To avenge a great evil and fulfill a promise, today I made meatloaf.
Is there any dish less heroic than the mundane meatloaf? The word "gourmet" would be embarrassed to share billing with meatloaf, and "artisanal" would slink from the room in shame. And yet a juicy meatloaf served with mashed potatoes and salad makes a tasty, satisfying meal--and it's so easy!
I made my personal meatloaf pledge last week, on the first night of the AP reading in Louisville, when I was served a dish purporting to be "meatloaf in tomato gravy," which had all the flavor and texture of a cardboard box left too long out in the rain. On first biting into this travesty on the name of meatloaf, I told myself, "As God is my witness, when I am released from this dungeon I shall make meatloaf!"
And I did. It's not at all difficult, and it filled my house with the comforting scents of garlic, good beef, and slightly charred ketchup. (No "tomato gravy" at my house. There's no shame in slathering meatloaf with ketchup.)
How was it? I don't want to toot my own horn, but the universal response to my meatloaf is to ask for seconds. Go ahead, give it a try. Now that's a dish to avenge the honor of meatloaf everywhere!
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