Friday 8 January 2016

A Porky Loaf


I used to be very curious about meatloaf. What is a meatloaf (besides Meatloaf the 70's rockstar)? I soon found out that meatloaf is basically minced meat baked in a loaf pan, like a cake. Ah! What a revelation.
But I never ventured to try any meatloaf recipe until recently. Why? Because the Super Porktastic Meatloaf featured in Nom Nom Paleo was topped with.......bacon! hee...hee...

Besides, it was something simple that I could make for my weekday lunch to take to office. I've improvised with the recipe because the one in the cookbook used ingredients which were not readily available to me like cremini mushrooms and frozen spinach.

It's really simple, all I had to do was use my usual ingredients for making meatballs. I mixed minced pork with chopped onions, Chinese parsley, salt and pepper. I also added a dash of garlic powder since I had a bottle in the fridge.



And since I had some leftover roasted vegetables - carrots, potatoes, broccoli and corn - I chucked those in as well. Then I put the mixture into a casserole dish instead of a loaf pan.



Then the piece de resistance. Bacon!


Yup, cover the top with rashers of streaky bacon. I let the bacon dangle over the casserole dish because from experience, the bacon shrinks. Here, this was an earlier attempt where I made the mistake of folding the bacon to fit the dish.



Sorry, that was just an excuse to show you more bacon. I placed the dish on a baking tray because I knew that the fat from the bacon would drip.

The the whole thing was baked in the oven at 180C for 40 minutes. From my earlier attempts, I noted that the meatloaf shrinks (like a cake) and pulls away from the sides of the dish. Not only that, there was a lot of liquids released by the meat/vegetables.

So this time, I decided to let the meatloaf cool in the oven (something I learnt from baking Japanese cheesecake hah...hah..) for about 40 minutes. Lo and behold! My meatloaf did not shrink. And not only that, whatever liquids I saw bubbling away while I was checking the dish, appeared to have been reabsorbed by the meat. So there was no liquids for me to pour away.



I let the meatloaf cool further before slicing into it.



Mmmm...very tasty! Let me show you an earlier attempt.


There was major shrinkage and lots of liquids to pour away.

This was baked in a loaf pan and taken out immediately after it was baked. It shrank and released a lot of liquids which I had to drain. This one, I tried to follow the recipe and used a small amount of fresh spinach (bayam) and shitake mushrooms (in place of cremini) in the filling.



This version tasted pretty good too. I sliced the meatloaf and kept them in a container to be eaten over the next few days.



I reckon, you can also use chicken or even beef to make a meatloaf and add any ingredients that you like. Try this for an easy dish that you can make for those days when you are busy or don't want to spend too much time in the kitchen.












Meatloaf 
Recipe source : Adapted from Nom Nom Paleo (page 243)

Ingredients :
- 450g minced pork
- 1 big onion, minced
- 1 generous handful of Chinese parsley, finely minced
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon tapioca flour
- 1 egg
- 6 rashers of streaky bacon

Method :
1. In a mixing bowl, mix the minced meat, onions, parsley salt, pepper, tapioca flour and egg.
2. Mix until all the ingredients have a sticky consistency.
3. Place the mixture into a loaf pan or a casserole dish.
4. Place the bacon on top of the mixture to cover the top entirely.
5. Bake at 180 for 40 minutes. The bacon should be browned and crisp.
6. Leave to cool in the oven for 30 minutes before removing to cool completely.

Note : I let it cool in the oven to prevent shrinking, it works for me.

42 comments:

  1. I love Meatloaf, the rock star...and with all that bacon, I bet I would love your meatloaf too. Drooling!!!

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    1. Yup, I bet you will love this meatloaf as it is well flavored by the oil from the bacon. Not healthy but good for the soul :)

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  2. Nice attempt of Meatloaf. I've bookmark one meatloaf recipe from Ina Garten but still procrastinating.

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    1. Hope you try the recipe one day. It's delicious!

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  3. This Meatloaf looks very delicious and nice. I still dream to live next door to your house or at least my back faces your kitchen!
    All your recipes always looked easy but when I tried to make them, I would sweat and get into fits.

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    1. hah..hah...this one you won't sweat or have fits because it is so easy.

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  4. Replies
    1. Boleh cuba dengan ayam atau daging. Sedap tau!

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  5. Hi Phong Hong, I have prepared beef meatloaf for my nephew eventhough I don't eat beef but it smells good. I think I can try this recipe especially with bacon.

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    1. Kimmy, I must try with beef too because I love beef!

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  6. Yummy meatloaf! The bacon is the special attraction!

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  7. Hope to try it out if i am not lazy...

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  8. Wow! Wow! A dish perfect for the porky bacon lover. I guess the Lazyman aka RG may be tempted by you to cook this in his kitchen, hehehehe.

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  9. I have heard of meatloaf and eaten many but I have never bothered to know how they are made, haha!! your meatloaf looks super duper yummy, those they I have eaten are very plain just like a piece of luncheon meat, never have so much "liao" inside and of course definitely not a layer of bacon on top.. err, got la, a piece of bread on top and below got la, those meatloaf sandwich lor, hahahaha!!!

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    1. You are better than me lah, this is the first time I had a meatloaf :D

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  10. ooh, you have got very useful tips there!! must let the meatloaf cool down in the oven for 40 minutes, let it re-absorb the juicy and it become moist and firm enough and expand back to the size.. so that applies to cheesecake too, interesting hack that is!! now I am drooling over your meatloaf, slurps slurps, and you ate it so luxuriously too!! thumbs up~~

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    1. I will be making meatloaf more often using different variations of ingredients. It's great for those lazy days hee...hee...

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  11. Hi Phong Hong, I yet to try meatloaf, yours look interesting and delicious. Sound like a luxury appetizer. Love the bacon. Thanks for sharing your recipe.

    Best regards,
    Amelia

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    1. Hi Amelia! This meatloaf is good, very tasty. Hope you try it one day.

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  12. I must say I preferred the look of your bacon in your earlier attempt...well charred! ;) I can see that your meatloaf is not very compact, how on earth did you unmould it, slice it and keep it together? It's presented so beautifully in your last pic. If I were to do it, I think it'd end like a pile of mess! :D

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    1. Well, I did not unmould it :) I sliced it and then removed the slices from the baking dish.

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  13. Hi Phong Hong,
    I do love eating meatloaf. Your bacon-topped one is very porky delicious looking indeed!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Joyce! Meatloaf is now a regular item on my menu hah..hah..

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  14. This is interesting. I love how your meatloaf stacking up, looks so delicious.

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    1. Thanks, Ann! It's a convenient dish to prepare.

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  15. Hi Phong Hong,
    I've not attempted in baking meatloaf cos kinda too meaty for me. But this bacon-topped meatloaf looks inviting.

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    1. Hi Karen! Yes, it is meaty, and you can have a small slice hah..hah..

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  16. Funny when you knew about Meatloaf the dude but wondered about meatloaf, the food. Hihi

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    1. hah..hah...yes, and I also wondered why he called himself Meatloaf :D

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  17. Wahhhhh... so this is PH's meatloaf!! I super like especially with the minced pork chinese parsley, more of a chinesey dish.. I think a bowl of rice with meatloaf do fine with me!

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    1. Yea, this is more Chinese hah..hah... I agree that it goes well with rice, though I had it with salad!

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  18. I'm a fan of meatloaf too & I love bacon! Hey PH, I've just added you at G+; didn't realize you're so active there. xoxo

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  19. I tried to make meatloaf like this before, but somehow it didn't feel right to me. The meatloaves that I have eaten in the US were all very smooth in texture, very much different from the texture from a blob of minced pork.

    Maybe because they were made using processed meat though. Maybe a proper meatloaf is like the one you made (and what I made previously)...

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    1. If you want a smoother texture, add some mashed potatoes into the mix. I guarantee you will love it. I didn't add any this time because I had none :(

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  20. I love meatloaf and always cover mine with bacon, too! Now I'm craving some!!!

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  21. Definitely going to try this out soon, as I have some bacon strips in the freezer. Thanks for the tips on letting it cool in the oven, as well as the placing of the bacon strips.

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    1. I hope you like it. Sometimes even when I cool in the oven it still shrinks but that's not really an issue.

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