Vocal Voices

The nights are drawing in so my salad bar is closing and I am getting the slow cooker ready as well as getting foods in for autumny/wintery meals. This is one.

500g beef mince
4 plain pork sausages, cheap ones work well
75 - 100g of fresh breadcrumbs
1 medium onion finely chopped
a few mushroom finely chopped
1 egg
1 tbs of Henderson's relish or Worcestershire sauce
1 dsp tomato puree
1 dsp mustard powder
1 tsp dried sage
1/2 tsp thyme
S&P to season
rashers of smoked streaky bacon

Line a well buttered loaf tin with the bacon rashers working side to side with a few bits for the ends.

Throw all the ingredients in a bowl then get your hands in and give it a damned good massage to make sure it is all evenly mixed. Fill your loaf tin in batches using the backs of your fingers to make sure the mix gets to all the corners and fill to just below the top. If there is any mix left over bag it and freeze it or make something simple like meatballs.

Cover the loaf with foil and cook in a pre-heated oven for about 90 mins removing the foil some 25 mins from the end. Once cooked leave to rest for 20 mins before turning out, slicing and serving.

Or... the whole loaf, or any left over, can be left to go cold before slicing and the slices can then be frozen. When defrosted they are reheated in a dry frying pan.

A bit of a twist is to add other veg to the mix such as finely chopped carrot, swede, celery or potatoes.

I like meatloaf but can't eat pork, so didn't comment - soz!

I've only got beef sausages but I'm sure they will be fine.
That's Wednesday nights dinner sorted.

I remember there being a difference in definition between puree/paste but I can't remember which one or which way round.
Your puree, would you pour it from a cup or spread it with a knife?

Weka, it is a bit confusing.

Over here purée is thick and in a tube. In some places this is called paste, but here's the rub.

What some places call paste is also known as passata in others. Passata is a thick sauce and comes in cartons.

Both are made from cooked tomatoes, but purée is cooked down more than passata. They are both sieved at some point in the process to remove skins and seeds. They are interchangeable if you adjust their volume and liquid.

A good Tbs of tomato purée mixed with about 100 - 125ml of water makes a sort of passata. Cooking down a dish made with passata gives the same consistency as using purée.

Our purée is spreadable, but don't fret, just go with the flow.

Ok that's our paste then. Our purée you could almost drink. Passat has recently started to show up in some shops, but I haven't tried it yet, I thought it would be something like that. I made my version of it at the end of summer thinking I could turn it into tomato sauce later.

Made it tonight. I thought I would have leftovers for tomorrow, nope, all gone. Everyone went back for seconds and thirds!
Yum yum yum