The Meat Loaf Miracle

I love a good meatloaf. The truth about meatloaf is that it is somewhat polarizing. Some people love it and some people hate it. I think it makes a great supper club dish because the “lovers” will be thrilled and you can make it in advance. Making it in advance is a big winner in my book. For the “haters” there is that old Irish expression “The heck* with them if they can’t take a joke”.

Why do the “haters” not like meatloaf? A good friend of mine once told me that she wasn’t a fan because her mother made a lousy meatloaf and they were forced to eat it growing up. I have to confess that while my mother is a good cook, her meatloaf wasn’t her best dish. With that said, I have a cousin that lives near my mom and he loves her meatloaf and mom still makes it for him every couple of months.

My supper club meatloaf is a little different than most. To be honest it is fairly complex and has been described as a cross between meatloaf and pate.

Check out the recipe:

The keys to a great meatloaf include:

Higher grade ingredients.

I use New York strip steak as a base. This started when I had a steak with freezer burn that I ground in a food processor. It made such a great meatloaf that it has become a standard practice and a real key to success.

Sweet Italian Sausage

The mixture of the beef and pork really works. It adds flavor and complexity that makes a meatloaf special.

Sautéed Shallots

My father once accused me of not being able to cook anything that doesn’t include onion and garlic. Guilty! The shallot adds a depth of flavor that few would pick out in a blind taste test but really works.

Cheese

In this recipe I use Monterey Jack Cheese, but most cheeses work well. Cheese rounds out the flavor and adds a nice richness of flavor. And yes, I did work for Kraft for 35 years!

Bacon

What doesn’t benefit from the addition of a little bacon? Topping your meatloaf off with bacon adds to the flavor and sets off the battle to pick at the wonderful crispy pieces as the meatloaf is being carved

The recipe also includes the basics of breadcrumb, egg, salt and pepper and adds up to a really tasty main dish. I like to serve it with mashed potatoes and green beans. Lately instead of gravy I have been serving it with a simple au jus. All I do is save the pan scrapings and mix them in with a couple cups of beef stock that I bring to a boil and reduce by a third. The au jus assures that you will have a juicy dish and adds a salty complement to the entire dish.

If you enjoy this blog and similar other stories/supper club lessons subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels that sell books.

* PS The true Irish expression uses a saltier four-letter word that I try not to use. When your 95 year-old mother tells you to clean up your act, you listen…some times.

Menu Inspiration – Gone Bad

The key to making a great tasting dish is practice. It’s great to get ideas from a restaurant. It is easy to get recipes off of the internet. You can’t however, expect to make a great dish the first time you try something. The medallions I made trying to replicate a great meal I had at a restaurant recently were not that good. The key to supper club dinner party success is practice, practice, practice.

Think about it. The chef at the restaurant has probably made that dish hundreds of times. Every time he or she makes it he/she is learning something. Most people cooking for a supper club dinner party are making that dish for the first time. It isn’t that hard to practice a little on your family. Even better, when I write a menu for a supper club, I will invite friends over for a test run. It is amazing, but I haven’t poisoned anyone yet and its rare that someone will turn down an invitation. Like the book Impromptu Friday Nights says… Everyone likes to socialize over a meal, even if they are really guinea pigs.

Where did I go wrong with my inspired menu?

I replaced the beef filet with pork tenderloin medallions. I did this because I was making an extra meal for a friend that just got out of the hospital. With pork you don’t have to worry as much about cooking to temperature and as the meal had to be re-heated the risk of overcooking beef is really high. In hindsight pork tenderloin medallions are not beef tenderloin. As the old movies line states: Jell-O will never be crème brulee and crème brulee will never be Jell-O
The crust was a little dry. I used ½ cup of butter with ½ cup of breadcrumb as a base. You can never go wrong with a little more butter. The next time I will make it with ½ cup of butter to a ¼ cup of crumb. When it comes to flavor, fat is good!
The flavors of the crusts were not as impactful as I would have liked. In the future I will double the amount of flavor. For the Parmesan, instead of ½ cup of parm, I will make it one cup. For the blue cheese, instead of ¼ cup, I will make it one cup. For all of the crusts I will add a tablespoon of sautéed shallot. You can never go wrong with a little more flavor.

In my last blog I promised to publish the recipes. Well, you are going to have to wait. I am going to keep practicing until I get it right, or run out of friends willing to be guinea pigs.

Menu Inspiration

Where is the best place to get inspiration for a menu? My favorite has always been from a great restaurant experience. We had an inspirational meal at the Coopers Hawk Restaurant & Winery in Orlando Florida.

One of their specialties is:

Trio of Medallions

Horseradish, Blue Cheese and Parmesan Crusted Steak Medallions

The beauty of this menu item is the way they layered in flavors and textures to deliver an excellent dish. They developed an excellent variety of flavors and texture with the three crust mixtures. They also added to flavor and texture by plating the steaks with mashed potatoes in au jus broth.

On the surface it doesn’t follow my two key rules of making it in advance and keeping it simple. With a little thought to your mise en place the dish can be simplified and while it will require some last minute cooking it can be done pretty easily.

I had the dish a few nights ago and haven’t prepared it yet. Following is an outline of my thoughts of how to prepare the dish. I will follow up with a detailed recipe after testing out my thoughts.

Make the three crust mixtures in advance in a food processor. All three are based in ½ cups softened butter and Panko bread crump. For the Parmesan add a cup of parmesan. For the blue cheese add a ½ cup of blue cheese. For the horseradish add a ¼ cup of prepared horseradish.
The beef medallions can be filet or NY Strip. I prefer NY strip because you want a medallion that is about 2 inches around and ½ inch thick.
Searing the medallions and pan roasting is key. Preheat your sauté pan on high heat on the stove getting the pan good and hot. Add two tablespoons of butter and swirl the pan to coat. Then sear side one for 2 minutes. Add a ¼ inch topping of your three crust mixtures and then finish it in a 400 degree oven for 5 minutes for medium rare
Plate your medallions letting them rest. Then add a cup or two of beef broth to your sauté pan scraping up the brown bits. Bring the “au jus” to a boil.
Add mash potatoes and asparagus to your plate and then pour some au jus to to coat the bottom of the plate and serve.

That seems simple doesn’t it? My wife Susan will say what is simple for you may be very intimidating for others. As promised I will be testing this dish out and reverting with a better recipe. Lets see if I know what I am talking about.

More to come on this one.