Dumbo in the Kitchen - #3: Meatloaf

Meatloaf. Some love it, some loathe it.

I'm not saying that I totally love it (I'll explain later), but I do think it is a good thing for bachelors to learn to make.

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What you'll need:
About 600g or minced meat (I used pork, of course; but I guess beef or mutton or chicken would do, too)
16 pieces of Jacob's High Fibre crakers
5 to 6 eggs
Soy sauce and/or salt to taste (I used about a quarter cup of soy sauce)
Pepper (white and/or black, up to personal preference)

Mix all ingredients (can't get any simpler than that).


For the mixture above, I usually make small patties from it (see my earlier post on "pita with homemade pork patties") and fry them in a pan. But the downside is the time spent standing beside the stove turning the patties a la Spongebob Squarepants.

Therefore, on this occasion, I decided to turn it into a meatloaf (besides, I didn't have any pita bread this time, only plain old sandwich bread).

You can of course make meatloaf of any shape, but I decided to make it into a "brick", for a reason that will soon be apparent.

I took care to make sure the "meat brick" is as wide as the bread, but half in height.


Wrap it up in aluminum foil (what it the world are we thinking using ALUMINUM foil? Isn't it proven to be linked to Alzheimer's? No wonder I keep forgetting where I left things...).


Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.


Voila.


It looks like a loaf of wholemeal bread. Or cake. When I told my wife we were having "meat cake" for dinner, she was flabbergasted.


Cut thin slices from the meatloaf/meat-cake/whatever-you-like-to-call-it. When sliced, it looks like luncheon meat. But trust me, this is nicer than canned luncheon meat (which I absolutely loathe).


Layout the sandwich bread. Don't forget your greens. With all them meat that's going into your stomach, you had better make sure you eat as much vege as you can.


Two slices of the meatloaf thingy fit nicely on a piece of sandwich bread (this is the reason why I formed the "meat brick" according to the width and half the height of the bread; you can't make the height equal to the bread loaf, because it may not cook properly in the center).


Add more vege.


Yum.


Well, to be truthful, it tastes better when fried as patties. :-)

To make it nicer, you could further bake the slices for about 5 minutes, or give them a quick fry in the pan.

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The next morning, having run out of bread, I simply fried the remaining slices and pretended they were pork chops. Nice when eaten like this, too.


For a bachelor, this would take care of three to four meals. :-)