Dinner Improv: Thai-inspired Red Curry Meat Loaf

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Originally uploaded by Brooklyn Forager

Can something really be Thai and meat loaf at the same time? I might have argued against this proposition at an earlier time, but with a little creativity and a Tim Gunn "make it work" attitude, anything can be done!

The inspiration for this little adventure came from my husband's response to 75% of the American or Northern European dishes that I make - this is good...but I bet it would be better with Asian flavors. While I don't always agree (just as good maybe...but different), I thought I would indulge him this time around which also gave me a chance to play with food. Always fun.

I combined my traditional turkey meat loaf recipe from the Barefoot Contessa with one I found for mini meat loaves on Cooking Light (check reference). From there, I went wild. Rather than Ina Garten's onions with worcestershire and thyme, I sauteed garlic and onions in olive oil with a dash of fish sauce, oyster sauce and lemongrass.

The next step was how to handle the ketchup. It can't be meat loaf without the ketchup, but how Asian is that? Herein lies the genius of my recipe. I replaced a small portion of the ketchup with Thai red curry paste. Some of the ketchup mixture gets combined with the meat and some is spread on top as in a traditional meatloaf.  I combined the onion mixture, the ketchup mixture and panko breadcrumbs to keep with the theme.  I separated the meatloaf into four mini loaves and baked at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

At the end of the day, this was a great experiment.  The flavors were fabulous and it was a great twist on an old classic.  The downside is that the flavors did overpower the really great grass fed organic beef which we've started using.  I know meat loaf was practically designed to make less lovely ground beef more lovely, but that's something to work with along the way.  I might temper the curry flavors a bit the next time around and would definitely keep the flavor levels for a ground turkey version, but here's the basic recipe:

Thai-inspired Red Curry Mini Meat Loaves

• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 tablespoon red curry paste
• 1 pound ground sirloin (preferably grass-fed, organic, local)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/4 cup sliced leeks (white and light green parts)
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon lemongrass
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1 large egg lightly beaten

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. In a large saute pan, heat oil over medium heat.  Saute onions and leeks until soft and fragrant.  Add lemongrass, oyster sauce and fish sauce and continue to saute for another 3-5 minutes. 
3. Combine ketchup and curry paste, stirring well with a whisk.  Reserve 2 1/2 tablespoons ketchup mixture.
4. Combine remaining ketchup mixture with beef, onion mixture, salt and pepper, bread crumbs and egg. 
5. Divide beef mixture into 4 equal portions.  Shape each portion into a 4x2 1/2-inch loaf.  Place loaves on a jelly roll pan lighly coated with cooking spray. 
6. Spread reserved ketchup mixture evenly over each loaf.  Bake for 25 minutes or until done.
7. Enjoy!