Banana Meatloaf

It was finally time to make our blogs’ namesake again. Yes, this is meat and bananas. Surprisingly, this is not the only meat and bananas recipe in Wartime Recipes from the Maritimes. Check out Roosevelt Chicken for another one that we’ve tried.

This recipe is from the Antigonish Casket, an unusually-named local newspaper that my family members used to subscribe to, and which was still a going concern up until a few years ago.

Ingredients

4 bananas, peeled
1 pound ground beef
1 cup soft breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
1/2 tsp dry mustard
2 strips of bacon
Salt and pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven 350F. Grease a baking pan or sheet. 

Mash two of the bananas, and mix with the ground beef, mustard, breadcrumbs, onion, salt and pepper. 

Shape into a loaf and place on prepared pan. Lay the two strips of bacon on top.  Bake for 40 minutes. 

Slice the remaining two bananas and lay those on top. Baste with pan juices and bake for another 20 minutes. 

Let sit 5 minutes before slicing.  

I used more like 1.5 lbs of beef (because that’s what I had), so the banana flavour in the main part of the loaf was a bit more muted than the past time we made this – a little sweet/tropical flavour that you can’t quite place. But the bananas on top tasted very clearly like banana.

This recipe is not meant to be put in a loaf pan, but to have a loaf formed and then baked on a baking sheet or similar. Otherwise, you can’t complete the basting instruction.

The verdict

It’s a bit of an odd dish, but not exactly bad. Our kid especially liked the roasted bananas on top, and said they tasted like banana bread – dinner and dessert in the same dish! (He requested some in his lunch the next day).

I’d make this again, but mostly because it’s unusual.