vhm loaf

Dieser Beitrag enthält Werbung – advertising.

To disclose the vhm shortcut: v is vegetables, h is herbs & m is meat.

We are preparing a classic meat loaf w/ lots of vegetables & lots of fresh Mediterranean herbs: a meat loaf you may enjoy hot, warm or cold as well.

I got my inspiration from this cookbook* out of the foodblogger’s universe which combines traditional German cooking w/ Mediterranean flavors…

I adjusted here & there… made a trip to my trusted food store… & started!

What do we need?

There are:

• minced meat (beef only!)
• milk & breadcrumbs
• eggs
• carrots, peas (frozen) & spring onions
• tomato purée & garlic
• fresh herbs (a mix of thyme, rosemary, oregano)
• pecorino.

Don’t forget to preheat your oven to 160° C w/ fan!

Mix milk & breadcrumbs & let the mess rest… Clean & trim & chop the vegetables as well as the herbs. Press the garlic.

Grate the pecorino – only roughly!

Grab a big bowl & put everything in: the meat, the eggs, the spices & the herbs, the vegetables, the pecorino, the milk-breadcrumb mix – one after the other & start kneading until everything is well mixed.

Finally you’ll have a nice soft meat mess.

I decided to do the meat loaf in a casserole.

For the record:
My ingredients added up to fill the casserole to the brim. It’s possible to adjust the amounts of ingredients proportionally – maybe except of the eggs which we add always as a whole egg. You should think about which casserole or whatever you like to use as well as how much meat loaf you need!

So the casserole was filled & marched in the oven to be cooked for at least 60 min.

The meat loaf doesn’t stick to the edges of the casserole – fine. Some liquid likes to fill the gap – just pour it away as soon as possible to prevent the meat loaf soaking up the liquid & getting very, very squishy.

For the record:
I worked w/ organic beef that didn’t release so much water i. e. the liquid comes mainly from the vegetables. In addition the organic beef is less fat than otherwise i. e. the liquid is mainly water.
…& when at room temperature the meat loaf is fine (no fat cementing the loaf!).

When serving hot after leaving the oven you are able to make slices, however, the meat is very soft & crumbly. Nevertheless…

Enjoy!

Print Recipe

vhm loaf

A meat loaf is a big meat dish for a dinner with friends and family as well as for a brunch buffett. You may create different delicious meat loafs by just changing the ingredients: today we’re dealing with a meat loaf with lots of Mediterranean herbs and vegetables!

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr

ingredients:

• 300 ml milk
• 50 g fine breadcrumbs
• 800 g minced meat 100% beef
• about 250 g carrots
• about 100 g frozen peas
• 3-4 spring onions
• 1 can tomato purée about 80 g
• 3 eggs
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 tbsp fresh chopped thyme
• 2 tbsp fresh chopped oregano
• 2 tbsp fresh chopped rosemary
• 100 g roughly grated pecorino
• 1 tsp salt at least
• 1 tsp finely ground black pepper

equipment:

• a casserole 32 cm / 1900 ml

how to:

• Mix milk & breadcrumbs & let it rest.
• Preheat the oven to 160° C w/ fan.
• Clean, trim & chop the carrots - nice little bits!
• Clean, trim & chop the spring onions.
• Clean, trim & chop the thyme leaves, the oregano leaves & the rosemary needles.
• Add pressed garlic & salt & pepper.
• Grate the pecorino.
• Roll up your sleeves & start kneading: minced meat, eggs, herbs, vegetables, pecorino...
• Finally add the milk soaked breadcrumbs.
• Fill the mess in a casserole & bake it for at least 60 min.
• There will be some liquid in the casserole (around the compact meat loaf): just pour it away - at once!

Notes

Minced meat: I worked w/ organic minced meat; therefore the minced meat was rather dry i. e. only very few water emerged when cooking the minced meat.

Vegetables: I used only raw vegetables; the carrots became al dente. If you like your carrots soft you need to put the carrot bits in boiling water for 4-5 min before adding to the meat mess. Drain well.

Liquid: The vegetables will release water when cooking. Just pour it away when the meat loaf leaves the oven. If you don’t do so the meat loaf will get soaked & sludgy.

Frozen peas: You may also start w/ fresh peas. The net weight after trimming shall be about 100 g.

Herbs: Discard the stems & stalks before chopping. The amounts are a suggestion. When making the meat loaf I was short of fresh oregano, but had more than enough rosemary & thyme. Feel free to change the proportions of the chopped herbs.

You may serve the meat loaf at once: it’s very soft & a little crumbly.

You may let it cool down & store in the fridge for some hours. The meat loaf gets more packed then & may be cut easily into slices.

The meat loaf may be served hot, warm & cool as well.

Overall the meat loaf may be stored in the fridge for at least 4-5 days.

Sorry: no experiences w/ freezing!

(information on equipment)

When the meat loaf is at room temperature it’s more packed: the slices are easier to make.

…& some liquid will be left at the bottom!

You may serve the meat loaf at once when coming out of the oven w/ potatoes & vegetables or fresh bread or… whatever you like.

You may also let it cool down or even store in the fridge for some time in order to present the meat loaf as part of buffet (cold or slightly re-heated!).

The businesswoman w/ too many office hours thinks

It’ll take me about 30 min to assemble everything, knead it & put it in a casserole.

The carrots were al dente so maybe the chopped carrots should be thrown in boiling water for some minutes – meaning that I’ll need a little more time for preparation.

A real big meat loaf sitting on a buffet may fed up to 10-12 people. Is there anything out there promising more for less work?

*All books/DVD are affiliate links to www.amazon.de (details Datenschutz).
Alle Bücher/DVD sind über affiliate links mit www.amazon.de verknüpft (s. a. Datenschutz).