Good Food

When I first came to Wellington in 1985 I regularly clipped the recipes from the Listener and collected them in a scrap book.  Initially Lois Daish and Annabel Langbein alternated weekly and then Lois took the column over for many years.  Many of these recipes were and still are my go to source for family staples.  Most of my favourites were captured in Good Food which my mother  bought me and which is now rather dog-eared and stained.  Later I collected all Lois' books.  One recipe that wasn't in any of the books was my go-to meat loaf recipe, aptly titled My Meatloaf.  When we were renovating the kitchen all the cooking books were packed away for the duration and this scrap book never reappeared.  I have searched high and low and always hope that it will turn up along with a book about coffee by Claudia Rodin that my mother once gave me.  They must both be in the same carton - if you've seen it let me know or if you ever happen across a copy of the coffee book, I would love to replace it.
The recipe from the book whose loss I have most regretted is the meatloaf.  I have tried over the years to find another.  Friends have passed on recipes which were good but not as good. The problem is often consistency - they are too smooth whereas I remembered Lois' as being coarser, a bit more substance. Recently I discovered that a good friend is Lois' neighbour and I told her my dilemma.  She mentioned this to Lois and now I have the recipe back in my collection.  The original column had a photo of the loaf cooked in a tin but I didn't recall this as I had only clipped the recipe not the picture.  I had always shaped the loaf according to Lois' instructions in the recipe.  This is how it was intended.
When I read over the recipe, it read very much like many of the other recipes I had tried but when I made it, it was clear that it was the right one both in flavour and consistency.  To make Lois' and my meatloaf, sauté a finely chopped onion in a little butter with some finely chopped thyme and sage.  In a large  bowl mix 2 cups of fresh breadcrumbs with a cup of milk, two eggs and salt and pepper.  Add the onions and 500g each minced beef and pork.  On a lightly greased baking tray form the mix into a sausage-shaped loaf.  Cover with 6-8 rashers of bacon.  Bake at 200 for 45-60 mins.  We used to serve this with mashed potato and broccoli and home made tomato sauce.  This was just perfect.  This is quite a large quantity and will feed a crowd (or our family of seven).  I think you could easily halve it.  Just watch your cooking time and don't let it dry out.  On this occasion I froze the left overs in two portions for future occasions.
We have many other favourites from Good Food.  Louisiana chicken salad  was often Isabel's birthday choice and Jasper requested it when he was recently home from France. I always make the broccoli salad with our own crop although Lois may not recognise my modifications.  All these are just great family meals which were always popular in our house and which we now all have in our repertoires.  I am so glad to be reunited with My Meatloaf.