Cajun Meatloaf - A Pictoral Essay (56k warning)

BBQBluesStringer

I decided to try an old standard of mine, Cajun Meatloaf, on the egg last night. It was fantastic! Here is how it goes...[p][p]Here are your starting ingredients. Of course being a Cajun dish, you immediately spot the holy trinity of Cajun cooking; onion, celery and bell pepper.[p][p][p]Here the ingredients are ready to make the ragout. Everything is finely chopped because you want it to simply disappear in the ragout as it cooks down.[p][p][p]Cook all the veggies in butter until they're very soft.[p][p][p]They should look something like this before you add the remaining ragout ingredients.[p][p][p]Dump in the ketchup, Meat Magic, and evaporated milk and continue to cook over a medium heat.[p][p][p]The ragout will begin to stick at some point. That's it! It is finished![p][p]Put it in a bowl and let it cool in the fridge until you're ready to make the meatloaf. Do not use it hot! Let it cool down.[p][p][p]Mama didn't raise no fool! Let Mr. Kitchenaid mix the ground beef, ragout, and bread crumbs![p][p][p]Ready to be molded, and I barely broke a sweat![p][p][p]Ready to see Greenie![p][p][p]On the egg, indirect at 350. Note BBQ Guru has been brought into play here. It's time for me to relax and let someone else do the cookin'.[p][p][p]I lost track of time, but I believe it was about an hour and a half later that the 165 degree alarm went off. Seems about right for a 3-lb meatloaf.[p][p][p]Here it is, ready to hit the table![p]Ingredient List:[p]1 Medium onion
1 Medium bell pepper
2 Stalks celery
1/2 Stick unsalted butter
4 Tablespoons Meat Magic
1/4 Cup Ketchup
1 small can evaporated milk
1 Tablespoon L&P
1/2 Cup unseasoned bread crumbs
2.5 to 3.0 pounds lean ground beef.

WooDoggies

BBQBluesStringer,[p]Awesome pictoral..... thank you![p]John

Bobby-Q

BBQBluesStringer,
Oh man does that look good.

BBQBluesStringer

Those more awake than me this morning may have noticed some ingredients in the pictures that didn't make the list.[p]1 Jalepeno
1-4 Cloves of garlic[p]Happy egging!

egghead2004

BBQBluesStringer,
I can't see the pics? All the pictures have little red x thingys on them.

egghead2004

egghead2004,
nevermind, I see them now. Whew , Monday mornig I guess.
That looks awesome, looks like something to try later in the week.[p]

mad max beyond eggdome

BBQBluesStringer,
that's a great pictorial!! . . thanks for sharing. . .now if i can just convince my meat loaf maker (spawn) to try something different. . . ..[p]one question. . .do you think it would hold up ok, not using the pan, just putting the 'loaf' right on the grid over the platesetter?. . .that's what sydney does with hers, and it makes for a nice 'crust' all the way around. ..[p]

BBQBluesStringer

mad max beyond eggdome,
It's a pretty substantial loaf. I think it would hold together okay just sitting on the cooking grid. Unless you use real lean ground beef, it renders a lot of fat, but that would just burn away on the plate setter. I've always used a meatloaf pan, so that's the way I went with this first eggsperience.

mad max beyond eggdome

thanks kelly. . .man i really like the list of ingredients, just going to have to give it a try. . ..

Bob V

Another way to do it without a pan would be to use a layer of thin cheesecloth all the way around it, tied off at the ends. [p]Bob V

chuckls

BBQBluesStringer,[p]Great pictures! Thanks![p]Chuck