Better than Bryn's?

Time to try my hand at the Edmonds meatloaf (p126), an interesting undertaking as there's no way I'll be able to resist comparing it to the one I usually make, i.e Bryn's famous meatloaf with barbecue sauce. Of course, in essence, the two meatloaves are pretty similar - it's just that on this one, there's an oat-based topping instead of that delicious gooey barbecue coating.


I discovered long ago that the easiest way to prepare the ingredients for a meatloaf is to use a food processor. Mine usually ends up being a bit over-full, but it's much faster, easier and combines the ingredients effectively and tidily.

I started by grating a carrot, since that was the only thing I needed the grater attachment for. Pushing the grated carrot to one side, I switched to the chopper blade, then added garlic, onion and parsley to the food processor bowl.


Somehow I managed to cut two fingers while chopping the onion into chunks suitable for the food processor. Shortly afterwards I dropped a large knife precariously close to my foot, and started to wonder whether I was risking my health by staying in the kitchen in such a clumsy mood. The meatloaf was half done, however, so I persevered.

The onion, garlic, carrot and parsley were chopped and combined in a matter of seconds, so I put in the remaining ingredients: mince, sausage meat, mixed herbs, mustard, salt and pepper, and an egg. Combining this thick gooey mixture took a bit longer, but it was still done within a couple of minutes.

I spooned the meat mixture into a loaf tin, and mixed together a topping comprised of rolled oats, brown sugar, tomato sauce, and more parsley. I spread this mixture thinly over the top of the meatloaf, and plonked it in the oven.


A few minutes later, I rushed back to the oven, on recollecting that I was supposed to cover the meatloaf with foil for the first half-hour's cooking. No harm done, though - it hadn't been in long and adding the foil took only a few moments.

After half an hour in the oven, I took off the foil and returned the meatloaf to the oven for a further 30 minutes while I prepared some veges. At the end of this time, the meatloaf looked and smelled delicious.

You know what? It tasted delicious too! The meatloaf itself has a fairly standard sausagey flavour, but the star of the show is definitely the sweet, crunchy, almost caramelised topping. I only wish there were more of it. Better than Bryn's meatloaf with barbecue sauce? Hmmm.. not quite, but a close second!