Saturday, February 20, 2016

Maw Maw's Meatloaf and Single Mothers



I am a meatloaf doubter. My distaste for meat formed into a loaf slathered in ketchup-y topping was theoretical because I went my whole childhood/early adulthood without ever trying it. But I'm a much more open-minded eater now and since Matt likes meatloaf I have made it a few times. But I always made it weird, like with BBQ sauce or bacon or in a cupcake mold with mashed potato "frosting", anything to avoid traditional meatloaf. Since Corinne (of Cabbage Rolls fame) is back in town and she misses good ol' American home cookin' using some uniquely American convenience foods that she just can't get in France (where she lives now) I decided to brave some old school, traditional meatloaf.

We made their great grandmother's (AKA Maw Maw's) recipe. It's got the classics - breadcrumbs, kethcup, Lipton Onion Soup Mix, evaporated milk. Evaporated milk? I was not familiar with this as a meatloaf ingredient and thought it sounded downright disgusting. But I'm a good sport so I went with it (although I've never actually bought evaporated milk before so it took me a hot second to find it; bottom shelf on the baking aisle for anyone following along.) The recipe also didn't call for eggs which seemed pretty strange. But we let go and let Maw Maw and made it as described and it came out...meat loafy. My main concern has always been the ketchup, I'm not a fan in general. AND you mix it with yellow mustard (my least favorite condiment of all time) and brown sugar. I already think ketchup is too sweet and I hate mustard, am I going to survive? Turns out, it's delicious, not too sweet, the balance of flavor is fine which is probably why people have been making ketchup-topped meatloaf consistently for decades.


I am never going to love the texture of meatloaf nor like looking too intently at a big ol' slice of it. I really prefer meat that has been browned in some way to meat that has been boiled, poached, or in this case, loafed. But taste wise, it really was pretty good. It didn't dry out or get too mushy and the onion soup added that savory onion flavor. It was crazy easy, not a single thing was chopped, just open and dump a bunch of shit, just how the Founding Fathers imagined the cuisine of their new nation would come together. Mush it together, dump that ketchup mixture on top and git her done. I made instant mashed potatoes to go along with them (adding my secret shame, secret ingredient: some bottled ranch dressing; can't you just hear someone chanting USA! USA! USA!?)
Maw Maw's Meatloaf: B

Since this recipe is so fast to throw together, we listened to a Single Mothers 7" I'd just gotten in the mail. Everyone I know is tired of hearing about this band but they are great even if you bore easily of white guys screaming. The lead singer and songwriter Drew Thomson's stage swag is fire and his lyrics are very clever and biting and I love it. The A-side Half-Lit features one of my favorite lines: "There's nothing that I can't do/I've tried and I just can't lose" which out of context doesn't sound like much but the delivery is 100% deranged self-delusion. The B-side is a song I'd never heard called Brand New City. I think LA is the Brand New City in question; maybe the song isn't my fave because I have songs-about-LA-and-New-York fatigue. I much prefer the other Thomson songs (Single Mothers and solo) that refer to Canadian geography; you know I looked up London, Ontario on a map (fun fact: Ryan Gosling is from there as well.) I love anyone who reps their less-often-repped city; I always think about the Pretenders song Precious where she's talking about movin' through the Cleveland heat and Euclid Avenue because it's like, there is a world beyond the coasts. All that aside, it's still a cool song and I like the line "Feels like an infected molar/feels like a runaway baby stroller" because it definitely paints a picture of a real unpleasant feeling and it makes me think of the opening scene in Naked Gun 33 1/3 when all those babies roll down the stairs (obviously referencing The Untouchables scene but let's be real, Naked Gun is more my speed.) A

Maw Maw's Milky All-American Meatloaf

2 pounds ground meat (we used a mix of beef and pork)
1 cups breadcrumbs
1 packet onion soup mix
1 small can of evaporated milk

For topping
2 tbs ketchup
2 tbs mustard
2 tbs brown sugar

Mix that stuff up, put it in the pan, top it with the topping. In the oven at 325 for an hour or so.





3 comments:

  1. I think the baby strollers down the stairs is also referencing the famous Russian film Battleship Potemkin which The Untouchables probably was referencing too... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty5CzuJ1QA8 ... also, why a B ?? the meatloaf was delicious ! p.s. it may or may not still be in tupperware in fridge

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    1. I've never seen Battleship Potemkin but saw it first when I googled "baby carriages stairs film" (wasn't sure which Naked Gun it was) and was like dang! So many iconic baby carriage stair movies! No offense to Maw Maw but I just don't think I like meatloaf!

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    2. Maw Maw would certainly NOT be offended. She'd just make you something else that you DID like !

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