I actually made yesterday’s Horseradish Sauce to go with this meatloaf and roasted potatoes I did for dinner on Monday. Rich used to suffer through my attempts at meatloaf; the oatmeal experiments, the ‘jelly-roll’ sojourn, and too, too many other strange efforts to list; until, that is, the nice folks at the Food Network came to my rescue with this wonderful formula. I say ‘formula’, because I have been able to substitute bits and pieces, and, as long as I stick to the rules, we get a lovely dinner. My normal swap outs are ground turkey for at least half of the meat/pork portion and panko instead of bread crumbs; I also usually add chopped celery, carrots and peppers to the onion sauté and base the herbs on what else we’re having for dinner that night, or my mood, OR the state of my spice supply.
The meatloaf pictured above was lovely, but true only to the proportions of the recipe – I used ground chicken and bulk Italian sausage (from Tenuta’s, of course) for the meat, added extra herbs and spices since our larder was bare of onion, celery, peppers and carrots at the time; and used a mixture of Heinz chili sauce and my own barbecue sauce for the glaze. Delicious; and, as you can see – you get a firm, almost paté-like texture. Try this formula out, I think you’ll find you don’t need any other.
INGREDIENTS
Meatloaf:
•1 pound ground chuck
•1/2 pound ground veal
•1/2 pound ground pork
•1 tbsp olive oil
•1-1/2 cup chopped onion
•3 garlic cloves, minced
•Finely chopped celery, carrot, and any red, yellow, or green pepper lying around
•2 large eggs
•1/2 cup milk
•2 tsp Dijon mustard
•1 tsp hot sauce
•1-1/2 tsp fresh marjoram, or 1/2 tsp dried, crumbled
•1-1/2 tsp fresh thyme, or 1/2 tsp dried, crumbled
•Salt, freshly ground pepper
•1-1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs
•1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves, minced
Glaze:
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp cider vinegar
Preheat oven to 350º.
In a skillet over moderate heat, add the oil. Heat the oil until hot, but not smoking. Add the onion, garlic, and any other veggies you’re using, and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Set aside and let cool.
In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, mustard, and hot sauce together. Add marjoram, thyme, salt, and pepper.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the meats, egg-milk mixture, bread crumbs, parsley, and the cooked onion mixture.
In a small bowl stir together ketchup, sugar, and vinegar. Set aside.
Transfer meat mixture to an oiled loaf pan. Brush meat with ketchup glaze.
Bake in oven for about 45 minutes, until glaze has set. Brush meat loaf with remaining glaze and bake for 15 minutes more. Internal temperature of loaf should be 160º.