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the Home Cooking issue Marcelle’s MEAT LOAF words by Marcelle Bienvenu M onday night dilemma — spaghetti or meat loaf? That is the question my husband and I ponder when planning

Italian Meat Loaf Makes 8 to 10 servings WHAT YOU WILL NEED 1 pound ground chuck 1 pound lean ground pork 1 pound ground veal 1

pound Italian sausage, removed from the casing and crumbled

1 cup finely chopped onions 1

tablespoon finely chopped garlic

3 cups bread crumbs 3 tablespoons chopped parsley 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves

loaf came out of the oven perfectly cooked. Anyway, back to meat loaf. If you’re looking for inspiration, here are a couple of recipes from my repertoire. I like to use an assortment of meat — beef, pork, veal and Italian sausage — in my Italian version. Blue Cheese Meat Loaf Roll Makes 6 to 8 servings WHAT YOU WILL NEED 8 slices white bread, torn into small pieces 1 cup milk 4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled 3 large eggs, lightly beaten 1 pound lean ground beef 1 pound lean ground pork 2 cups soft bread crumbs (about 5 slices of white bread broken into pieces and softened with a little water) 1 cup chopped onions 2 teaspoons salt 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce HOW TO PREP Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Combine the bread pieces and the milk. Stir in the cheese and one of the eggs. Set aside. Combine the ground beef, pork, softened bread crumbs, chopped onions, salt, cayenne pepper, parsley, Worcestershire sauce and the remaining 2 eggs. Mix well. Shape into a 15”x12” rectangular or oblong cube on heavy- duty plastic wrap. Spread the blue cheese mixture on top, leaving about a 1-inch margin around the edges. Staring at the short side and using the plastic wrap to lift, roll up in a jelly roll fashion. Press the edges to seal. Place, seam side down, on a lightly greased rack and place the rack in a broiler pan. Bake for one hour, or until the juices run clear. Cool slightly before slicing to serve.

supper on Blue Monday. I know red beans and rice is a Monday tradition, but only when I’ve had time to make it from scratch do I even consider it.Taking stock of what’s hiding in the fridge, or stashed in the pantry or freezer, usually gives us the answer. If there is leftover Sunday roasted chicken or a chunk of roast beef, or a few links of Italian sausage, we go for spaghetti. When the cupboards are bare, we choose meat loaf. Over the years, we have collected quite a repertoire of meat loaf recipes — Italian meat loaf, meat loaf with Roquefort cheese, layered meat loaf, Southwestern chili meat loaf and mushroom meat loaf. Once, in the early years of our marriage, we planned a casual dinner party at which we wanted to serve a variety of meat loaves.After several hours of preparation, the meat loaves were shoved in the oven just before it was time to greet our guests. The cocktail hour was observed, and when I went to check our creations, I realized I hadn’t turned on the oven. Our guests continued with cocktails and were well plastered when we finally served the meal. Then, a couple of years ago on a warm August evening, I made a quickie meat loaf, put it in the oven (with the oven turned on this time!), fixed myself a martini and went to water the plants on our patio. When I returned to check on the meat loaf, I went to wash my hands and found myself staring into the eyes of a snake peeping out from behind the window blinds over the sink.Yep, a snake, which my husband quickly snuffed out with his pistol filled with rat shot. After cleaning up the snake debris and having another (therapeutic) martini, I went to check on dinner just in time — the meat

2 eggs, lightly beaten 1 cup tomato sauce 1 cup dry red wine 1 cup chopped green olives 1

cup grated mozzarella cheese

HOW TO PREP Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Combine all of the ingredients except the mozzarella in a large mixing bowl. Mix well, but do not over- work. Form the mixture into a large loaf (the size of football) and place it in a large, lightly greased baking pan. Bake for about one hour or until the juices run clear. Sprinkle the top with the mozzarella cheese. Bake for about five minutes more or until the cheese melts. Remove it from the oven and let stand for about 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with lots of crusty Italian bread and thin spaghetti tossed with olive oil and a goodly amount of minced garlic.

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MY ROUSES EVERYDAY

SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2018