My mom's meatloaf was great (wasn't everyone's?) Over the years I had a lot of good (and not so good) meatloaf, but it was always a tasty comfort food. Many years ago I discovered Paul Prudhomme's cookbook "Louisiana Kitchen" which had some of the best Cajun dishes I had ever tasted. This is his meatloaf recipe. It is more trouble to make than your typical meatloaf due to all the chopped veggies, but very very worth it. If fact, it is hard to eat boring meatloaf after eating the good stuff.

I cook it three different ways, the way listed here (in a loaf) but I also slice the loaf into "patties" of sorts and grill them like a steak or a burger. I also fill large muffin tins with the mixture and bake it to make mini meatloafs. I then freeze them for later.

A food processor takes all the work out of the chopping.

CAJUN MEAT LOAF

For the spice mix

2 whole bay leaves
1 tsp grown cayenne pepper
1 tsp freshly grown black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg


For the meat loaf

1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 medium large onion, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
1 medium size green pepper, finely chopped
3 scallions finely chopped
4 large garlic cloves finely chopped
1 TBS Tabasco Sauce
1 TBS Worcestershire
1/2 cup evaporated cultured buttermilk
1/2 cup ketchup
1-1/2 lbs ground beef - 85% lean
1/2 lb ground pork
2 large eggs lightly beaten
1 cup fine dry bread crumbs

Combine the spice ingredients in a small bowl and set aside

Melt butter in medium saucepan at medium heat. Add onion, celery, bell pepper, scallions, garlic, Tabasco, Worcestershire, and the spice mix till the mixture starts sticking (I actually use a saute pan for this), 6 or 7 minutes, stirring occasionally and scrapping the bottom well. Stir in the buttermilk and ketchup and continue cooking for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature in the pan.

Preheat the oven to 350F. In a large bowl, mix the ground beef and ground pork until well blended. Spread the meat to cover the bottom of an ungreased 13 x 9 baking pan. Add the eggs, the cooked vegetable mixture (remove bay leaves), and the bread crumbs. Mix by hand until combined well. In the center of the pan, shape the mixture into a loaf about 1-1/2" high, 6" wide, and 12" long. Bake for 25 minutes, then raise the heat to 400F and bake until the edges are blackened and the juices and fat are bubbling vigorously, about 30 minutes longer. Serve immediately.


(Metalwing's notes)
* If you make the muffin tin version reduce cooking time about 25% or so depending upon the size of the holes. Watch closely as they will cook quicker.

* If you make the grilled version just cook it like a well done steak.

I saw this beautiful meatloaf pan at the store today and was going to buy it. Then saw the price tag. 15$. No way. I'll stick with cheap aluminum ones.

The meatloaf will taste the same.

Some of my stuff looks like it was left over from World War II.

It sounds really good. But that has got to be the longest list of ingredients I've ever seen for meatloaf.

Chef Paul's dishes tend to be that way, but the complex balance of flavors has to be tasted to be appreciated. He used to have a cooking show and made the comment "I want to wake up your entire mouth!" He knows how.

I tend to ... er ... spill ... a little extra spice into the mix.

you cook like i do.it is a art

Thank you.

I'll stick with my own meatloaf.It was good enough for my family and its good enough for me.

chopmeat,

ketchup

breadcrumbs

salt & pepper

red onion

sharp cheese,or american cheese.

egg

mix all together with hands,put in pan bake for one hour,


big salad,veg of choice

hmmmmmm good

i love meatloaf....

your post reminded me of stuart little the movie, they always eat meatloaf, and one night, the husband says, wonderful meatloaf or something to that effect and the wife says...Cajun..LOL

my mind is random but i love that movie....

and i love meatloaf,, oh yeah already said that..LOL

cool recipe!!!

Thank you