Seasonal Ontario Food

Like a lot of people, I read cookbooks for their entertainment value. I was reading one a few days ago that had a description and recipe for an Argentinian meatloaf; stuffed, boiled and served cold. It sounded very interesting. However I've never been good at doing what people tell me to do and so somehow along the way I ended up stuffing my meatloaf with a more Germanic rouladen-inspired stuffing, and shoving it in the oven as usual. It was a success, but one of these days I will have to try the other one.

Well, what can I say? It looks like meatloaf which is not really the most photogenic thing in the world.

But it does have a nice orange swirl when sliced.

The meatloaf ready to roll up and put in the pan.

8 servings
2 hours - 45 minutes prep time

The Meat:
450 grams (1 pound or 4 small) potatoes
1 large onion
1 tablespoon olive oil
900 grams (2 pounds) lean ground beef
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons savory

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Wash the potatoes, poke them with a fork, and bake for 20 minutes until partly cooked. Let cool enough to handle, then grate them into a large bowl. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F.

Peel and chop the onion, and sauté it in the oil until soft and translucent. Add it to the potatoes, and mix in the ground beef, eggs, salt and savory. Return to the fridge until you are ready to assemble the meatloaf.

The Filling:
1 large carrot
2-3 dill pickles
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish

Peel and grate the carrot. Grate the pickles. (There should be roughly twice as much carrot as pickles.) Mix in the horseradish.

To Assemble:
Pat the meat mixture into a neat, flat rectangle on a piece of parchment or waxed paper. I put it on a large cookie tray to make it easier to handle. Be sure that the rectangle is not too wide to fit into your loaf pan. Spread the filling over the meat, being careful not to get to close to the edges and in particular leaving 2" or 3" at the far end.

Roll up the meatloaf, using the paper to give you a bit of lift at the beginning, and then use the paper to lift the meatloaf so it can be tipped into a loaf pan, seam down if you can swing it. Bake at 350°F for 1 and a quarter hours, or perhaps a little longer. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Also good cold. You might want to brush the top with some ketchup or tomato sauce before you bake it to make it a little more scenic.