Mini Meat Loaves Topped with Mashed Potatoes from The Official Netflix Cookbook (Stranger Things)
The next dish I made from The Official Netflix Cookbook was Mini Meat Loaves Topped with Mashed Potatoes, inspired by Stranger Things. This show needs no introduction to the majority of Netflix viewers, or indeed, anyone attuned into popular culture. Meatloaf, albeit a whole one rather than mini ones, is featured in episode 2 of season 1 of the show, made by Karen Wheeler for her children and their friends for dinner one night. She notes their lack of appetite, due to their friend Will Byers being missing.
Karen: Something wrong with the meatloaf?
Dustin Henderson: Oh, no, I had two bologna sandwiches for lunch.
I watched through seasons 1-3 during the pandemic in 2020 and absolutely loved the series. As soon as season 4 dropped, I watched the episodes through over the span of a week and was left in utter disbelief by the finale. Season 5 couldn't have come fast enough! I thought at the time. As it were, it didn't come fast enough. We had to wait for three years due to the simultaneous writer's and actor's union strikes in 2023, and other production-related delays stemming from COVID.
Stranger Things has its own chapter in the Netflix Cookbook, one of three shows with such a distinction (the others being Bridgerton and Squid Game). Each of these chapters presents their recipes as elements for a watch party of the respective series. You make these recipes, set up your living room with a theme, and then sit back and enjoy the show.
The mini meat loaves are made in the same way you would make a regular sized meatloaf, only they're tucked into the cups in a 12 cup muffin tin. I bought a second one for this recipe, and one of the other dishes, in case the meat and/or glaze ruined my first muffin pan. As for the mashed potatoes, anyone can make these. Notably, they have no milk or any other liquid in them, probably to make them thick enough for piping if you want to be fancy. I wasn't going to bother with that.
For a side dish, I cooked some corn in the same pan I cooked the onion and garlic in for the meat loaf filling. That imbued it with some extra flavor, and it got charred as it cooked. For the mash, I made some slight modifications: I used a scallion instead of chives, and a mixture of orange and white cheddar because it's what I had. The mixture of different colors of cheese added a nice contrast.
The meat loaves were very tasty! One thing I'll note is that the mustard you use, either spicy brown or Dijon, makes a difference. I used a very potent Dijon, and it was quite strong since it's in both the meat loaves themselves and the glaze that goes on top. If this was made in the 80s, it's more likely that the average American household would have used yellow mustard. That wouldn't be nearly as spicy, but it would be more American.
As it turned out, the meat loaves didn't ruin my pan, but that's down to me greasing it thoroughly more than anything else.
If you want to make this recipe yourself, you can get it in The Official Netflix Cookbook: 70 Recipes from Your TV to Your Table.
