about 4 slices of bread. Dry out the bread in a 250°F oven, and use some of the crust, if you wish. After drying the bread, tear it into pieces and pulverize it in a blender or food processor. Or spread the pieces on a large piece of wax paper and crush with a rolling pin, going back and forth until the bread is reduced to crumbs. If you store bread crumbs in the refrigerator for more than a short period of time, they may become moldy. It's best to put them in the freezer, wrapped tightly in a plastic bag, where they will keep and taste fresh for several weeks. If you buy packaged bread crumbs, avoid the seasoned variety. With my hands? Yes, with your hands. Mixing things with your (washed) hands is the best way to feel things and memorize them. Your fingers memorize recipes as much as your mind. You come to know what the texture of a given mixture should be, something you wouldn't learn if you had a piece of equipment between yourself and what you're doing. The same goes for tasting, though you should avoid tasting raw meat. It's amazing the number of times I've saved a dish, correcting something I've forgotten, by tasting at every stage. This is particularly important, for example, in cake batters. What else can be done with leftovers? Meat loaf is one of those things dishes that can taste even more flavorful the next day. Try crumbling it and adding it to a simple pasta dish. Reprinted with permission from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook by Marion Cunningham. © 1996 Knopf