Thursday, October 18, 2007

Presentation, or Potato Chips??

I was making meatloaf last week. You know, the ordinary kind with ground beef and ground pork. I put it in the bowl, got out the eggs and some worcestershire sauce, when I realized I had no bread crumbs. I thought about my Grandmother's meatball recipe that used corn flakes, but I had none of those either. Then I spotted a container with the small smashed bits left over from a bag of potato chips. I put 2 cups of those in my food processor. Then I thought of the durkee fried onions in the cupboard and added a cup of those. (Chad hates onions so I usually omit them from recipes. This way I got the flavor without the fresh onion!) I gave them a quick grind in the machine and voila.. filler for the meatloaf! I was a bit unsure how my new recipe would be received, but they loved it! Alexa, the picky one, ate 3 servings! They all asked for more. I used 1 1/2 lbs beef and 1 lb pork, so it made a big meatloaf. I cook it in a square cast iron skillet in the oven so it makes quite a bit. There were no leftovers!
I used to have quite a hard time getting the older kids to eat meatloaf when they were small. I could use the same recipe and make meatballs, no problem, but the word meatloaf immediately brought groans and complaints. Then someone told me to cook it in a bundt pan, which leaves a big hole in the middle. Then you fill the middle and pile it high with mashed potatoes, like a mountain. The finishing touch was to pour cheese sauce over the top.. like an erupting volcano! It worked like a charm. I quit using the term "meatloaf", although I continued to use the same recipe. Whenever they asked what we were having and got the response "Volcano", they couldn't wait for dinner. Sometimes it's all in the presentation, other times, it's the potato chips!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sounds good, hope I get that when I come. I love Cold meatloaf sandwhiches the next day. Yummmy!!