After a short break, we are back to
MEAT WITH VEGAN PROBLEMS:
MEATLOAF
The question? What to bind your meatloaf with if you can’t use milk or egg? Real meat, 100% not vegan, BUT no magic egg! Okay, so the contenders for the egg replacement are:
- 1 tb cornstarch
- Gelatin blend- 1 packet of gelatin mixed with 2 tb warm water
- Flax egg- 1 tb flaxseed with 3 tb water
I based my recipe on these mini meatloafs, a favorite in our house before food allergies took away my precious eggs. I set up my experiment
by making a replacement “egg” out of each of the three options. Then I prepared
the meatloaf mix, added in the "eggs," popped them in the oven, and did a
taste test.
Turns out they all tasted pretty much the same. I mean, it’s
mostly ground beef. What’s not to like?
They also all held together pretty well! Which, also, I
mean, it’s mostly ground beef... which generally holds together?
None of them were done by 15 minutes. Well, they were probably edible, but I wasn’t into serving my toddler beef tartar. I’m not sure if it was the egg replacements changing the cooking time or if it was just my oven, but they should have been done early (I made 9 loaves instead of 8!) not late.
The main differences between the egg replacements were: how
easy the actual replacement was to prepare and how delicious the meatloaf crust
was.
Cornstarch
- Difficulty to Prepare: Easiest!
- Crust: Most delicious!
What a success! Not only was the cornstarch the easiest to
prepare (Spoon out 1 tablespoon of cornstarch. That’s it. That’s the
directions.); it also had the most delicious crust, in that the crust actually
existed. It wasn’t hard or burnt, it just had a different texture than the
mushy interior. Wonderful!
Gelatin
- Difficulty to Prepare: The Worst
- Crust: Medium
This was a solid second place for crust, but not only was it hard to
prepare (to get the water hot enough to dissolve the gelatin), I had to do it
twice because it congealed before I mixed up the meat on my first try. I thought I was being extremely prepared when I prepared all three egg replacements while the
vegetables were cooking, but turns out a gelatin replacement egg should be used immediately. By the time I got around the mixing in the meat, it had turned into a solid, rubbery mass. No great for binding. I had
to peel if off the bowl and start all over again. The final product was okay,
but you can see how the gelatin melted in the oven and ran on the pan. Cow two ways. Best not to think about it.
Flax Egg
- Difficulty to Prepare: Medium
- Crust: Nonexistent
The flax egg is a really common vegan replacement for eggs
in baking and it is what I had tried in the past in this recipe. But it’s just
too much water and the top of the meatloaves lost their texture. It’s not hard to prepare, you just have to make it a few minutes early because the flax has to
react with the water to thicken. Overall, not the best replacement, particularly in this recipe that already has wet vegetables added to the ground beef.
So here’s my take on the mini meatloaf recipe:
Mini Meatloaves (NO eggs)
Total time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 tb olive oil
- ½ c grated carrot
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- ½ medium red onion, finely chopped
- 8 oz mushrooms, finely chopped
- ½ c chicken stock
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 slices of bread
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 2 tb cornstarch
- Ketchup
Directions
- Preheat oven to 425oF.
- Heat a large skilled over medium-high heat. Add oil. Add carrot, thyme, onion; saute 3 minutes. Add mushrooms; saute 6 minutes. Add stock, salt, pepper and bring to a boil. Cook 3 minutes or until liquid evaporates, stirring frequently. Cool completely.
- Place bread in food processor; process until coarse crumb form. Combine breadcrumbs, beef, cornstarch, stir in mushroom mixture. Shape beef mixture into 8 free-form loaves; place on a baking sheet.
- Bake at 425oF for 15-20 minutes or until done. Top with ketchup.
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