The Key to Great Flavor: A Concentrated Flavor Base With the meat mix and the texture of the loaf squared away, I shifted my focus to flavorings The base of carrots, onions, and celery made sense to me —the three vegetables are a classic addition to meat dishes and sauces for a reason—but when they are simply diced and added to the meat mix, their texture doesn’t quite work in meat loaf; I found it interfered with the velvetyness I desired How to deal with this? Easy, just chop them finer and soften them I used the food processor (already on my countertop to make the bread crumbs and chop mushrooms) to chop them into small pieces before sautéing them in butter until tender, adding a touch of garlic and Spanish paprika as well We’ve got the vegetables in there, now for a few ingredients to up the meaty backbone of the loaf, namely deploying my trusty umami bombs: anchovies, Marmite, and soy sauce All three of these ingredients are rich in glutamates and inosinates, chemical compounds that trigger signals that tell our brains we’re eating something savory and meaty They make the meat loaf taste meatier without imparting a distinct flavor of their own After sautéing all the ingredients for my flavor base together—the vegetables and the umami bombs—I added some chicken stock and buttermilk, along with softened gelatin, and reduced to a concentrated liquid simply bursting with flavor Mixing this flavor base into my meat produced a mixture wetter than any other meat loaf mix I’d seen This led to a moister end product (that retained moisture with the help of the gelatin), but it proved problematic when shaping the loaf I could bake it in a loaf pan, but I prefer making freeform loaves on a baking sheet to maximize surface area for flavorful browning or glazing The solution was to use a hybrid method I packed my meat loaf mix into a loaf pan, covered it with foil, and then inverted the whole thing onto a rimmed baking sheet, spreading out the foil so that I now had a foil-lined baking sheet with an inverted meat loaf and loaf pan on top of it I baked this way for about half an hour —just long enough to set its shape—and then used a spatula and kitchen towels to lift off the pan The result was a perfectly loaf-shaped meat loaf (just right for slicing into sandwiches), with all the advantages of a free-form loaf and its extra surface area You can leave your meat loaf completely undressed, but I ... savory and meaty They make the meat loaf taste meatier without imparting a distinct flavor of their own After sautéing all the ingredients for my flavor base together? ?the vegetables and the umami bombs—I...We’ve got the vegetables in there, now for a few ingredients to up the meaty backbone of the loaf, namely deploying my trusty umami bombs: anchovies, Marmite, and soy sauce All three of these ingredients... wetter than any other meat loaf mix I’d seen This led to a moister end product (that retained moisture with the help of the gelatin), but it proved problematic when shaping the loaf I could bake it in a loaf pan, but I prefer making freeform loaves on a baking sheet to maximize surface area for