Q-Whenever I make meatloaf, using eggs and bread crumbs plus the usual ingredients, the loaf crumbles and will not keep its shape. Is there a remedy for this? Mitzi Guzik, Evergreen Park.
A-Meatloaves most often crumble when they contain too many bread crumbs or too few eggs or when they have not cooled partially in the fat-filled loaf pan in which they were baked.
We suggest adding no more than 1/3 cup of crumbs for each pound of meat and adding 1 egg for each pound of meat plus an extra egg. Most importantly, we suggest allowing the cooked meatloaf to stand at room temperature, uncovered, in the fat in the baking pan for 15 minutes. This way, a small amount of the fat which drained during baking will re-combine with the meatloaf and it will not be so dry that it crumbles when sliced. A sharp knife also contributes to attractive, noncrumbly slices.
Q-Do you have the recipe for white tassel hamburgers? It was created by a woman specializing in duplicating fast foods. You ran it in the Food Guide some time ago. Dorothy Hyne, Port St. Lucie, Fla.
A-In the two years since we printed this recipe for ”white tassel”
hamburgers, we`ve received several requests to print it again. The recipe is taken from a paperback book by Gloria Pitzer called ”Secret Fast Food Recipes and Other Favorites.” To order thebook, send an envelope with your request, your name and address and a check or money order for $6, which includes first- class postage, to Gloria Pitzer, Box 152, St. Clair, Mich. 48079.
WHITE TASSLE HAMBURGERS
20 to 24 patties
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 5 to 10 minutes
1/4 cup each: dry instant minced onions, hot tap water
2 1/4 to 2 1/2 pounds ground round
1 jar (3 1/2 ounces) either strained beef or veal baby food
2/3 cup canned beef broth
1/2 teaspoon oil for frying each patty
Salt, pepper to taste
1 package of 10 hot dog buns, steamed or microwaved until soft
Sliced dill pickles
1. Soak dry, minced onions in the water, covered, for 15 minutes.
2. Combine ground round, baby food and broth, mixing thoroughly in medium bowl. To be sure that patties are uniform in size, measure out the meat mixture by packing it into a 1/4-cup measure and level it off over rim of bowl.
3. Drop each of these measures of meat mixture into sandwich-sized plastic bags. Flatten with palm of hand into a thin, 3-inch-square patty.
(These can be stacked in a larger plastic bag, dated and frozen; but they should be used within 30 days.)
4. Place 1/2 teaspoon oil for each patty being fried, in large skillet. Don`t crowd the patties. Sear briskly over high heat, until well done, turning patties only once.
5. Use kitchen scissors to cut each of the steamed, or softened hotdog buns in half, cross wise to make two small hamburger buns. Put 2 thin pickle slices and 1 teaspoon of onion in each bun with a hamburger.
Q-Whenever I scald milk for bread recipes, a film forms on the top of the milk. Is there a way to prevent this? Carol Bidowa, Moline.
A-If you control the heat so the milk does not reach 140 degrees, that undesirable skin won`t form on the milk. This skin, which is milk protein that has coagulated from excess heat, will add an undesirable lumpy texture and a burnt taste.
Early recipes used to require that milk be scalded because scalding killed some microorganisms and enzymes that would otherwise prevent milk from doing its thickening job. Today, however, pasteurization does both of these things before the milk is even purchased.
