Ground Beef Redux With A Side of Chips

I used the second cut of the brisket I purchased at Tucker Meats along with a pork steak. The very nice butcher at Tucker Meats suggested that I grind the meat while it is partially frozen. I tried that but I very quickly found that my grinder clogged up with fat. If I possessed better knife skills, perhaps I could have avoided that fate. I decided to finely chop the beef and pork using my cleaver.

Here is a slurry of water, eggs, milk powder, mustard, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and a few spices. I then added bread crumbs. I find this method helps to ensure that the breadcrumbs are thoroughly wetted. I forgot the onion. Oops…

Into the oven they went. Meanwhile, I rendered down the huge amount of fat I had saved from the brisket. Anyone who doubts the adage “fat is flavor” should taste a morsel of crunchy fat from a rendering pan---wow.

I sliced Russet potatoes using my mandolin.

I double-fried the potato slices.

The meatloaf was a success. The texture was definitely coarser than if I had used ground meat but that was something of an advantage. The beef flavor came through very nicely; the pork was a little subtle. I used more water and bread crumbs than usual which helped to keep the coarse meat together. The chips were great---extremely crispy, many of them puffed up from the second fry. The meat flavor of the render was subtle at first but it came to the front after a few minutes, giving a nice, meaty effect.

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