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New Take On An Old Recipe - Meatloaf!


You know I prefer to include photos when I write about food, but darn it all, I didn't get a photo of this dish last night and I just KNEW I should have done so. But I wanted to mention it here anyway because it was one of those "ah-ha" moments in my life when I discovered this technique, so here goes.

Meatloaf cooked in a Pressure Cooker!

I was sitting here yesterday wondering what to make for dinner. We do not eat out. I cook almost 365 days of the year except on the occasional nights when I am just too bonked out and order something from our local pizza place. But all the other days of the year, I make dinner.

We had a big hunk of ground beef as well as some italian sausages in the fridge from Paul's recent food shopping trip. So I was trying to think of something to make that was different from hamburgers or spaghetti meat sauce.

How about meatloaf? I asked myself. The only thing about meatloaf that I hate is that it takes over an hour to cook and the odors from cooking it linger in the house for hours or days. I hate that. So I just let my mind wander into "what-ifs" for a moment and I asked myself - I wonder if you can cook a meatloaf in a pressure cooker?

So I went online and googled "pressure cooker meatloaf" and lo and behold, the answer was "yes"! You certainly can and, in fact, it seemed unanimous that it turned out to be the best meatloaf ever! Well, I would have to see (or taste) that to believe it, but I was willing to give it a go.

As it turned out, they were right. So here's my version of this recipe for MEATLOAF IN A PRESSURE COOKER:



This picture above is basically what mine looked like and I made steamed carrots and potatoes to go with mine, as well.


INGREDIENTS:

3/4ths lb ground beef
2 links of italian sausage, casings removed

2 eggs
1 cup oats (I only have original style here so used them)
1 cup italian bread crumbs

A few splashes Worcestershire sauce (about 3-4 TBSP)
1 TBSP onion powder
1 TBSP garlic powder
1 TBSP salt (optional)
1 TBSP pepper

1/2 chopped yellow onion
1/2 chopped green pepper

Ketchup

Mix all of the above together by hand preferably.

Spray with vegetable spray a round steaming basket.


My steam basket is almost exactly like this one.


Put the meatloaf mixture in the basket and press into a round with a flat top. Squirt ketchup on the top and spread it evenly over the top surface.

PUT THIS MIXTURE AND THE BASKET IN THE FRIDGE FOR A BIT TO SET UP. Apparently this makes the meatloaf hold together much better. I did this and sure enough that was true. Mine was in there for about 30 minutes.



In a pressure cooker (and I used my low sided braiser pressure cooker for this, like the one above, but you can use a deeper one, of course), put about 1-2 cups of water in the bottom. Sit the basket with the meatloaf into the pressure cooker and put the cover on and seal and heat the water in it.

Cook at pressure for 15 minutes.

Cool down pressure cooker lid and open up.

Wow. All the fat drips away into the water in the bottom. There is no fat left in the meatloaf. It's amazing. It's all cooked through perfectly, and it stays together! It looks like a meatloaf pie, about 2-inches in height. I cut it into 4 equal pieces and served Paul one full quarter and me a little less than that.

I really wish I had taken a photo of it but my camera lives upstairs and I just wasn't in the mood to do those stairs at that time of the day. Stairs and I don't get along well anymore. I only do them when absolutely necessary. But I wish I'd done it last night.

Of course, you can make this with your own recipe for meatloaf. Just follow the technique with the pressure cooker. I will never cook meatloaf in the oven again!!

Cheers,

Bex

"The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog...

He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer; he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounter with the roughness of the world...

When all other friends desert, he remains."

~ George V. Vest ~




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