Meat Loaf!

Why do people make this so hard?

Meatloaf is another classic comfort food.  Mine needs to be served with mashed potatoes and brown gravy.  I get my brown gravy from a packet but make the potatoes fresh.  I never put a ketchupy glaze on mine until I got married.  The wife's idea of comfort 'loaf had the glaze.  I tried it and don't mind it at all.  At least it is better than those heathens who put ketchup on their 'loaf. (Unless you are one of those heathens -- in which case rock on!)

Meat loaf starts with ground meat, adds a filler, a binder and some veggies.  The variations are endless.  I use Ritz crackers for the filler, egg for the binder and onions alone for the veggie.  Let us begin.


You'll need;

For the loaf...

• 1# Ground Sirloin
• 1# Ground Beef (I use 90/10)
• 1 smallish onion (chopped)
• 1 full sleeve of Ritz crackers (2 of their new small ones)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp garlic salt
• 3 dashes Worcestershire sauce

For the glaze...

• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
• 4-5 dashes Tabasco (or Sriracha)
• 2 Tbsp agave nectar (or honey)

Preheat your oven to 400F.
 
In a large bowl use your hands to combine all of the meatloaf ingredients.  Really get in there and mix 'em up.  Try not to let the mess get too far up your arms. I find it helpful to precrush the Ritz as they are added to the bowl.

Wash up and prepare a loaf pan by spraying cooking spray into it.  You *can* form the loaf by hand, but I'm a fan of the pan method -- it looks less like a bloody Tribble at the end.

Pack the meat into the pan making sure that the meat gets deep into the corners.  You can use a butter knife or chopstick to let the air pockets out of the corners.

Spray a cookie sheet or other pan with cooking spray.  Use a butter knife to detach the meat from the sides of the loaf pan.

Place the sheet over the loaf pan, hold them together and invert.  Tap around the pan to help release the loaf.

Pull off the loaf pan and your formed loaf is ready to pop into the oven.

Bake for 10- 15 minutes to create a crust.

Maybe I took it out early....

While the crust is forming mix together the glaze ingredients to create the (wait for it...) glaze.

Reduce the temp to 350F.  Remove the loaf and brush/ spoon on the glaze.  Try not to let too much slough off the loaf and pool on the pan because you are just going to have to scrub it off later.

Insert a probe thermometer into the center of the loaf and return it to the cooler oven.

Cook until center is 155F -- with ground beef you really don't want a lesser number.  This will probably take 50 minutes or so.

Remove and rest for 10 min while you prep the mashed potatoes and brown gravy that you are going to serve it with.

Slice and serve!