FOB said:I have always used oatmeal in meatloaf, I also added water, an onion and an
egg and used to mix in a package of Knorr's Oxtail Soup Mix for flavoring.
My SO is a real meatloaf lover. This week I experimented using 2 pounds of
ground beef, one big portabello mushroom and a medium (about 7-8" long)
zucchini, shredded, a chopped onion with some seasoning salt and pepperand
two eggs. I wasn't all that impressed but Jimmy said it was one of my best
meatloafs ever.
Why were you not impressed? Not intense enough flavor? Something not
quite right with texture?
For flavor, try some beef base or good quality bouillon cubes as a
booster. Mash it together with some of the other ingredients,
particularly liquid ones and incorporate that into the whole loaf. Cut
back on salt if you do this. Some finely minced cooked bacon helps if
you don't want to use the beef base.
Quoted message said:I think what I didn't like was all the chunks of onion
which weren't as done as I would have liked. I used to put the onion in the
blender with the water which pretty much pulverized it. Will have to figure
out how to get it smushed without the water.
Try this. Cut the onion in half from top to bottom and slice it thin.
In a skillet over low-medium heat with a couple tablespoons butter,
sauté the onion, stirring reasonably often until it's all well-browned
and heading towards crisp. Coarsely chop the cooked onion if you feel
the need. Incorporate that in the meatloaf and it'll bring an extra
layer of flavor and texture to it. The onions will be tender and
flavorful.
There's a tedious technique that's simply wonderful for making a paste
of onion. Chop is as fine as you can with knife or processor and dump
it out onto a cutting board. Sprinkle some salt on it and, with the
flat side of a wide-bladed knife, smear it back and forth on the
cutting board. Put some muscle into it. After a short time of
smearing, it'll begin to be more like a puree. Keep doing it until
you've had enough of that exhausting foolishness and throw it all in
the processor and let it run. It also works with garlic - a few cloves
of garlic is pretty easy and turns out wonderful. The onions will,
too, but it's work.
Quoted message said:I used my Salad Shooter for
the mushroom and zucchini but it doesn't work on onions. Dehydrated onion
flakes might work and would absorb some of the juices from the meat, some of
it came out and congealed in the pan.
Dehydrated onion (flaked or chopped) will rehydrate with some of the
juices of the rest of the ingredients thus retaining some flavor while
contributing its own.
If you have a juicer, run the onion through that along with a pepper
or two, some celery and a few carrots. Simmer that juice to reduce it
to about half. Mix that into the meatloaf along with the pulp that you
briefly sauté to tenderize.
Pastorio
Quoted message said:In news:[email hidden],
Bob (this one) <[email hidden]> stated
| They don't merely provide cheaper bulk than the meat. They help to
| keep the meatloaf more tender. A meat-only loaf will be more dense
| and, typically, less flavorful because there's more migration of
| juices and fats. The grains retain fats and juices that would
| otherwise get lost. Therein lives the flavor.
| The egg actually toughens the loaf, as well. The protein denatures and
| becomes chewy without the moderating influence of moisture-retaining
| ingredients. That's why meatloaves will be more moist than a 100% beef
| burger cooked to the same degrees of doneness.
|
| Pastorio
