My Mother's Belgian Meatloaf

"From Ruth van Waerebeek’s “Everybody Eats Well in Belgium Cookbook.” Ruth call this "My Mother's Meatloaf." She also recommends a variation: adding small cubes of Swiss cheese to the meat mixture, and placing thin slices of smoked bacon atop the loaf while it is baked."
 
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Ready In:
1hr 15mins
Ingredients:
17
Serves:
4-6
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ingredients

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directions

  • Preheat oven to 450°F.
  • Soak the break in the milk.
  • Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, then add the garlic, and cook one minute longer.
  • In a large mixing bowl, mix the veal with the egg. Use your hands to squeeze the excess moisture out of the soaked break and add the bread to the meat mixture. Add the onion mixture, parsley, sage, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Finally, add the port and Cognac. Mix everything together until the bread is well worked in and the vegetables and herbs are evenly distributed. The best way to do this is with your hands.
  • Cook a small spoonful of the mixture in a hot skillet and taste for seasoning. If you want to serve the meatloaf cold, you will want to add a little extra salt and pepper.
  • Brush an ovenproof glass or enamel loaf pan with the melted butter. Shape the meat mixture into a loaf in the pan. Decorate with the sprig of thyme and dot with the remaining tablespoon butter.
  • Bake 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 400°F and bake until the meat loaf is cooked through (an instant-read thermometer will register 150 to 160°F), about 15 minutes more. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

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Reviews

  1. This was a very nice way to prepare meatloaf. It was very different from other recipes I've prepared owing to the addition of the port and cognac, which worked well in this recipe. I followed the directions as posted except that I used cremini mushrooms instead of white mushrooms and used fresh instead of stale bread, but that didn't seem to interfere with the consistency. I opted to use fresh sage, as I found I like that in other meatloaf recipes and garnished with the fresh rosemary. This meatloaf was easy to make and came out very flavorful. We enjoyed it. Thanks for posting!
     
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Tweaks

  1. This was a very nice way to prepare meatloaf. It was very different from other recipes I've prepared owing to the addition of the port and cognac, which worked well in this recipe. I followed the directions as posted except that I used cremini mushrooms instead of white mushrooms and used fresh instead of stale bread, but that didn't seem to interfere with the consistency. I opted to use fresh sage, as I found I like that in other meatloaf recipes and garnished with the fresh rosemary. This meatloaf was easy to make and came out very flavorful. We enjoyed it. Thanks for posting!
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

My most cherished cookbook is Ruth Van Waerebeek's Everybody Eats Well in Belgium. It has been my inspiration for most of our family's special occasions and holiday meals and it was through exploring this book that cooking and entertaining became such a pleasurable hobby for me. The book is out of print, but I contacted Ruth to express my appreciation and ask her permission to include her recipes here. In her words: "My main concern when I wrote this book, was exactly that, that people around the globe would be able to taste these wonderful Belgian flavors! So, I don't have any objection that you post the recipes on the web."
 
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