Family Favorites...Ham Loaf

This is one of the recipes from "Cooking from Quilt Country" that I make the most often.  It is a perfect combination of flavors for ham loaf.  Both Myrna and I use this recipe.  I often make a smaller loaf and make the rest of the mixture into ham balls for the freezer, to enjoy another day.  It is delicious with or without the basting sauce.  I have halved the amount of sauce from the original recipe; Myrna and I agree that the original makes too much sauce.

We buy ham loaf mixture and substitute it for the ham and sausage in this recipe – it’s fast and delicious.  The butcher at our Fareway store tells me it is half ham and half ground pork. The ham loaf mixture is a steady seller at our Midwestern grocery meat counter.
Serve it with Noodles with Brown Butter, another of our family recipes that is also in this cookbook.

Ham Loaf

  1          pound  Ham -- ground

  1          pound  sausage -- lean, room temperature

  2          cups  soft bread crumbs -- (4 oz.) or about 4 slices

  2          large  eggs

  1          cup  sour cream

     1/3   cup  onion -- finely chopped

  2          tablespoons  lemon juice

  1          teaspoon  curry powder

  1          teaspoon  ginger

  1          teaspoon  nutmeg

     1/8   teaspoon  paprika

                        Basting Sauce

     1/2   cup  brown sugar

     1/4   cup  water

     1/4   cup  cider vinegar

     1/8   teaspoon  black pepper

Heat oven to 350°.  Combine meat and crumbs.  In medium bowl, beat eggs and add remaining meatloaf ingredients.  Mix well, pour over meat mixture, and blend.  Form into a loaf and place in an oiled 9 x 13" baking dish.  Bake, uncovered, 1 hour.

I make the crumbs in my food processor, then mix the egg and remaining ingredients in the processor and pour it over the meat and crumbs to make it quicker.

Meanwhile, prepare basting sauce.  In a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar with the remaining sauce ingredients, and bring to a boil.  When the ham has baked for 45 minutes, remove from oven and drain off the excess fat.  Pour the sauce over the loaf and continue baking for 15 minutes, basting now and them.

Alternately:  Mix ingredients, shape into balls.  Bake 30 minutes - 40 minutes.

You can put the mixture in two 3 1/2 x 7 x 2" loaf pans; unmold one in a rectangular 1 1/2 quart baking dish and bake; freeze the other or bake both loaves in a 13 x 9” pan in less time than a larger loaf.   Bake the smaller loaves 45-60 minutes. 

Serve with noodles with crumbs, sesame green beans, peaches or butterscotch pudding for dessert. Or bake regular or sweet potatoes alongside and add a deviled egg and olive or pickled apple plate and hot rolls and a pie or cake for guests.  This can be made up a day ahead and baked 1 1/2 hour before lunch.

Per Serving: 389 Calories; 31g Fat (70.9% calories from fat); 10g Protein; 18g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 104mg Cholesterol; 476mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 5 1/2 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.