The Gourmet's Guide to Making Meat Loaves and Hamburger Patties

By Christopher Bruce

The Gourmet's Guide to Making Meat Loaves and Hamburger Patties outlines some of the history of meat loaves and hamburgers and provides 44 recipes for the economical use of meats, alone or in combination, in making meat loaves and 9 recipes for making hamburger patties.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christopher Bruce
• Release date: Oct 26, 2013
• ISBN: 9781311425447

Christopher Bruce

Chris Bruce was born in England and educated in South Africa. After a long career in the construction industry in South Africa, Namibia, Hong Kong and the Philippines, Chris moved to Thailand in 2001. He built and equipped a sausage factory in Bangkok which was operated by his wife. Not being Thai, unable to speak the language, no longer a part of the construction “EXPAT NETWORK” due to the slump in the Asian construction industry, it was not long before he became somewhat bored with life. One way to alleviate the boredom was to write. Chris decided to use his knowledge of the sausage industry to write a book of sausage recipes. This was followed by a book of recipes for preparing meals using sausage and a book of liqueur making methods and recipes. After completing the three recipe books he encouraged friends from around the world to send him jokes and cartoons by email. This series of TAKE ME TO THE TOILET BOOKS (VOLS I to VII) is the result of the huge response he got. Chris makes no claim to have dreamt up the jokes, anecdotes and other amusing facts or stories featured in these volumes and in fact it is impossible, with very few exceptions, to say where the jokes originated. Two Thai cartoonists Kitti Meeboonnum and Wirat Sukcharoen provided the illustrations. One thing Chris did realize was that people do not have much time to read a little humour and the “Thunderbox”, as it used to be called, is the ideal place to do so. The internet, the source of much modern humor, is not normally accessible during visits to this most private of places and it is hoped that these “TOILET COMPANIONS” will add amusement to the otherwise idle moments spent in the “BOX”.

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ABOUT MEAT LOAVES

Meat loaves have been around for a very long time, probably ever since man discovered how to use wild wheat and corn to make bread, and herbs and spices for meat flavoring and preservation purposes. The making of meat loaves has been developed into what has, essentially, become an art form practiced by professionals and amateurs alike throughout the world.

The introduction into Europe of new herbs and spices from both the New World and Asia in the recent past and the use of a variety of locally produced ingredients has lead to the development of numerous new recipes for the making of meat loaves.

Making meat loaves at home has distinct advantages – you know what’s in the loaf, it’s made to suit your own palate, it’s economical (unless you add in the cost of your own labor), it’s easy, and it’s fun. Meat loaves are ideal for using up meat leftovers from previous meals and the mixing of various meat leftovers makes for even more interesting meat loaf flavors. There is also nothing more satisfying than sitting down to a meal of aromatic, soft, juicy, meat loaf made by your own hands in your own kitchen.

There are not many books on the market dealing specifically with meat loaf recipes. In this book you will find 44 recipes for meat loaves separated into groups for chicken, pork, pork and beef and pork, beef and veal recipes. There are also 9 hamburger patty recipes dealt with under a separate heading. To help identify the recipe you want to use, I have provided a Recipe Index which lists the recipes alphabetically by meat type or mix and by name I hope that you will get as much pleasure out of making meat loaves from the recipes in this collection as I have had collecting them.

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SOME BURGER HISTORY

Chopped or minced beef is certainly not a new innovation. It's long been used in savory meat pies dating back to ancient times. Beef tartar, consisting of finely chopped raw steak or high-quality beef mixed with various herbs and spices, dates back to Russian medieval times. The Tartars were known to shred their meat and eat it raw. These days the raw experience is enhanced by the addition of a raw egg placed in an indentation on top of a mound of seasoned raw beef.

Take the idea of tartar to the fire, and voila; Hamburgers! Although the term hamburger is derived from the city in Germany, the original Hamburg steak was a piece of meat which was pounded until tender, not chopped or ground. The hamburger shows up in print in 1834 in America on the menu at New York's Delmonico