Diner Meat Loaf
rec.food.cooking/Carole A. Resnick
Source: Square Meals Cookbook
Servings: 8

1 1/4 lbs. ground beef
1/2 lb. ground pork
3/4 cup instant oatmeal
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup tomato juice
1 onion, minced
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix beef, pork, oatmeal, and eggs. Blend in milk, tomato juice, onion, Worcestershire, and seasonings. Pack firmly into a 9x5-inch loaf pan, shaping a rounded top.

Bake 1 1/2 hours. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing. Drain off any excess juice at bottom of pan. Can Serve with Mashed Potatoes and
Crater Gravy.

Hints:
* Don't use lean meat or fancy sirloin. Ground chuck, 20% will ensure the loaf is juicy.
* Do not skimp on oatmeal (or can use bread crumbs). Extenders give the loaf that distinctive pulpy texture that soaks up gravy so well. All-meat meat loaf has no place in the world of diner food.
* Do not undercook. A pink-centered meat loaf would humiliate any true diner chef. Gray is the color, through and through.

Mashed Potatoes with Crater Gravy
Serves 4 to 6

6 Russet potatoes
6 Tbsp. sweet butter
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup warmed milk

Peel potatoes and boil until tender, about 20 to 25 minutes. Drain, then return to pot over medium heat, tossing and stirring the potatoes to thoroughly expel all moisture.

Mash potatoes with a masher, adding butter and salt when they are clear of lumps (or do you like a few lumps?). While mixing vigorously with a heavy whisk, add the warm milk. At this point, the more you beat, the fluffier the potatoes.

Serve immediately. If they are accompanying Diner Meat Loaf or any other lunch counter entree, serve the potatoes with an ice cream dipper. Plop a scoopful on the plate next to the meat, then flip the scoop over and use its rounded surface to indent a crater in the top of the potato globe. This indentation will hold the gravy.

Hints:
* From the time they get tossed in the water, never let the potatoes cool.
* Always preheat the milk.
* Never try to hurry up the boiling by cutting the potatoes into smaller pieces.
* The sooner you serve them after cooking, the better they will be.

Crater Gravy
Makes 3 cups

3 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. flour
10 oz. can beef broth
3/4 cup water
1 (10 oz.) can condensed cream of mushroom soup

Melt the butter and blend in flour. Add broth and water and cook until thickened, 10 to 15 minutes. Add mushroom soup, stirring constantly until fully blended. Cook another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Notes: The lifeblood of diner lunch, Crater Gravy is for blanketing meat loaf, liver and onions, hot roast beef sandwiches, and potatoes of all kinds, but especially mashed. There is no question that it is better made from pan stock retrieved from a roast, but if you don't have pan drippings, this alternative is a close approximation to what you will get in diners all across America.