Market Street Meat Loaf

I love meat loaf and make several different kinds from healthy versions made only with ground turkey, quinoa and zucchini to more indulgent recipes with a nice sauce on the top or even topped with bacon. The Market Street Meat Loaf is from one of my favorite cookbooks called The New Basics Cookbook written by Julee Rosso & Sheila Lukins.

 

This meat loaf has an assortment of chopped vegetables added as well as some spices that you might not normally put in your meatloaf. The original recipe calls for cooking the meat loaf in a baking dish, which is then placed in a larger pan, and boiling water is poured into the larger pan before baking. I’m sure that’s a wonderful way to cook it but the several times I have made the meat loaf I have either cooked it in my normal meat loaf pan or made an oval and placed it on a pan and cooked it free form. Both ways have come out perfectly.

 

Not only it this meatloaf delicious when warm but it makes wonderful meat loaf sandwiches especially with my homemade bread! There is a bit of chopping involved in this recipe but it is more than worth it!

 

Market Street Meat Loaf

 

Ingredients:

 

3 Tbsp butter

¾ cup chopped onion

¾ cup chopped scallions

½ cup chopped carrot

¼ cup chopped celery

¼ cup chopped red pepper

¼ cup chopped green pepper

2 tsp minced garlic

Salt, to taste

1 tsp ground black pepper

½ tsp ground white pepper

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp cumin

½ tsp nutmeg

3 eggs, well beaten

½ cup ketchup

½ cup half and half

2 pounds lean ground beef chuck

12 oz sausage meat (not fennel flavored)

¾ cup fresh breadcrumbs

 

Directions:

 

Preheat oven to 375.

Melt the butter in a heavy skillet and add the onion, scallions, carrots, celery, peppers and garlic. Cook, stirring often, until the moisture from the vegetables has evaporated, about ten minutes. Set aside to cool; then refrigerate, covered, until chilled, at least 1 hour.

 

Combine the salt, black pepper, white pepper, cayenne, cumin, nutmeg and eggs in a bowl, and beat well. Add the ketchup and half and half. Blend thoroughly.

 

Add the chuck, sausage, and breadcrumbs to the egg mixture. Then add the chilled vegetables and mix thoroughly with you hands, kneading for five minutes.

 

With damp hand, form the mixture into an oval approximately 17 x 4 x 1, resembling a long loaf of bread.

 

Place the meatloaf in a baking dish and place the dish inside a larger pan. Pour boiling water into the larger pan until it reaches halfway up the sides of the baking dish. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes. Remove the baking dish front the water bath, and let the meat loaf sit for 20 minutes before slicing and serving.

 

Makes 8-10 portions.

 

Note: As I mentioned above I have cooked the meat loaf both times without using the water bath.