Meatloaf with Roast Vegetables

Friday 21 January

Different every time we do it, and got the secret ingredient - allspice - from David Warda's Recipe Bible.

So...

Defrost a 2 1/2 pound lump of chopmeat.

Beat three eggs in a big bowl and add to them, in this order:

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard;

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice;

pepper and salt;

1 Tablespoon of whole-grain mustard;

a scant quarter cup ketchup - save some until the end if it needs more liquid to mush;

1 Tablespoons of tomato paste;

ditto of sweet pickle relish;

a cup of breadcrumbs;

a quarter cup wheat bran;

a minced onion;

a stalk of minced celery -

i.e. everything BUT the meat - which gets folded in at the end. Squish everything together, and mold it into a loaf shape on a baking sheet, and throw it into a 400-degree oven.

As soon as it's in there, chop up potatoes, turnips, onion and parsnips, toss them with oil and salt, and scatter them around the loaf.

Bake it at 400 degrees for about a half hour, then at 350 until your instant-read thermometer says it's at 160. Then take it out and LET IT REST for at least 5 minutes, otherwise it will fall into crumbles rather than slices. Serve with - you guessed it - more ketchup, and the heaps of roast vegetables. Makes plenty for leftovers, which means you're going to be seeing more of it in subsequent posts - and very nice too.