NORTH DAKOTA - Meatloaf

This week, we’re headed up North to the wilderness of the Peace Garden State.  North Dakota was first settled by Native Americans several thousands of years ago. The major tribes in the area by the time of settlement were the Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Sioux, and Chippewa.  Meriwether Lewis and William Clark entered North Dakota in October of 1804. During their winter stay at Fort Mandan, near present-day Washburn, they met and hired Sacagawea to act as an interpreter and guide. Between 1804 and 1806, she traveled thousands of miles with the Lewis and Clark Expedition from North Dakota to the Pacific Ocean and is now immortalized on the US dollar coin.  The state of North Dakota was carved out of the Dakota Territory and admitted to the Union on November 2, 1889, simultaneously with South Dakota. There have been two attempts (1947 and 1989) to drop the word “North” from the state name; both were defeated. Although, no United States presidents have come from North Dakota, Teddy Roosevelt spent a considerable amount of time in the state, which attributed to his passion for conservation. The world's largest French fry feed is held every year in Grand Forks, ND. In 2006, a new world record was set when 4,620 pounds of French fries were served to about 10,000 people with 113 gallons of ketchup used.

I had to use a little creativity when coming up with an idea for a meal inspired by North Dakota. One of my favorite films takes place in the great state of North Dakota and from that film, there is one iconic scene that always comes to mind.

So in honor of “Fargo” and Steve Buscemi being ground up in the wood chipper, we’ll be making a meatloaf.

 

Meatloaf:

2 eggs

¾ cup milk

½ cup bread crumbs

¼ cup chopped onions

2 tablespoons parsley flakes

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon sage

¼ teaspoon pepper

¼ cup catsup

1 ½ pounds ground beef

In a large bowl, combine and beat together the eggs and milk. Then, stir in bread crumbs, onion, parsley, salt, sage, pepper and catsup. Now comes the fun part! In case you haven’t done so already, wash your hands and add the ground beef to the bowl and mix together with your hands. 

Take a loaf pan and line with foil or plastic wrap and spoon meat mixture and press down to form the loaf.  Carefully, turn the loaf pan over onto a jelly roll pan with a raised lip and un-mold the meatloaf.  Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for at least an hour.

I served this for friends as a blue plate special with mashed potatoes, peas and of course some catsup on the side. It’s also great the next day for meatloaf sandwiches!