The Inaugural 'Community Tuesday' at Peter Gordon's Homeland
Beef + Lamb New Zealand are proud supporters of ‘Community Tuesdays’ - part of Peter Gordon and Alastair Carruthers’ new venture, Homeland, at Auckland’s Westhaven Marina.
It was an honour to attend the first Community Tuesday this week which was a collaboration with Papatūānuku Kōkiri Marae. The day included a welcome and blessing of the new premises after which the supporters made a cup of tea for the Marae guests accompanied by some of Peter’s famous cheese scones. Once the formalities were over we got down to the business end of cooking a delicious beef meatloaf and two versions of Peter’s fish-head soup.
Being the first time the cooking school facilities were used, it was a great test of all the beautiful equipment and appliances. Under the watchful eyes of Peter, Alastair and their kitchen team, each group chopped, stirred and simmered their way through three delicious recipes.
It was a wonderful experience of meeting new people, working together and listening to Peter chat about the food, where it came from and how to create sustainability in our communities. The aromas wafting from each cooking station were nothing short of mouth-watering and at the end we all got to sit down together and share the kai we had just cooked.
Delicious, heart warming and full of earthy goodness were the words used to describe the food, but perhaps more importantly was the feeling of joy to be sharing food cooked together with this community group.
Peter has shared his meatloaf recipe which is so versatile. It can also be used to make beef rissoles as well so whether you are feeding a crowd or cooking a family dinner, this recipe has several different versions to suit your needs.
BEEF AND BAKED BEAN MEATLOAF - SERVES 4-6
INGREDIENTS:
1kg Quality Mark beef mince
10 rashers smoked streaky bacon
2 onions, peeled and grated
4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
4 tablespoons grain mustard
50g breadcrumbs
100g diced or grated cheese
1 x 400g can baked beans
2 teaspoons dried oregano (or dried mixed herbs)
1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
2 teaspoons fine salt
pepper to taste
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 170"C
Line a deep sided 2 litre meatloaf tin (approx.. 27 x 11 x 11cm) with baking parchment, making sure there's plenty of paper overlapping. Line the base and sides with the bacon, also letting it hang over the sides. Using clean hands, mix everything except the tinned tomatoes together. Place half the mixture into the tin and press flat. Pour the tomatoes over the top of the meatloaf, then fold the bacon over the top of the tomatoes. Fold the overhanging parchment over the top of the meatloaf and seal the baking tin tightly with tin foil.
Sit the meatloaf tin in a roasting dish (the juices will bubble out a little) and bake in the centre of the oven for an hour. Peel off the foil and turn the temperature up to 200"C and continue cooking for another 15 minutes (or until bacon has browned nicely). Remove from the oven and leave to rest in the loaf tin for at least 20 minutes. Drain out the excess meatloaf liquid into a bowl and turn the meat loaf out onto your serving dish.
To serve, you can either eat this hot from the oven with vegetables, or slice when cold and serve with a fresh green salad.
Tip: Use left-over mixture (about 600-700g) to make rissoles.
BEEF AND BAKED BEAN RISSOLES - SERVES 4
You should have around 600-700gm of raw meat loaf mixture left over which will make about 8 medium sized rissoles. Add a raw egg to the leftover meatloaf mixture and mix through thoroughly. This is easiest done with clean hands. This will help the rissoles hold together when frying or barbequing.
Pan fry or BBQ rissoles in shallow oil for about 4-5 minutes either side until nicely browned and cooked through.
Serve as a snack with a dipping sauce, as burger patties in a Kiwi Burger or alongside some steamed vegetables or salad.
