Being married to a Frenchman is always a cultural experience, especially when it involves mealtime. Philippe and his family are always planning ‘the next meal’ before they’re finished with the current one. I generally forget to do so until dinner is upon us. I’m always looking for recipes that are quick to prepare with leftovers. Here is a nice basic French meat loaf that you can make ahead of time and freeze, serve cold with baguette and salad, or enjoy out of the oven.

French Meat Loaf or Gâteau de Viande

Preheat oven to 400

1 TBSP butter

1 tsp minced garlic

2 TBSP diced shallots

¾ C chopped tomatoes

2 pounds mixed ground meat such as pork and beef in any proportion

¾ lb chopped mushrooms

Salt and pepper to flavor

1 tsp coriander

½ small onion, chopped

½ lb chopped chicken livers

1 C bread crumbs

¼ t nutmeg

1 egg

1.) Melt the butter and add garlic, shallots. Cook for a few minutes, then add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cook on high water has evaporated. Add coriander

2.) Put meat in mixing bowl, add tomatoes and onions. Ad the chicken livers, breacrumbs, nutmeg, egg, parsley, salt and pepper. Blend well.

3.) Spoon into a small loaf pan and pat down. Set it in a larger pan and pour boiling water around it.

4.) Put both pans on the stove and bring to boil.

5.) Cover the meat and put both pans with water in the oven. Cook for one hour.

6.) Remove foil and bake for 15 minutes more.

7.) Serve hot or cold with cornichon pickles and good mustard.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 26th, 2009 at 6:30 pm and is filed under Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.