Easy Meat Loaf

Found this nifty little recipe from Pork Perfect Pork by the Canadian Pork Council, pub. 1983. This book is filled with advice on pork cuts, storage, and lots of recipes, by the way, was picked up for a mere Can$1.00 at a hardware store near where we live. I tried the pork loaf recipe and my husband and I liked it well enough. Here's the recipe, with some minor improvisations. Highly recommended for those of you who would like to enjoy a simple, microwaved pork loaf that can be prepared beforehand and cooks in 10 minutes, and which is also highly flexible--it will do well in a Western or Chinese meal.

You may use the following recipe simply as a guide. I tried it another time, without using the proportions as given. I only had 200g minced turkey, and so used only one egg, added a little water, and added an extra 2 slices of bread broken into little bits. The result wasn't too bad (see picture above); it had a more spongy, or jelly-like texture due to the extra bread crumbs. Carry out your own culinary experiments: as long as the mixture looks fine to you, you should get some kind of edible loaf at least!

Meat Loaf
(2 ½ - 3 sufficient main servings, accompanied by soup and salad; or or as an accompanying dish to rice and other simple homecooked fare)

Ingredients:
400g ground pork
1 cup bread crumbs
1 packet onion soup mix
2-3 stalks finely diced celery
dash of pepper
sprinkling of corn starch
½ cup milk
2 eggs, slightly beaten
(no extra salt needed!)
Cheese to taste (optional—omit if you’d like this as an accompanying dish to a nice Chinese home-cooked meal of rice and other dishes: believe me, it tastes a little like steamed pork cooked in a Chinese way! You could even add some diced cooked Chinese mushrooms if you like)

Method:
Mix together ground pork, bread crumbs, onion soup mix, celery and pepper. Add milk, eggs, and cheese (optional); combine lightly but thoroughly. Spoon into a 1L (9 x 1 ¼ inch) glass pie plate (or close equivalent). Microwave for 5 minutes and slice loaf into six portions (optional: I do it to better ensure the interior is well cooked), and continue microwaving for another 5 minutes. Cover loaf and let stand 5-10 minutes before serving.

Bon appetit!