Pass the Bottle, Please

It’s National Ketchup Day. Do you have a ketchup eater in your house? Hubby will put ketchup on just about anything. Kiddo puts ketchup on scrambled eggs. Yeah. I rarely use ketchup unless it’s a base for a sauce.

When asked to name America’s most iconic dishes, those mentioned most are hot dogs, hamburgers and the American Meatloaf. It’s no wonder that from a purely culinary perspective, Americans are thought of as children, or at best a bunch of teenagers.

In actuality, we can thank the German immigrants for getting the meatloaf ball rolling. In Colonial Times they made scrapple, an amalgam of ground pork and cornmeal. Scrapple became the foundation of meat-starch ratio that is the core of nearly all meatloaves today.

By the 1800s pork had been replaced with beef. Folks in New England generally butchered their cows before the onset of winter, when feeding livestock was far more difficult and costly. Scraps of beef and cheaper cuts were chopped; then seasoned with salt and pepper. An onion was added, as were slices of milk-soaked bread and an egg. Not very different from the meatloaves today. Except this meatloaf was served for breakfast.

In an effort to elevate the meatloaf, some took to combining veal, ham and breadcrumbs with seasonings such as nutmeg, mace and cayenne. The addition of the lemon rinds is said to have given this recipe a distinctly French profile. It was then brushed with an egg wash and finished with a sprinkling of crushed crackers. Hum, no ketchup here.

Meatloaf became the staple of the American diet during the depression. It allowed the home cook to feed more mouths with less meat. Meat grinders were commonplace back then. The war that followed made eating meatloaf seem like a patriotic duty.

Over time meatloaf came to symbolize the resilience and perseverance of the American people. By the 1950s every American housewife had at least one good meatloaf recipe that was properly handed down by her mother. As for the ketchup, if you ask me that’s just the pretty glaze to dress up an otherwise ordinary meal.

Now if this recipe seems a bit familiar, you’d be right. I’ve taken Hubby’s favorite Meatloaf (one that is a birthday tradition); added more meat to the loaf and switched out milk for the water. Over the next few days we’ll be revisiting recipes from the past. Some, like this one, have been tweaked a bit. Others are simply presented with a new introduction. Hubby, Kiddo and I are off on an adventure (more on that later) so I won’t be spending much time in the kitchen. Enjoy!

Meatloaf Medley Revised
1-1/2 Ground Beef
1 envelop Lipton Onion Soup Mix
5 slices White Bread
3/4 cup Milk
1/3 cup Ketchup
2 Eggs
Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste
1-1/2 lb Jimmy Dean Breakfast Sausage
1/4 cup Tomato Paste
2 tablespoons Ketchup

Heat oven to 350-degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil for easy clean up. Set aside.

Place ground beef into the bottom of a large bowl. Scatter Onion Soup over the ground beef. Tear bread into bite-size pieces, scatter over the ground beef mixture. Pour milk over the bread, then ketchup.

In a small bowl lightly beat eggs, pour into the ground beef mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Crumbled breakfast sausage over the top.

With hands work all the ingredients together. Place meat mixture into a loaf pan to form the shape. Invert the pan onto the prepared baking sheet. As necessary, smooth out the loaf to form an attractive shape. Place in the heated oven to bake for 1 hour or until done.

In a small bowl mix tomato paste with the 2 remaining tablespoons of ketchup. Remove the meatloaf from oven, brush top and sides with tomato paste mixture. Return to the oven and bake about 8 minutes longer, until the paste is hot and bubbling.

This simple meatloaf is delicious with Green Beans and AuGratin Potatoes. Leftover meatloaf can be reheated for a second meal or sliced into sandwiches.

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Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.