Brown Sugar Meatloaf

 You don’t have to be a daily reader of this blog (although I’d love to have you!) to know that I love meatloaf.  They are always easy to assemble, are generally made from simple ingredients that we all have on hand, they are routinely very tasty and satisfying, and the leftovers (if you’re lucky enough to have them), make for a delicious lunch the following day.  Lover of this king of comfort foods that I am, I am always on the lookout for new recipes -- new…and unique.  This one grabbed my attention because its base is a layer of brown sugar.  My fear was that this would be sickeningly sweet, but offset by the ketchup, the topping was the perfect combination of the sweetness of the sugar and tang of the tomato ketchup.

Brown Sugar Meatloaf

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup ketchup

1 1/2 lbs. ground chuck

3/4 cup whole milk

1 extra large egg

1 1/4 teaspoons Kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 small yellow onion, finely chopped

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Lightly grease a 5x9 inch loaf pan.  Press the brown sugar in the bottom of the prepared loaf pan and spread the ketchup over the sugar.  In a mixing bowl, mix thoroughly all remaining ingredients and shape into a loaf.  Place on top of the ketchup.  Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until juices are clear.

If you love meatloaf as I do, treat yourself to this delightful little book.  It’s only 99 cents!

This post is linked to:

What's Cooking Wednesday

Wow Us Wednesday

Foodie Friday

Famous Barr's John White Burger

When I was a little girl, my mother would take me out to lunch once a month.  One of my favorite places to eat was the Jade Room Restaurant contained within one of St. Louis' two big department stores, Famous-Barr (now Macy's).  This was back in the day when people would dress to go out to dine.  No slacks allowed!  A hostess would seat us, and while we waited for our meals, beautifully dressed models would walk among the tables wearing the latest fashions available in the store, well-accessorized, and bearing the fragrance du jour.  Sometimes they would stop at our table and describe what they were wearing, its price and size availability. For a ten-year-old girl like me, it was magical!  Sometimes my dad would meet us for lunch, but mostly it was just mother and me.  My lunch order never varied:  hamburger, chocolate milk, and Jell-O.

As I got older the lunches continued, but the dress code relaxed and the menu changed.  No longer did I order the hamburger, but the John White Burger, a decadent hamburger sandwich with crispy onions and melted cheese.  I crave that burger to this day.  It was named for one of the cooks from the Clayton location of Famous-Barr, and was eventually offered at all of May Company's department-store restaurants. It stayed on the menus until White died and his heirs sued over use of the name.

In 2000, Eric Dahl, longtime chef for Famous-Barr, told Judith Evans of the Post-Dispatch the secret to the burger is the onions. Slice them thinly, and then cook in 1/2 inch of hot oil or shortening. Remove onions when they are light brown; if you cook them too long, they will become bitter. Drain well on paper towels.  To assemble the burgers, use toasted buns, grilled or broiled hamburger patties made from ground beef that is 85 percent lean, the onions, and a rarebit sauce thick enough to stay on the burgers.

Dahl said the sauce included American cheese, dry mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. Here is a recipe that seems to fit the bill, at least it certainly pleased me this evening!

RAREBIT SAUCE FOR JOHN WHITE BURGERS

1/2 pound American cheese, cut into thin slices

3/4 cup half-and-half

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

Place cheese in the top of a double boiler. Add half-and-half, Worcestershire and mustard. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until cheese melts.

Yield: 4 servings. 

Recipe adapted from The Fairy Tale Cookbook by Carol MacGregor.

This post is linked to:

Tuesdays at the Table
Delicious Dishes
Real Food Wednesday
Tuesday's Tasty Tidbits

What's Cooking Wednesday
No Whine Wednesdays
What's on Your Plate