Swiss Loaf or Meatloaf with a zing
Hello, my Flamingo Friends! Having had a few starts and stops along the way, I have again committed to finishing this project. One of the difficulties I face is when it gets too hot to cook indoors and most people want are easy sandwiches and cold meals. Who can blame them? I mean after all, if you already hate to cook, summer cooking will leave you in total disarray. It’s too hot to stand in the kitchen, too tempting to spend the day at the beach, and while we are on the subject, can’t we just order take out? Even TV dinners and other frozen type meals require the use of an oven most of the time and that is still just as hot. If you have an open kitchen, then everyone is heated out of the house and home while elaborate meals are cooked. Even if you are blessed with air conditioning, the idea of cooking in the summer leaves those who hate to cook dreading that they have to leave the confines of a cool area to stand in a kitchen that just gets too hot. I do not have the luxury in my home to have an air conditioner, so cooking is not a pleasant pastime when temperatures climb to 90 or more degrees.
That being said, we did run into a cool snap recently and I decided it would be a good opportunity to whip up another one of Peg Bracken’s dishes. This one is simply (and descriptively) called Swiss Loaf. It is meatloaf. What’s so great about a meatloaf you might ask? In my opinion, there is a certain sense of comfort in meatloaf with family. It takes me back to a time when life was simpler, reminding me of visits with my grandmother, Sunday dinners around the table, and other distant memories from childhood. I even recall a point when Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” came on MTV, my father wanted us to all watch it, and mom had served meatloaf that night. Meatloaf just has this comfort food appeal. Sometimes, though, if we are being honest, it can become a little monotonous. Most recipes include the usual celery, onions, and stuff, but there are many ways to play with the recipe. I have one I took from my mother’s old Betty Crocker cookbook of the 1970s, and while I really like it, this one is by far one of my most favorite of all meatloaf recipes because it involves Swiss Cheese. Hence the name “Swiss Loaf.” I hope you all didn’t think this was a recipe from the Swiss Alps and now you are disappointed! No, it is just that it uses Swiss Cheese and a little milk. But what a difference it makes!
The original recipe calls for a lot of milk but in the first rendition of the meal the product was a little more on the mush side (meat pudding?) and not so much on the loaf side. The goal is to be moist, not soggy meat. I have had to experiment with this recipe. One thing to remember going into this: the lower the fat content of the burger meat, the better the meal turns out. If all you can get is 80/20 that’s ok but you don't want anything with more fat. This is great with instant mashed potatoes on a hot day or real homemade boiled potatoes and mash them on a cold day. A side salad and some cooked veggies are also wonderful choices for accompaniment. If you are really feeling adventurous, a lovely side dessert consisting of mixed fruit or fruit cocktail with a dollop of whipped cream. If you don’t want white mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, or yams are also a good choice. So here’s the Recipe Swiss Loaf (6-7 servings)
2 pounds of hamburger
1 ½ cups of diced Swiss Cheese (or, even better, grated)2 beaten eggs
½ cup chopped Onions
½ cup chopped green pepper
1 ½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon celery salt
½ teaspoon paprika
2 ½ cups of milk (Or try 1 ½ cups of milk that turned out best)1 cup dry bread crumbs.
First, you’ll combine all of these ingredients together in order and mush it up. Make sure it mixes well. You’ll need to lightly grease a big pan or two loaf pans so that the meatloaf does not stick to the pans. Pop it in the oven at 350 for an hour and a half and go play in the sprinklers. Unless you are making this in a cold season, then skip the sprinklers and enjoy a warm cup of cocoa.
Throw everything else together a half-hour before serving. Keep the fruit cool in the fridge until ready to serve. It is a great meal and you can round it out with some baguettes or Italian bread. Like I said play around with this recipe as required, that’s the joy of a meatloaf. Stay Flamazing, my friends! Tune in next time when we ask ourselves “Will our brave heroine survive the summer? What is the cost of a wading pool? Can you play on a Slip and Slide with a tiara?”
