Cumin-Spiced Lamb and Duck Egg Meatloaf topped with Caramelized Onion Jam

Green Girl Goodies, May 2014  

Before summer truly begins and light meals and outdoor BBQ completely replace the comforting and heavier winter meals, I wanted to sneak in this delicious meatloaf I made a few weeks ago on a rainy Seattle Saturday.  Seattle still experiences cold spells until sometimes July anyways so if you are a PNW resident like myself you might find the need for a more hearty meal to fill your belly in the coming months.

My boyfriend and I had spent our Saturday preparing for massive spring planting and started spring cleaning.  Needless to say we were not only pretty exhausted but we were also quite famished.  My boyfriend headed to the store to pick up something quick and easy for dinner but instead returned home with some all natural, grass-fed Umpqua Valley ground lamb.  At first, I admit, I was pretty pissed as I had no desires to be cooking after our long day but after taking a look in our fridge I became immediately inspired.  It was time to do something the Green Girl doesn’t do all that often at home:  cook a rich, heavy meal based on “comfort food”.  And voila! The Cumin-Spiced Lamb and Duck-Egg Meatloaf was born. 

Meatloaf is something I must admit I had always looked down on as “TV dinner” food.  It wasn’t until I had the pleasure of tasting Chef Louis’ famous Turkey Meatloaf while working at Electronic Arts that I began to see that, like many classic comfort foods, even meatloaf can be made delicious for the modern foodie.  We had some duck eggs on hand so to add some more richness to the lean, grass fed Lamb I used 2 duck eggs instead of 3 regular eggs.  Instead of just the traditional mirepoix mix of carrots, onions and celery I added red bell peppers and to add a little ethnic twist, some cumin. Where standard meatloaf is usually glazed with Ketchup or BBQ Sauce, I made a Caramelized Onion Jam to finish the loaf.  The sweet and tangy jam is the perfect complement to the flavorful, rich lamb-loaf.   I also like to prepare individual loaves as well to glamorize the dish a bit more. 

In order to feel a little better about the hefty meat portion I served the meatloaf alongside a generous portion of braised kale and minus a starch.  The recipe made 4 mini loaves.  It was so tasty and we were so hungry, we ate it all in one sitting. Enjoy!!

*Chef’s Tip:

- Start the onion jam before even starting to cut vegetables for the loaf.  Caramelizing onions and reducing a sauce are both not steps that can be rushed along with positive results!

Caramelized Onion Jam

Yield Approximately 1 c (4 – 6 servings)

1 ¾ c + 1 tb Yellow Onion, small dice

1 c Apple Cider Vinegar

1 c Granulated Sugar

1 ½ tsp Kosher Salt

½ tb Vegetable Oil

-          Heat a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat.  Once hot, add your oil.  Once the oil is hot, add your diced onions and lower the heat to medium-low.  Slowly caramelize the onions, stirring occasionally to prevent charring.  Reduce the heat if necessary depending on the thickness of your cooking vessel.  You are looking for a nice even brown color on all the onions.  This takes approximately 15 – 20 minutes.

-          Once the onions are evenly caramelized, add your vinegar, sugar and salt.  Raise the heat to medium-high to bring all ingredients to a boil.

-          Once boiling, reduce the heat to maintain a simmer and reduce the liquid about 75% until it is almost syrupy.  This will take approximately 15 minutes on medium then 7 minutes on low heat.   The jam will thicken more as it cools. 

-          Let the jam cool and serve warm or at room temperature.  It will store properly sealed and refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

Cumin-Spiced Lamb and Duck Egg Meatloaf

Yield 4 Mini Loaves (approximately 5 oz ea)

1# Ground Lamb

2 ea Duck Eggs (or 3 regular large eggs)

½ c Yellow Onion, minced

½ c Celery, minced

½ c Red Pepper, minced

1/3 c Carrots, minced *heaping cup

½ c Saltines (crushed, seen below) or Panko

1 tb + ½ tsp Garlic Powder

1 tb Cumin *if you are a big cumin fan, add an additional ½ tsp

1 tb Kosher Salt *if you are using saltines, start with 2 tsp of salt and test a small patty of loaf mixture in a sauté pan.  Add additional salt to taste.

8 Turns of Fresh Black Pepper

-          Set your oven to 375.  Gather all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.

-          Use your hands and mix all ingredients together so they are evenly distributed throughout the ground meat.

-          Form your mini loaves or if you prefer, form one large or two medium loaves.  Let the mixture stand at least 30 minutes refrigerated before baking.

-          Cooking times will vary if you are doing one large or two medium loaves.  For 4 mini loaves, bake them at 375 for 15 minutes.  Rotate the baking sheets and bake for another 20 minutes or until the internal temperature of the loaf is 165.  Remove the loaves from the oven and brush them with the room temperature Caramelized Onion Jam. 

-          Let the loaves sit for 5 minutes to set and heat the jam.  The additional jam can be offered at the table as a condiment.

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