Thursday, March 3, 2011

Dutch Meat Loaf That Every Family Can Enjoy!

This is a wonderful recipe not only for yourself, but also when you want to bring a meal to a family who just had a baby! It seems that even picky kids (and husbands) will eat this.

The Back Story:
Because I try to avoid clutter (see my home and you may think otherwise!), I am very selective about what cookbooks take up space on my shelf. I used to collect all kinds of cookbooks - like any serious cook - and I wasn't afraid to let them take up all of our shelf space. However, as the collection intruded with what space our children's books needed, I had to go through my cookbooks and weed out the ones I didn't use. Now I'm down to 16, which still sounds like a lot! I go through them every year or so to see which ones I should give away and I need a lot of motivation to make the space for adding a new one to my shelf.

One of my favorite cookbooks has an unlikely story of how it got to me. It's the purple colored "Spice and Spirit, The Complete Kosher Jewish Cookbook" from Lubavitch Women's Cookbook Publication. Back in 2008 I'd never heard of it and didn't ask for it, but it was given to me by a dear colleague at the OU who had an extra copy. It sat on my desk at work unopened for months before I brought it home. Once home and still unopened, I stored it on my cookbook shelf until my yearly foray through which cookbooks I could get rid of. I meant to give away this one first, but then all it took was one glance through it and the rest is history! That would have been a huge mistake if I didn't finally look through it! I am grateful that this is among my collection. The recipe selection is spectacular. I use it all the time to try recipes that are new to me, from Hungarian to Caribbean to Sephardic cuisine.

Dutch Meat Loaf
"Spice and Spirit" cookbook, January 2007 printing, page 211.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 cup soft bread crumbs
1 onion, diced
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 c water
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp prepared mustard

According to the recipe, use a 9" x 5" loaf pan, but I use a larger baking pan.
Yields 4-6 servings.

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°.
2. In a large bowl combine ground beef, bread crumbs, onion, 3/4 cup tomato sauce, egg, and salt. Mix well and shape into a loaf. Place in loaf pan.
3. Combine remaining tomato sauce with water, sugar, and mustard. Pour over loaf.
4. Bake for 1 1/2 hours. Remove from oven and let stand a few minutes before slicing.

I like to serve this dish with a side of roasted potatoes and roasted asparagus.

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