Meat Loaf

This might sound a bit silly, but I just love seeing what differnt brands of food products people from around the country use. (and the shape of butter, of course... I always wonder...why? Why is it long and skinny in the east and short and fat in the west? why?) We all think our brands are recognizable as "national" brands, which is never the case!

Seriously, it just intrigues me.

Bobby Flay did a "Meatloaf" Throwdown last night. (he could have done it before, and I'd just never seen it )...meatloaf.

I did a meatloaf last week. I took pictures! But then I was thinking... meatloaf? Yes, it' kind of a comfort food, but also kind of boring.

But...if it's good enough for Bobby Flay, it's good enough for me.

People are very loyal to their meatloaf recipes.
Really....how can they all be so different? It's a little meat, a little seasoning, a little tomato ketchup/sauce, all mounded into a lump. Or a loaf, I mean.

Some of the original Friday Friends ( an e-mail group, I started long ago, before I knew blogs existed ) have their own "loyalties" when it comes to eating meatloaf.
Theda in Oregon likes hers with mashed potatoes and gravy.
Dorothy in Nevada always, ALWAYS, has waldorf salad with hers.
So, I usually combine them and have meatloaf, mashed potatoes w/gravy and waldorf salad. If I'm lazy it will be a baked potato.

Traci in California, would never, not if you paid, her, have a meatloaf sandwich the next day.
Although that is the best part! Almost the whole reason one makes a meatloaf.

My mother, in Washington, swears, that her best friend Betty, in Oregon, makes the best meatloaf ever! It "is" pretty darn good.
But don't you think that meatloaves are subjective? We all love "our" meatloaf. Or our mom's meatloaf. That really is the ultimate meatloaf...mom's. ( I wonder if Tyler Florence has an ultimate meatloaf recipe on Tyler's Ultimate?) But who could surpass mom's meatloaf? Bobby Flay?

Meatloaf...the ultimate comfort food (and good enough for Bobby Flay)

followed by, or I should say "featuring" a few of the girls (original Friday Friends) meatloaf recipes.

We begin in my little yellow and red kitchen. :~)

and we make a sweet sauce to glaze the meatloaf.

I make the sweet sauce by taking brown sugar, ketchup and vinegar, mixing it up and heating it and then setting it aside.

Then I take ground beef....sometimes I've taken ground beef, groud veal and ground pork...but today I just take the ground beef. Isn't it what most people do when they make a meatloaf? Just ground beef? I put the ground beef, aka hamburger, into a big bowl.




oh wait... first I cut up the onion
and the garlic. I saute` them in a bit of olive oil. My mom just put the chopped raw onion in hers....and it's fine to do so. I just like to make extra work for myself. And the less crunchy the onion is for my family was best.


Then, I put them into the ground beef and scrunch them al together. I use my hands. there really is no other way. Really.

Then I add these things. some salt, some crushed crackers, some worschershire (spelling please!) some red pepper flakes, some fresh parsley....

oh...and don't forget some eggs and evaporated milk.

Because you need your moisture in a meat loaf!

add them all! Scrunch up with your hands!



make into a loaf




You could cook it in a loaf pan, BUT, sometimes it's kind of greasy that way, so because of my husband's delicte stomahc (LOL ) I cook it on a broiler pan or a sheet lined with parchment, so that it is not swimming in grease.


glaze with...well, the glaze you made earlier

and then, I.....drape it with bacon. sometimes the bacon gets a bit crispy, especially with the glaze. so you might have to tent it with foil, if you don't like it as "crispy" as this one.


and then, pop it into the oven at 350 for an hour or an hour and 15 minutes.




serve with re-heated glaze and potato of your choosing and of course, waldorf salad.




the recipe and more....
Bacon Wrapped Meat Loaf
Brown-Sugar-Ketchup Glaze
1 cup ketchup, 8 tbls brown sugar, 8 tsp cider vinegar
Mix all ingredients together in a small saucepan, set aside.

Meat Loaf
2 tsp. oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground pepper
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. red pepper sauce or red pepper flakes
1/2 cup evaporated milk or yogurt
2 pounds ground beef
2/3 cup crushed saltine crackers
1/3 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
6 bacon slices

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil in a medium skillet. Add onion and garlic; cook until softened. Set aside to cool.
Mix eggs with thyme, salt, pepper, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, pepper sauce, and milk. Add to ground beef along with crackers, onions, garlic and parsley.
Mix by hand until evenly blended.
Mold into a loaf on a foil lined cookie sheet coated with a non-stick spray. (or parchment paper). Brush with glaze. Arrange bacon slices across the meatloaf.
Bake loaf about an hour, until the temp is 160 degrees. Cool for 5 minutes.
Simmer remaining glaze until thickened, and serve with the meatloaf.

**********
Now to feature 2 Friday Friends.....

Betty's (or what my mom says is the BEST) meatloaf

1/2 cup evaporated milk
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. cracker crumbs
1 1/2 lb. lean ground beef
2 Tbs. chopped onion
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
3/4 - 1 cup Heinz catsup

Mix together. Bake at 350 for about 1 hour. Allow to stand for about 15 minutes before slicing

**Betty thinks its the "Heinz" catsup that makes it good. she doesn't think you could use too much!

******
Robbie's Meatloaf

1 lb. ground round
1 egg
some bread crumbs
chopped mushrooms
onion chopped
Heinz steak sauce

Mix together and bake one hour.