Serve with Maple Pecan Glazed Green Beans
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons flour
- salt
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 3 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- freshly ground pepper
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 clove garlic finely chopped
- 1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
- 1/8 cup milk
- meatloaf patties:
- 1 pound ground sirloin (90% lean)
- 1/3 pound ground pork
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg ground (or freshly grated)
- 1 rounded tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 green pepper cored, seeded and finely chopped
- 5 scallions thinly sliced (optional)
- cajun gravy
- 1/4 cup flat leaf parsley (optional - i sometimes use cilantro instead)
- Carbohydrate 144.047221256248 g
- Cholesterol 105.160000002536 mg
- Fat 59.5651691675924 g
- Fiber 48.2596619506944 g
- Protein 44.7867337511982 g
- Saturated Fat 25.9951005004899 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (2343g)
- Sodium 1346.11483436469 mg
- Sugar 95.7875593055536 g
- Trans Fat 5.9787128334599 g
- Calories 1163 calories
Step-by-step
- Place the meat in a large mixing bowl and create a well in the center of the meat. Fill the well with the bread crumbs and dampen them with the milk. Pour the egg over the bread crumbs and then add salt, pepper, the Worcestershire, nutmeg, tomato paste, green peppers, garlic, and scallions.
- Mix together and form into 4 large oval patties, 3/4 inch thick. Preheat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat with the vegetable oil. Fry the meatloaf patties for 7 minutes on each side.
- Remove the meatloaf patties to a platter, tent with foil, and return the pan to the heat. Reduce the heat to medium and add the butter, the onions, and the red pepper flakes.
- Cook for about 2 minutes and then sprinkle the onions with the flour. Cook the flour for 1 minute and then whisk in the remaining cup of chicken stock and the heavy cream. Bring the gravy to a bubble. If the gravy is too thick, thin with additional stock. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the parsley and remove the gravy from the heat.
- Slice the meatloaf patties and smother with the gravy.
Operating on a strict budget requires stretching premium proteins like ground sirloin by combining them with higher-fat ground pork, a method that adds essential moisture without inflating the overall cost of the meal. Shaping the mixture into four distinct oval patties rather than one large loaf creates significantly more surface area for searing, which translates directly to deeper Maillard browning and more robust savory notes in every bite. Forming these individual portions to a uniform thickness of three-quarters of an inch ensures the center reaches the proper level of doneness during the seven-minute sear without scorching the exterior.
Fresh aromatics like green peppers, garlic, and scallions demand careful chopping to distribute evenly through dense raw meat, whereas dried equivalents lack the moisture needed to steam properly inside a thick patty. When substituting dried herbs or powders for fresh produce, reduce the volume by roughly two-thirds to avoid overwhelming the milder dairy and broth elements in the accompanying pan sauce. Fresh flat-leaf parsley added at the very end of cooking brightens the heavy cream and butter base, a contrast that preserved herb flakes simply cannot achieve due to their muted, dehydrated profile.
Determining doneness without a digital thermometer relies entirely on visual and textural cues rather than guesswork. Pressing a finger gently into the center of a cooking patty should yield firm resistance with clear juices running to the surface rather than pinkish liquid. Allowing the cooked meat to rest tented under aluminum foil for five minutes lets the internal muscle fibers relax and reabsorb moisture that would otherwise escape onto the platter during slicing.
Building the gravy directly in the fond left behind by the meat harnesses leftover browned proteins to thicken the roux efficiently. Cooking the flour and butter mixture for precisely one minute eliminates the raw starch taste before the chicken stock and heavy cream are whisked into the pan. Simmering the liquid until it reaches a bubbling state activates the flour's thickening properties, producing a glossy coating that clings readily to the sliced meat.
