Meet the meatloaf
Terry Bursey creates a new take on an old family favourite
One of my most prominent and downright sinful cooking habits is experimenting by stuffing food into other food and seeing what magical tomfoolery can come out of the bizarre combinations.
I’ve tried stuffing some maple-glazed salmon with a panko-coated, molten ball of deep fried ricotta, mozzarella and herbs. This led to an explosive yet balanced flavour result. However I could just as easily have tried stuffing bacon-wrapped scallops into portabella mushrooms and birthed a monster of walletcrushing proportions.
The outcome of these insane and compulsive experiments have always been decided seemingly by a coin toss out of reach of human influence, regardless of effort. Every once in a while, a triumphant, golden recipe emerges from the primordial muck in all its blinding and taste-bud rupturing glory.
One such recipe, I recently found while visiting an old fling of mine in Gander, N.L. As usual, we met up and caught up - over a homecooked meal, civilized debate, fencing with witticisms and talking trash about exes. Danielle presented me with a rather simple (but admittedly delicious) meal of meatloaf with a side of cheesy broccoli and slivered onions.
As we ate, my thoughts began to wander, and I imagined the side dishes on my plate being stuffed inside of the meatloaf in the centre of the ornate oaken table in front of me. When Danielle finally snapped me to attention and my mind cleared, I made a mental note to make what I had daydreamed into culinary experiment #187 and have it for supper… the result is now jotted down in my cookbook notes as:
Stuffed Meatloaf
1 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork
1 large egg
2 tbsp steak spice
3 tbsp garlic powder
1 cup broccoli florets
1/2 small onion, diced
1 cup old cheddar cheese, shredded 1/4 cup barbecue sauce, original 1 tbsp brown sugar
1 pinch each salt and pepper
Directions: Cut vegetables and grate cheese in advance. In a large bowl, combine ground beef, ground pork, steak spice, garlic powder and the egg until all is smooth and uniform. Preheat oven to 375 F. Spread out some plastic wrap on a clean surface and place meat mixture in the centre. Flatten the meat mixture into a large square by hand to as flat as possible (about one-quarter inch thick). Next, sprinkle on your onions, followed by the cheese and then the broccoli florets.
Carefully lift the edge of the plastic wrap in order to bring the leading edge of the meat up and over to the opposite edge and pinch to close, making sure the meat it is sealed completely and do the same with the adjacent sides to create a log of meat with the stuffing completely enclosed in the centre. Remove the stuffed meat from the plastic wrap and place on a baking pan covered in parchment paper.
In a ramekin or similar container, combine barbecue sauce with the brown sugar and stir until smooth.
Sprinkle the outside of the log with salt and pepper and using a brush, coat the surface of the meat loaf with the sweetened barbecue sauce and bake for 40 mins to one hour.
Tip: Wrapping the meat loaf in bacon before baking it adds an extra oomph, but prepare for slightly longer cooking times and a greasier result that may need dabbing.