Meat Loaf Quotes

“The blood of the guitar was Chuck Berry red.”
― Meat Loaf

“Meat loaf. Of all the things to eat, why would somebody want to eat meat loaf? Give me a nice piece of yellowfin tuna or a simple breast of chicken in a white wine reduction- but meat loaf? Oh, well. Maybe some people would consider my food choices equally odd.”
― Mary Simses, The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop & Cafe

“Broccoli branches, mashed potatoes, spools of gravy, sliced pillowy white bread. It slides on to Sirine's plate, glossy with butter. The meat loaf is oniony and dense under its charred crust, dressed in sweet puddles of ketchup. On the counter there's a food-stained copy of The Joy of Cooking and a red-plaid Betty Crocker cookbook, both from the library. She's impressed. No one ever wants to cook for her; the rare home-dinners at friends' houses are served with anxiety and apologies. But Han just seems excited- his skin slightly damp and pink from the kitchen heat- and intrigued by the new kind of cooking, a shift of ingredients like a move from native tongue into a foreign language: butter instead of olive oil; potatoes instead of rice; beef instead of lamb. He seats her on a pillow on the blue cloth and then sets the dishes before her on the cloth. He sits across from her, one knee skimming hers. They touch and she makes herself lean forward to reach the bowl of potatoes. Their knees graze again.
Han tastes each dish while looking at Sirine, so the meal seems like a question. She nods and praises him lavishly. "Mm, the rich texture of this meat loaf- the egg and breadcrumbs- and these bits of onion are so good, and there's a little chili powder and dry mustard, isn't there? It's lovely. And there's something in the sauce... something..."
"You mean ketchup?" Han asks.
"Oh yes, I suppose that's it." She smiles.
"That's remarkable."
Sirine smiles vaguely, tips her head, not sure of what he means. "What?"
"The way you taste things...." He gestures over the food, picks up a bite of meat loaf in his fingers as if it were an olive. "You know what everything here is- I mean exactly."
"Oh no." She laughs. "It's so basic, anyone can do that. It's like you just taste the starting places- where it all came from. Unless of course it's ketchup."
He gazes at her, then carefully takes her hand and kisses her fingers. "Then I think you must be of this place."
Sirine laughs again, disconcerted by his intensity. "Well, I don't know about that, but I think food should taste like where it came from. I mean good food especially. You can sort of trace it back. You know, so the best butter tastes a little like pastures and flowers, that sort of stuff. Things show their origins”
― Diana Abu-Jaber, Crescent

“What an impact! Wrapped together in strips of piecrust...
... the two distinct layers of stuffing each amplify the deliciousness of the other!
The top layer is a chicken mousse! Tender, juicy cooked chicken...
... put through a food processor with heavy cream and seasonings until it was a silky-smooth puree! Its thick yet gentle savory flavor, accented with a touch of sweetness, slides across the tongue like satin!
And the bottom layer is a beef meat loaf!
Its flavors are perfectly paired with both the creamy chicken mousse and the demi-glace. What a frighteningly defined dish!"
"Okay, but he used convenience store food for all that?! There's no way it could be that delicious..."
"Oh, but it is. His skill elevated the ingredients to new heights."
"Um, i-it really wasn't all that much. All I did was, well...
To give the chicken mousse a more luxuriant texture, I carefully mixed in some egg whites beaten into a stiff meringue...
And then added a little mushroom paste (Duxelles) to boost its richness.
Canned mushrooms have a mild funk to them, so to get rid of that smell, I minced and sautéed them until nearly all their moisture was gone.
I also reduced some red wine as far as I could, leaving behind just its umami components, and added that to the demi-glace.
It isn't the best, but I had only cheap ingredients to work with.
What about that isn't "all that much"?!
"The main common ingredients he used were a precooked hamburger patty, chicken salad and a frozen piecrust.
They're prepackaged foods anyone can buy, designed to be tasty right out of the box. In other words...
They're average foods with completely average flavors! Use them as they are and you'll never pass this trial!
Out of all of them, he singled out the ones that could stand up to haute cuisine cooking...
... and melded them together into a harmonious whole that brought out their best qualities while eliminating anything inferior!
It's a level of quality only someone of Eishi Tsukasa's skill could reach! ”
― Yuto Tsukuda, 食戟のソーマ 33 [Shokugeki no Souma 33]

“Suddenly starving, I root around in the fridge to see what I have lying about and find the heel of a meat loaf I made a couple of days ago when Brad mentioned he was craving meat loaf sandwiches. It had suddenly sounded good to me too, so I made a small one for myself. In the breadbox, a couple of slices of the brioche loaf I made last night when I couldn't sleep; a little smear of spicy Korean gochujang paste on the bread; some thinly sliced cucumber salad, a little wilted in its rice-wine brine but still crunchy; and the meat loaf.”
― Stacey Ballis, How to Change a Life

“Meat loaf with mashed potatoes and green beans." I leave it at that, neglecting the mention that his meat loaf features ground veal and pork and is wrapped in caul fat and basted with a homemade fig barbecue sauce, that the potatoes are more of a classic Joel Robuchon pommes puree of such buttery silkiness that you want to bathe in them, and that the green beans are blistered and charred in caramelized fish sauce with lime.”
― Stacey Ballis, How to Change a Life