Perfectly Seasoned
The podcast about all things culinary.
Perfectly Seasoned
S3 E38 Meatloaf
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Hello and welcome to Perfectly Seasoned, the podcast about all things culinary. I'm your personal chef, Greg Strom. Today on Perfectly Seasoned, Meatloaf, the rock legend or the classic comfort food? Stay tuned to find out. Hello everyone. And today on Perfectly Seasoned, we are talking about the quintessential American comfort food, Meatloaf. Sorry for all you Meatloaf fans, but this is an edible meatloaf. Meatloaf actually dates as far back as the fourth century, which was an interesting bit of useless data that I found. It was actually just chopped meat, bread, and wine, and it was just made into patties. And the invention of the meat grinder by are you ready for this? Let's see how my German is here. Carl Friedrich Christian Ludwig Freiherr Dreis von Zauerbrunn, otherwise known as Carl Dreis, was a game changer. And Karl Dreis was also the inventor of the typewriter, which I did not know. And he was also had a precursor for what we know as the bicycle. So he was a busy man. The meat grinder changed and made popular in American households the meatloaf. And it was at the after the uh Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in the late 19th century, I think it was like 1876. And the meatloaf, as we know it, was actually born. And it grew in popularity as a way to stretch meat during the Depression and during the rationing of World War II. It really has earned its place as a classic American meal. Just FYI, there are endless meatloaf recipes, but the basic ingredients have remained the same, and it's just meat, aromatics, egg, a binder, and seasonings, and sometimes a glaze. Today, joining me on the phone from Wheeling, we have my friends, one who is an attorney. Her name is Cindy Flew Hardy, and the other is a guest at the dinner that she made this at. And she's an old friend here at Perfectly Seasoned, Kristen Byron. And in the studio, we have also someone who partook of the meatloaf that I made from the same recipe, Loretta Kosick. Welcome to all Perfectly Seasoned.
SPEAKER_03Hey guys. Hi, everybody. Hi, everyone. Hello. Good to be here.
SPEAKER_00Well, this is uh we have a studio full today. So before we start, I have to ask, please put your hand on the art of French cooking. As officer, as an officer of the court and under pain of no dessert, do you, Cindy, solemnly swear that you have followed this recipe exactly as written and instructed? So help you, Julia Child.
SPEAKER_02Greg, I have to admit, I did not.
SPEAKER_00Uh-oh.
SPEAKER_02I'm here for confessions.
SPEAKER_00Okay, well, this is gonna make good conversation. So, what first of all, d uh, do you have a family recipe for meatloaf that you grew up with?
SPEAKER_02You know, my mom, my mom made it. I don't make it, I buy it from a local meat store if I'm gonna make meatloaf that already has it made up, and it's really good actually. But yeah, my mom did make meatloaf. I grew up with meatloaf, and I can imagine seeing her make it, but I don't think I've made meatloaf much in my adult life.
SPEAKER_00So well, yeah. So usually the ground uh meatloaf comes uh in the grocery store. You you do have seen those packages that have veal, beef, and pork in one they're equal portions, and that that's basically a meatloaf mix. But you could they you you can change that up however you want. What did you use?
SPEAKER_02Did you just use I I used what the recipe called for the ground sirloin and the pork.
SPEAKER_00Oh, okay. Okay. The reason I asked that is because I grew up, my mom's recipe was legendary. It was at every every family reunion. Everybody, oh that's Val's, that's Val's meatloaf. Hers was made with all three. And it tended to she kind of overworked it and it tended to be very tight and almost like a pate. How how how did you mix it? So and was it more loose and easier to cut?
SPEAKER_02It was. It was, I would say it was on the looser side as opposed to firm. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Well, are you on the the side of the people who eat meatloaf on the firm side or on the looser side? Because there's a whole school of thought about that.
SPEAKER_02Really? Yeah. I I did not know that, Greg. No, I'm I guess I somewhere in the middle. I mean, I don't like it to crumble and fall apart, but I've never had it where it's been so firm that it was like a pate.
SPEAKER_00What about you, Kristen? Which side do you find it?
SPEAKER_03I want it I want it to be firm enough that I can fear it with a fork and it's not gonna fall apart. But I I'd say I agree with Cindy, you know, somewhere in the middle, just so it's enough that it's not crumbling while I'm trying to eat it.
SPEAKER_00We'll ask Loretta now. She was a guest when I made it, and mine was on the looser side.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I'm definitely not a pate type of meatloaf girl, but no, yours was perfect, Greg. I will come back anytime.
SPEAKER_00And she does.
SPEAKER_03Pate is not a word that comes to mind to me generally when thinking about meatloaf. That's an interesting thing.
SPEAKER_00Well, yeah, I use that as a comp as a uh an analogy because the way my mom's was cut, or I mean the uh made, once it was cold, we were able to cut it, slice it for sandwiches, and it was literally like eating a piece of pate, very tight. So it was always good. My mom's meatloaf was very good. That's what I grew up with. But the first time I ever made my meatloaf for her, I I was a little concerned. I thought, oh my god, she's not gonna like this. Turns out that she said she liked it better than her meatloaf. So I I guess I'm and that's how I got the nickname the fancy cook, because I did I used things that she never used. You know, she she didn't use, she called them herbs. She didn't use any of that stuff, she just it came out of a jar and that was it. But yeah, I I'm I fall on the side of the uh looser as well. I have made it both ways. If I if I want something that I know I'm gonna turn into a sandwich, I will make it a little denser because it's easier to cut and there's more it's more like a lunch meat, I guess, at that point. But did you what did you do that was not in the recipe?
SPEAKER_02Well, I am not a bacon grease kind of girl. I think it's disgusting. Sorry. And so I I used olive oil.
SPEAKER_00Okay, well, that's not so bad. I mean, that that's yeah, that was that that was the only change. Yeah, that's that's a personal choice. And uh a re if it makes you feel any better, just let me just say a recipe is only a guide. Now, I do encourage people the first time they try a recipe to follow it so that if they don't like something in there, they can change it the next time. So you have a basis of what what the second time might taste like. But uh something something as minor as that is is yeah, that's understandable. Who else was at the uh premiere of your meatloaf?
SPEAKER_02Well, Kristen and her husband Kurt, and then our friend Ann Harmon.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, Ann's been on the show. Yeah, yeah. I was hoping she'd be here today on the show with us, just but uh this is the first time I've had this many people on the i it's I feel like I'm having a dinner party. It's really kind of cool. Here's a question for you. When you have your meatloaf, are you a glaze type of a person or do you like it without the glaze? That's another whole school of thought.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I have never heard of the glaze, and quite frank, I didn't use your optional but recommended glaze because uh quite honestly, it was a little bit too fancy for me. I didn't, I mean, how in the heck am I supposed to get veal demi-glaze and I didn't even know what the other word was that was the beef stock? So I didn't use that. I just I just used the extra chili sauce on the top.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, well, there and and there again, that's why w when I did this recipe, I made that an optional thing. It doesn't really make a tremendous amount of difference, it's just a slightly different profile, flavor profile. But the the top though is the the chili sauce. That to me is that's really that is key for me. I know growing up I never had that, and and uh mom never put uh any of that stuff on her meatloaf. It was literally just came out of the oven as a meatloaf. So and it was delicious, but it just didn't have that. And a lot of people don't like it, and that can actually be optional as well. Uh when you have meatloaf, have you do you ever have meatloaf gravy?
SPEAKER_02No, I I grew up, my mother fixed it with the actually just ketchup on top. And I think she might have used some tomato juice in the recipe as well. And but she she didn't, it was just such a good dinner when she made meatloaf. She would take her potatoes and carrots and onions and cut them up and put them around the meatloaf while it was baking, and all of those juices from the meatloaf would get into those vegetables. It was just mouth watering.
SPEAKER_00So you really wouldn't need a gravy. I like that idea. In fact, I'm I might have to steal that. I like vegetables that are cooked. I like vegetables that are cooked around meat because you really don't need anything to season them once they're ready to serve. So that that was a that's a great idea. Did you serve any kind of a wine with this?
SPEAKER_02Anne brought the wine, and it was a red wine, I believe, Kristen, correct?
SPEAKER_03It was, but there have been so many wines between then and now. I can't really I can't really hone in on it.
SPEAKER_00What are you admitting, Kristen?
SPEAKER_03I just said I like a glass of wine or dinner. And I eat a lot of dinners. Exactly. So they say six small meals throughout the day is better than two big meals.
SPEAKER_00Well, Cindy, do you do you cook a lot you know, at home? Or do you Yeah?
SPEAKER_02I mean, I'm I live alone, so that's always a challenge, but I love to cook for friends. I don't do it as often as I should, but when I cook at home, I honestly cook a lot like my mom cooked. I mean, I make very simple things with simple ingredients. I love to make soups. If I make some kind of a recipe because I'm hungry for it, I will end up portioning it out and then freezing it, and then I can take it out and have it for my dinner or lunch.
SPEAKER_00So you you like making soups?
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_00Okay. That was a loaded question because I have some soups coming up that I'm gonna have you try. So you I figured I have a lot of really good soups. I search different cookbooks and different sites for interesting soups for people for guests on the show to try. So I will I'm I'm putting together next season and I have a number of soups on there, so I will let you know, and we'll have to we'll we'll have to revisit. So Okay. So now, well, now that that we've gone through the meatloaf and we've discussed what kind of wine we don't know we had.
SPEAKER_02She said it was red.
SPEAKER_00Red, yeah. Okay. So it's time. So it's time for uh our next segment, which is wine o'clock with our resident Somalier, Cynthia Tosh, and we'll see what she recommends pairing with this. And in the meantime, thank you for joining us today, and I can't wait to have you on the podcast again.
SPEAKER_02Okay, thank you for asking me. It's a pleasure.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so let's head on over to Cynthia. Hello, Cynthia.
SPEAKER_01Hello.
SPEAKER_00Today's it's a meatloaf. What would you recommend for this?
SPEAKER_01I have to admit, to you listeners, you may already know that I've never had meatloaf in my entire life.
SPEAKER_00Oh my goodness. I did not know that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's not not my thing. Um, I don't really eat a lot of meat as it is. However, I understand it's very popular. And given the ingredients and everything, I've come up with I have three actual ideas today for this pairing. So you and your listeners will have to tell me what you think of this based on me never having had this dish, but that's okay too. So for the reds, I was thinking a Syrah or Shiraz, depending where you're getting it from. If you're going Northern Rhone, you're going France, you want a nice Syrah, a Codroti or Crows Hermitage, it's elegant, it's savory. So great with meat, firm tannins, a little peppery. The earthiness kind of mirrors that imami death, I'm imagining, of a well-seasoned meatloaf dish. You can also a Shiraz, slightly cheaper, can be, and then call it Shiraz if it's from Australia. So Verosa Valley, McLaren Vale, very much a crab pleaser, full body, jammy, dark fruit, touch of vanilla from American oak. It can hold up to the richness of a meatloaf. But then you can also get Syrah from California, like pass places like Paso Robles in the Central Coast. More fruit forward than a France, but maybe with more structure or spice than Australia. So blackberry, bacon fat, cracked pepper, which I hear, you know, if you use ketchup on your meatloaf, that could be a really nice pairing. And then if you want a white wine, then do a gruner vote liner from Austria. So runers can have enough weight and white pepper notes that kind of you know mirror a Syrah's pepperiness in that way, but it's herbal, it's crisp. Yeah, so I think I think that could work as well if you really wanted a white wine.
SPEAKER_00Well, we're still on our Spanish kick. So we had the we had the Mencia, which worked really good. It really fabulous. Okay, well, I I want to thank everybody today for uh being on the show and for preparing this recipe. And if you have any questions about today's recipe, or if you'd like to be a guest home cook on Perfectly Seasoned, please email me at infothesilvershef.net because I'm now actually looking for home cooks for season four, which will be coming up at the end of September. So I'd like to thank uh today's guest home cook and Cynthia for uh joining us today on Perfectly Season. And once again, you can listen to Perfectly Season on my website, thesilverchef.net, on my Facebook page, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Pandora, Spotify, Amazon, or wherever you get your podcasts. And this is your personal chef, Greg Strom. Thanks for joining us today on Perfectly Seasoned. And remember to eat fresh, may the fork be with you, and may all your days be perfectly seasoned.