Embutido- My Favourite Meatloaf Ever!

Yummm... this recipe best reminds me of home and Mum as well. I think I got my love for cooking from my mother who dished out really, really nice meals when we were little and I remember myself  hanging around in the kitchen every time she cooks. This is one of my favourite recipes from her- it is a festive dish, often served for special occassions but I just cook it anyday I want to anyway, especially when I'm feeling a bit nostalgic about home. 

This 'Embutido' recipe is culled from the Spanish version of Enchido- a spanish homemade sausage, and is originally cooked in hog casing- that thin membrane used in sausages. But I gag thinking about pig casings so we'll just skip that part shall we? ha,ha,ha.

So, it is your lucky day- coz' I will share it here with you. Now, please try them out, they are seriously delicious...

INGREDIENTS:

Ground meat- either pork or chicken only though, about 800- 1kg.

*I normally use lean chicken mince

1  200 gm. bottle of sweet pickle relish 

 1  can pineapple chunks well drained please

 (minus the juice)

1  large onion

3  garlic cloves

1 large red capsicum

1 medium carrot peeled and cut into chunks

1 medium chorizo

1/2 c grated cheddar cheese

cubed ham

1 egg

salt to taste

*raisins about 1 c (optional) but it does add a nice sweetness to it...

Steamer and foil wrap

Boiled eggs, about 8 pcs. peeled and cooled.

HOW TO:

1. Prepare steamer- add water and turn stove to high heat whilst preparing the dish.
2.Food process onion, garlic, capsicum (bellpepper), carrot, chorizo and pineapple...until minced but NOT pureed. Set aside in a bowl.
(it is very important that the pineapple chunks are well drained otherwise this will turn out really mushy...)
3. If ground meat is not minced enough, food process it for a finer result and blend with the veges- use your hands to incorporate the ingredients better, so WASH hands and scrub fingers before handling food please :)
4.  Season with salt, add in cheese, ham, crack in the egg to bind everything better and add raisins. Blend well.
Now, that's all there is to it...simple eh?

ASSEMBLE:
*Spread about half a meter of foil and spread mixture like so:

*Place 2-3 eggs in a horizontal line, in the center of the mixture and form into a log. Make sure the eggs are well covered by the meat. Roll foil to cover- candy wrapper style and twist ends to secure.

*By this time, your steamer's hot and ready- and so place the embutido in threes, alongside each other ( depends on the sizes anyway) and steam for 45 minutes or until juices run clear when pricked.

*Allow to completely cool and rest, then refrigerate. This is meant to be a cold-cut meat which goes well with steamed white rice or a side dish of salad or even plain pasta cooked in butter.

*You may also want to slice this nicely before serving or lightly fry or brown it in olive oil before as an alternative to cold-cuts. Either way- it is such a mouthwatering dish and they keep well frozen. So it is good for use as stock food- because all the flavours get sealed in intact. It's one of those dishes which actually gets tastier by the day.

Hope you try it out because you and your family will truly enjoy this.
Yield for this batch is 3-4 jumbo embutidos.