BILL BLASS'S MEATLOAF

To me, meatloaf has always been comfort food. I suppose that comes from my childhoood when we often had meatloaf at home. Mom's version was pretty bland, however, because Dad would never eat anything flavored with onions, and garlic, in any amount, would have driven him from the house. So when I first came to Baltimore, meatloaf (along with tuna noodle casserole) was one of the first things I learned to make and I was eager to try it with onions and garlic, or anything else the recipe might call for.

After many years of experimentation, years in which I searched for the perfect meatloaf, I tried many versions and saved many recipes. Most of them were good....even Dinah Shore's version, rolled up with blue cheese...but none of them seemed to capture the flavor of my childhood married now to my understandably more experienced palette.

None, that is,  until a good friend gave me a cookbook from House Beautiful. In it I found a recipe for a mealoaf from Bill Blass who is quoted there as saying, "I will never be remembered for my clothes. I think my claim to immortality will be my meatloaf." I don't know about his clothes but this is surely a great meatloaf. (Although recently I've found another recipe I like even better; that will be my next post.)

According to the cookbook, Bill Blass served his meatloaf with succotash and mashed potatoes and it's great that way. But meatloaf goes with any good starch and some green vegetable. Try it with corn pudding or tomato pudding, both really easy to make, and asparagus with ginger shallot dressing, my favorite companions to this all-American staple.

Bill Blass's Meatloaf

2 lb ground sirloin

1/2 lb ground pork

1/2 lb ground veal

2 T butter

1 large onion, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 large egg

1 T Worchestershire sauce

1 1/2 C soft fresh, unflavored bread crumbs

1/2 C chopped fresh parsley

1/3 C sour cream

pinch dried thyme

pinch dried marjoram

salt and freshly groung black pepper to taste

1 bottle Heinz chili sauce

1. Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, gently combine the sirloin, veal and pork (or get your butcher to grind them together). Set aside.

2. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Saute the celery and onion for about 10 minutes until soft and translucent. Transfer to the bowl with the meat.

3. Beat together the egg and Worchestershire sauce and add to the meat along with the bread crumbs, parsley, sour cream, thyme, marjoran, salt and pepper. Combine well and form a loaf.

(It's best here to mix the combination with a fork, or with your hands, trying to keep the mixture light so the ultimate meatloaf will not be so dense.)

4. Place the meatloaf in a bakind dish or on a sheet pan and top with chili sauce. Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until cooked through.

5. Allow to rest for about 10 minutes, tented with aluminum foil. Cut into thick slices and serve.

I prefer to cook the meatloaf in a baking dish or sheet pan rather than in a traditional loaf pan. In this way, the whole meatloaf can come to the table on a pretty platter and there is far less chance that the meatloaf will sit in its own fat.

Adapted from

Bill Blass

via House Beautiful