Nibbles and Narratives

It's an interesting idea and it worked, mostly, which surprised me.

I am so close to being done with my book, I can taste it!  It's been delicious so far and I want to see how it all plays out in the finale.  Truthfully, I was concerned that I was not going to enjoy this title but my love of all things Bennett won out and thank goodness it did.  Has anyone else picked up "Death Comes to Pemberley"?  What did you think?

This week I was in need of comfort food so I was in a bit of a panic when I went to make my meatloaf on Tuesday, only to discover that I had not one egg in the house!  I did some quick thinking learned a nifty new trick... would you like me to share?  Potato flakes.  Yep, that's right.  To substitute the binding agent that I lacked, I used 1 tablespoon of potato flakes and 2 tablespoons of water.  Again, a nervous nelly was I while it was baking because I can stand a lot of things but ruined/wasted food is not one of them.

Not only did this work, you couldn't tell the difference.  There was no change in texture or flavor really which surprised me.  I was afraid that it would be somehow creamy instead of meaty.  Silly, but it's the truth.  So here you go - my recipe for smashing meatloaf...

Ingredients:

1 lb of lean ground beef
1 egg, beaten (or substitute 1tbsp potato flakes and 2 tbsp water)
2/3 cups breadcrumbs or oats
1 small onion, minced
2 tbsp parsley
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp salt
1/8 cup ketchup (or bbq sauce is also good)
1/8 tsp black pepper
2 tsp ground mustard (spicy brown is also good)

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients by hand, making sure everything is evenly distributed.
2. Scoop up the mixture and roll into a huge ball.  Slap it down into a baking dish (I use my 5x7 most often but you could use your loaf pan as well).  Form the mixture into a loaf by squishing together the sides and then patting down the top.  Repeat this process until you have a loaf that is roughly as high as your baking dish, with rounded ends.
3. Take your ketchup (or bbq sauce) and make a nice zig-zag pattern across the top and sprinkle some parsley or chives on top.
4. Bake in a 350* oven for about an hour or until the internal temperature of the meatloaf is at or above 160.  Let it rest for a few minutes and then transfer to a serving plate.
5. Enjoy!  This should yield you about 8 to 10 slices, depending on how thick you cut it.