Recreated Southern Meatloaf

[dlofting]

My wife and I are downsizing after almost 40 years in the same house. I've been going through pamphlets and things that we brought back from some of our trips. We did one trip that started in Nashville and went through the southern and border "Civil War" states. We stayed at B&B's and ate at some great restaurants. I kept some of the menus and one item I've consistently found listed, either as an entree or in a sandwich, is southern style meatloaf. I don't reacall ever ordering it but would like to give it a try. Are there any great, can't miss, to die for recipes out there that I should try. I can go to the internet, but no guarantees I'm looking at the real thing. I do love southern food and would like to include this one is my repertoire of dishes.

Not sure if this is Civil War period related or not, but thought I would give it a shot.

 

[danny]

Skillet cornbread

 

[Lusty Murfax]

The only time I can recall my Dad cooking breakfast for my Brother and I was when Mom was staying overnight at the local Doctor's office after delivering my little Sister. He fried eggs, bacon and grits cakes for breakfast. We were used to eating grits, but this was different. The grits were pressed (likely with lard) into thinly sliced slabs. He called it "mush". I don't know whether he learned to cook mush in the Army or maybe he grew up eating it. Grandma's people were all from Tennessee.

 

[Sheltowee]

My wife and I are downsizing after almost 40 years in the same house. I've been going through pamphlets and things that we brought back from some of our trips. We did one trip that started in Nashville and went through the southern and border "Civil War" states. We stayed at B&B's and ate at some great restaurants. I kept some of the menus and one item I've consistently found listed, either as an entree or in a sandwich, is southern style meatloaf. I don't reacall ever ordering it but would like to give it a try. Are there any great, can't miss, to die for recipes out there that I should try. I can go to the internet, but no guarantees I'm looking at the real thing. I do love southern food and would like to include this one is my repertoire of dishes.

Not sure if this is Civil War period related or not, but thought I would give it a shot.

Not sure how Southern meatloaf would differ from Northern meatloaf? Maybe it is.

Sometime I suspect folks attach the moniker "southern style" to run of the mill items ….. just for flair.

 

[donna]

Meatloaf in America has its origins in scrapple which is mixture of ground pork and cornmeal. It was popular with German Americans as far back as Colonial period. It actually didn't appear in cookbook until late 19th century but was made in different homes before that time. Meatloaf became very popular during the Depression. It was budget friendly food that could feed a family.


I have several recipes and will share in Meatloaf thread.

 

[lupaglupa]

Meatloaf was always a standby at "meat and three" restaurants as one of the weekly offerings. I think it was popular among a lot of Southern families - it's tasty and economical. Both my Tennessee and Mississippi grandmothers made meatloaf, as did my mother. Our usually had a ketchup based sauce on top, though sometimes it had barbeque sauce in the mix too.

 

[nc native]

Meatloaf is pretty much universal and is fairly easy to make. Instead of using hamburger I've been using venison the last few times that I have made meatloaf. I top mine with a homemade sauce consisting of Heinz 57 or barbecue sauce, brown sugar and mustard. To make the meatloaf you just need the ground meat you are using, breadcrumbs and eggs. I pour a little milk in my mix if it seems to be too dry.

 

[Tennessee Union Gal]

The only time I can recall my Dad cooking breakfast for my Brother and I was when Mom was staying overnight at the local Doctor's office after delivering my little Sister. He fried eggs, bacon and grits cakes for breakfast. We were used to eating grits, but this was different. The grits were pressed (likely with lard) into thinly sliced slabs. He called it "mush". I don't know whether he learned to cook mush in the Army or maybe he grew up eating it. Grandma's people were all from Tennessee.

Mush was a breakfast staple at my house growing up. It was essential cooked cornmeal poured into a mold chilled and then sliced into thin slaps and fried. You could eat it with eggs for savory or with a little syrup on it. My granny made scrapple, too, but not the dark Pennsylvania Dutch kind. Her's was light with flecks or pork and some spices. You could eat it the same way as mush or cold with mustard on it in the German way.

 

[danny]

Meatloaf is pretty much universal and is fairly easy to make. Instead of using hamburger I've been using venison the last few times that I have made meatloaf. I top mine with a homemade sauce consisting of Heinz 57 or barbecue sauce, brown sugar and mustard. To make the meatloaf you just need the ground meat you are using, breadcrumbs and eggs. I pour a little milk in my mix if it seems to be too dry.

BBQ Meatloaf {Comfort Food Recipe You’ll Love for Days}

This delicious BBQ Meatloaf recipe is the perfect comfort food recipe that is not only packed with flavor, especially from the barbecue sauce added into the ingredients, but the leftover meatloaf sandwiches are even more delicious. I love comfort food and none of us can get over the flavors and...

www.deliciouslyseasoned.com

 

[Karen Lips]

Skillet cornbread

My grandmother made the best skillet cornbread from scratch!

 

[danny]

My grandmother made the best skillet cornbread from scratch!

De-lish

 

[Karen Lips]

De-lish

What was really good was crumbling a piece of cornbread into a glass of milk and eating it with a spoon. Try it sometime!

 

[EHParks]

My wife and I are downsizing after almost 40 years in the same house. I've been going through pamphlets and things that we brought back from some of our trips. We did one trip that started in Nashville and went through the southern and border "Civil War" states. We stayed at B&B's and ate at some great restaurants. I kept some of the menus and one item I've consistently found listed, either as an entree or in a sandwich, is southern style meatloaf. I don't reacall ever ordering it but would like to give it a try. Are there any great, can't miss, to die for recipes out there that I should try. I can go to the internet, but no guarantees I'm looking at the real thing. I do love southern food and would like to include this one is my repertoire of dishes.

Not sure if this is Civil War period related or not, but thought I would give it a shot.

I worked for years as a professional cook, meat loaf at its most basic is seasoned ground meat usually extended with bread pieces (stale pieces or bread crumbs and oats etc.) mixed with a binder of egg formed into a (loose -don't pack it in a pan densely) loaf and baked. My Mom would just use Lipton Onion Soup mix, hamburger and leftover white bread! I use lean beef, dried minced onions, a beef bouillon concentrate, an egg and our own breadcrumb mix. I handmix so I know by feel that the texture isn't overly "bready" or dry but not too wet or dense.

What makes homemade meatloaf really stand out is by glazing the top with a ketchup or KC style BBQ sauce as it cooks, brushing on one layer at a time in about five minute intervals or so, then finishing it under the boiler so it gets a rich gooey caramelization going on. I sometimes mix it up and bake it in a glass pie plate so you get a really full glaze.

I suppose you could use hardtack...

 

[CowCavalry]

What was really good was crumbling a piece of cornbread into a glass of milk and eating it with a spoon. Try it sometime!

My mother, from MS, does that or the same with saltine crackers.

 

[danny]

What was really good was crumbling a piece of cornbread into a glass of milk and eating it with a spoon. Try it sometime!

Just the way my Daddy liked it!

 

[CowCavalry]

Just the way my Daddy liked it!

With "sweet milk" or buttermilk?

 

[MRB1863]

Meatloaf is pretty much universal and is fairly easy to make. Instead of using hamburger I've been using venison the last few times that I have made meatloaf. I top mine with a homemade sauce consisting of Heinz 57 or barbecue sauce, brown sugar and mustard. To make the meatloaf you just need the ground meat you are using, breadcrumbs and eggs. I pour a little milk in my mix if it seems to be too dry.

Meatloaf is like Chili in the aspect that almost everyone has their own special recipe for it. Your venison is a wonderful rendition!!! Has anyone put a dollop or two of sweet relish in??? Have had it with built in cheese too.
Also, is cornbread mush and polenta the same thing??
Scrapple is one of my favorite breakfast items, a close tie with Biscuits and Sausage Gravy, that is.

 

[Tennessee Union Gal]

I would say that polenta and cornmeal mush are very similar to one another.

 

[danny]

With "sweet milk" or buttermilk?

Butter milk [of course]

 

[John Winn]

I grew up in the south and my mother was a great cook but I can't ever remember eating meatloaf. I didn't learn about that until I married my first wife. Maybe they didn't have meatloaf in rural Georgia in the early 1900s ?

These days it's one of the things I always cook but we like to spice ours up a bit and use both a spicy catsup on top and add chopped chilis and chili powder to the mix. Every now and then I'll also use a little German curry catsup. Those things just add a little zing and a slightly different flavor (and I think meatloaf can tend to be a bit bland otherwise).