Day 152: cold meat
It’s possible that I might prefer cold cooked meat to hot cooked meat. It’s a tough one to say for sure though as I do love both. Cold (cooked) minced meat, however, is a particular favourite; burgers, meatballs, meatloaf, kotlety mielone (basically minced meat formed into a meatball/patty shape, fried, sometimes coated in breadcrumbs first), chilli con carne, bolognese, cottage pie, I could probably go on - and on - so I’ll call it here. And cold barbecued meat is a real favourite!
The trio of meat-based Nigella-themed picks for our Bank Holiday Picnic consisted of Pizza Rustica (150), Picnic Fried Chicken (Day 151) and Mini Meatloaves (today, Day 152). These meatloaves were another recommendation from the lovely Nicola Miller from when I was looking for inspiration on what to cook friends and their kids when they came round for dinner a few weeks ago (Day 132). We actually went on this picnic with the same friends.
Nigella’s Mini Meatloaves
My mini meatloaves seem to have turned out much different to what’s pictured in Nigella Express, though I suspect that is entirely dependant on the colour of the sauce and sausagemeat used; I for one have seen even the best quality sausagemeats differ greatly in colour. The fat content will play a role too, I should imagine; I think my minced beef and sausagemeat were a little too lean for something like this. Still very good, though!
The condiment shelf was practically empty in the (rather large) supermarket. Is this the result of Brexit? Or perhaps panic buyers, again? Whatever the reason, there was no steak sauce of any kind to be found. Instead, I used a sticky sweet and smoky sauce, which was rather red in colour.
This photo was taken while they were still hot, so it was a little trickier to get a cleaner cut on them when slicing.
Flavour musings
Sweet and smoky from my sauce of choice, and just fab with a good dollop of New Orleans Coleslaw (more on this for Day 153) on the side. Also enjoyed with fermented cucumbers and all manner of condiments; all mixing to form a unique creation that you can’t buy in bottles.
