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I love meatloaf. It's comfort food for me -- easy to prepare, gets more delicious every day in the fridge, and I can happily eat it for a few days, especially in the winter (not that it's cold here yet). I usually make mine out of ground turkey, and I add an egg, a chopped onion, Italian seasoned bread crumbs, and a little bit of every sauce, condiment, herb, and spice I have, so it's a little different every time. We do a holiday potluck lunch at work every year, and I always try to bring a heavier home-cooked main dish, since so many people just show up with a package of grocery store cookies or a few 2-liter bottles of soda. One year I made Robert Rodriguez's recipe for puerco pibil from Once Upon a Time in Mexico, pickled my own onions and everything, and the person who brought in cold supermarket fried chicken was more popular. It was a perfect excuse to try that recipe I had always wanted to make, but people just weren't into it. Last year I brought in homemade lasagna, and that was a hit, but this year I wanted to top myself. I decided to make a meatcake: basically a multi-tiered meatloaf arranged as a cake, "iced" with mashed potatoes so it actually looked like a cake. I've made two in my life, but I had ideas to improve the presentation this time around, and I even bought a cool cake carrier to transport it safely to work. I like making spicy food for myself, but I've learned I need to tone everything way down for my work colleagues, who consider going out to lunch at Chili's and Olive Garden the height of being "foodies." I used two different original meatloaf recipes: an "American" meatloaf with lean ground beef, four strips of crumbled bacon, a whole sweet diced onion sauteed in the bacon grease, ketchup, the remnants of two different bottles of barbecue sauce, worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, Lawry's seasoned salt, and pepper, and an "Italian" meatloaf with lean ground beef, mild Italian sausage, onions, garlic, a whole little can of tomato paste (which I normally add to my basic turkey meatloaf), oregano, basil, thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. I added an egg and seasoned bread crumbs to each mix as well. I packed everything into two round cake pans, but I had enough leftover meat for a third layer, so I used a disposable foil cake pan I had left over from Thanksgiving and layered the remaining meat into it. I baked everything at 350 degrees until my meat thermometer read they had reached 160 degrees, and when I took them out, they had shrunk away from the sides of the pans and puffed up considerably. I carefully drained as much grease as I could from each pan, then used a sharp knife to level them off for smooth, flat surfaces. (I apologize for not having any pictures of the work in progress.) While they cooled in the fridge, I mixed up a batch of instant mashed potatoes from a box of potato flakes. I know what you're thinking, and of course I'd rather make real mashed potatoes from scratch. Actually, I'd rather make the kick-rear end pancetta-topped potatoes au gratin that were a huge hit with my family at Thanksgiving, but when you're making a meatcake, you need the smoothest, simplest mashed potatoes to spread on evenly to create an "icing" effect for the cake. I used leftover heavy cream from Thanksgiving instead of the suggested 2% milk, and they came out really smooth. Once my meatcake layers had cooled and solidified a bit in the fridge, I put the first layer or American meatloaf on a glass plate, spread a very thin layer of mashed potatoes on top with a spatula, then the Italian meatloaf layer, then another thin layer of potatoes, and then the combined layer. When I made it many years ago, I used a combination of ketchup and barbecue sauce between the meat layers to simulate a fruit or jam filling in a cake, but it made the layers slide around dangerously, harming the cake's structural integrity. The white inner layers would create a nice visual contrast once the cake was sliced, and the mashed potatoes give each meat layer a firmer foundation. I spread a much thicker layer of mashed potatoes on top, and then the hardest business of all was icing the sides and getting it all smooth and clean and neat, all the way down. Potatoes came in handy filling in gaps where parts of the meat had crumbled loose, and after a tense and painstaking process, it looked like a beautiful cake -- maybe a red velvet cake, or something with a nice cream cheese frosting. When I brought it to work on Friday, I set it up on the main course table with someone's sliced turkey, a slow cooker full of pulled pork, baked macaroni and cheese, and standard green bean casserole. Even though I said it was a meatcake and explained what it was to multiple people, two well-intentioned ladies tried moving it to the dessert table at different points. Even after people started cutting out slices, my boss saw it and remarked that it was nice to see a cake on the main course table, so he could start his meal with dessert. But I'm relieved to say it was a hit. Everyone appreciated the novelty, and everyone who tried it seemed to really like it. I microwaved it in our break room for about five minutes before carefully walking it over to the lunch room in the dome-topped cake carrier (that thing was HEAVY), but just like any work potluck, it's difficult to serve food that is meant to be hot, when you can't really keep it hot. Even at room temperature, it came out great. At least I took pictures of the final product:   The squeeze bottle was mine too -- a blend of HFCS-free Heinz ketchup, barbecue sauce from a well-liked local barbecue chain, Tiger Sauce (similar to Thai sweet chili sauce), and some cornstarch to thicken it. I tried using a similar concoction (minus the cornstarch) to decorate my original meatcakes, but it was always too thin and ended up looking bad. This time, I considered writing "Happy Holidays" on top with the thicker sauce, but I was worried I'd ruin the clean aesthetic and actual cake-looking facade, so I left it for people to adorn their own slices, which some did.
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Dec 3, 2017 09:00
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 02:59 |
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Trying to serve it hot is impossible, maximize the cold meat loaf taste with moist fat content.
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Dec 3, 2017 13:56
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I don't know how well this would work, but have you considered baking it after assembly? I was thinking that might lend a nice crispiness to the outer potato frosting.
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Dec 3, 2017 19:15
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why not just make a terrine or rillettes? this looks disgustingBig Bad Voodoo Lou posted:going out to lunch at Chili's and Olive Garden Big Bad Voodoo Lou posted:my boss oh mindphlux fucked around with this message at 09:47 on Dec 4, 2017 |
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Dec 4, 2017 09:42
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Are you suggesting a terrine does not look disgusting?
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Dec 6, 2017 22:45
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the littlest prince posted:Are you suggesting a terrine does not look disgusting? this is uncanny valley kind of disgusting. as it looks like a cake but isnt.
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Dec 6, 2017 23:50
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There's been a fad at catered events for at least a decade for meatloaf cupcakes frosted with terrible mash. I had hoped it was fizzling out.
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Dec 7, 2017 01:06
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at a job back in the day I used to trick front of house people into eating icecream sundaes made with big scoops of fryer shortening. that's kind of like what the op did to his coworkers
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Dec 7, 2017 04:57
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somebody just told me that theres a cooking forum and hmm
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Dec 7, 2017 06:20
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the littlest prince posted:Are you suggesting a terrine does not look disgusting? ... yeah?
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Dec 7, 2017 07:27
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I think you guys are being unnecessarily mean. This looks perfectly tasty and is just the thing for a work potluck.
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Dec 7, 2017 17:48
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Look at all these haters. Let me tell you, this poo poo looks dope and I would be tickled to see & eat it at a potluck.
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Dec 8, 2017 06:55
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I appreciate a little support. I realize it's a ridiculous novelty food, but I work with a bunch of people (mostly older) who thought my Mexican pulled pork was too "exotic," and think I'm the weird foodie because I mention eating poke or banh mi or raw oysters. They love chain restaurants and hate trying new things. I figured I couldn't go wrong with serving them meat and potatoes, and I made it look festive since meatloaf might be delicious, but isn't always beautiful. And at least this was delicious.
Big Bad Voodoo Lou fucked around with this message at 07:30 on Dec 8, 2017 |
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Dec 8, 2017 07:05
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I think I prefer shepard's pie.
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Dec 9, 2017 19:52
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I've learned to just bring really basic and bland foods to a potluck as well. I made a cranberry/mango chutney for one Thanksgiving get together and not a single person out of 30 would eat it. In fact easily half the people there chose to eat lunch meat or KFC rather than the turkey that the boss made. The star of that potluck was a casserole made of canned mix vegetables, ground beef, and mushroom soup that all the ladies at work were crazy about and had to ask for the "recipe". I also made an upscale greenbean casserole once with actual fresh beans and mushrooms, a cream sauce, and actual fried onions I made myself. Another person made the standard two cans of green beans that come cut into thin strips, COM soup and the fried onions in a can. I get why people played it safe and pretty much killed the no effort recipe but it sure was disappointing. Lately I just bring plates or bowls because gently caress making an effort.
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Dec 10, 2017 14:39
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therobit posted:I think I prefer shepard's pie. Yeah, this would've been a safe choice — you can do it in a 9x13 and it would reheat more quickly than the cake would've.
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Dec 10, 2017 14:48
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 02:59 |
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Next time just do it bundt cake style, with mashed potatoes squirted around the top and sides via pastry bag.
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Dec 12, 2017 03:28
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