April 7, 2019–So what do you do if you have ground meat? You make meatloaf or meatballs! I know you’re looking at the picture below and thinking, “But you already have pre-formed hamburger patties!” While that may be true, what I did not have were the hamburger buns to place said hamburger patties on so I decided to make a meatloaf instead. Besides hamburgers can be boring and wanted something that I could nosh on thru the week. And who says you can’t put meatloaf on a hamburger bun? I bought some ground bison, because why not and the patties were from the Dutch Country Farmers Market in Laurel, MD. I used a combination of recipes but based it off of one found in 15th edition of The Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook. You may or may not have these ingredients in your pantry and refrigerator:
Ground meat; I used ground bison and ground beef
Shredded and frozen Monterey Jack cheese (moisture, richness, and assists in binding)
Chopped Onion Flakes
Chicken Stock (neutralizes the flavor of the meat and provides moisture)
Teriyaki sauce
Salt
Pepper
Parsley flakes
Eggs
Sea salt crackers (texture)
Dijon mustard
Paprika
Garlic Powder
Tomato paste
Thyme
Celery Salt
Oregano
Powdered Gelatin (texture and “sliceability”)
For the sauce:
Ketchup
Cider vinegar
Light brown sugar
Hot sauce
Ground coriander
ATK want you to make a freeform loaf pan. This was pretty intensive because you had too poke individual holes in a 10″ x 6″ piece foil place on top of a cooling rack placed inside of a baking sheet. The holes ensured the meatloaf didn’t sit in owns liquid while it cooked. The oven is set to 375 degrees and the foil is sprayed with cooking spray.
Since I used dried ingredients instead of fresh I did not have to sauté the onion, garlic, celery, thyme, and paprika. Instead, I simply whisked the chicken broth with the eggs. Added the gelatin followed by the crackers, parsley, teriyaki sauce, mustard, salt, pepper, and the above mentioned dry ingredients. I then crumbled the frozen cheese and added it to the mixture. Once everything was well combined I added the ground meats and mixed gently by hand. I transferred the mixture to the foil sheet then formed it into a rectangle shape. The entire thing was baked until it reaches 135 degrees; finally got to use my oven thermometer!
While the meat was cooking I made the sauce. Simply combine all of the ingredients in a sauce pan and heat until thick. Once the meat is done spread half of the glaze on it and broil until it bubbles. Remove the meatloaf and spread the remaining glaze on it. Allow to cool before slicing.
I made some extra sauce to spread over individual slices. Yum!
