Another one of JD's favorite comfort foods...it makes his day when he knows we're having this for dinner. I don't know what it is about men and meatloaf, but they sure love it. This takes a bit of time to make, but it's totally worth it. Great flavor, perfect texture...this puts any diner's meatloaf to shame. Cuisine at Home had a great tip to use foil loaf pans...you poke holes in them to drain the fat, plus you don't have to wash them!
Ultimate Meatloaf
recipe adapted from Cuisine at Home
For the Meatloaf:
3 slices good quality white bread
1 cup milk
3 eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups minced onion
1 cup pureed tomatoes
1/2 cup minced celery
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 cup minced parsley
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 pounds ground chuck (80-85% lean)
3/4 pound ground pork
For the Chunky BBQ Topping:
2 strips thick sliced bacon, diced
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced green pepper
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup diced tomatoes
1/4 cup yellow mustard
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare two foil pans by poking 4 holes in each pan (see picture).
Tear bread into pieces and put in large bowl. Add milk and beaten eggs and stir. Let sit for 30 minutes, then mash with a fork.
Meanwhile, chop up your veggies.
Be sure to mince them very fine...you don't want big chunks in your meatloaf or else it will fall apart when you slice it.
Melt butter in skillet over medium-high heat.
Saute onion, pureed tomatoes, celery and garlic for about 3 minutes.
Remove from heat and cool.
Add the ground chuck, ground pork, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper and the cooled tomato mixture to the bread/milk mixture in the bowl.
Using 2 forks, mix everything together. Cuisine at Home says if you use your hands, the meat could get compacted and the meatloaf will be tough. Plus, you don't get raw meatloaf under your fingernails when you use forks.
Spoon into loaf pans. Again, don't compact the meat. (hee hee that sounds dirty)
Sorry. I can be childish sometimes.
Now make the topping.
Saute bacon in skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions, green pepper, and garlic. Saute for 3 minutes.
Stir in the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 3 minutes.
Spread topping evenly over the meatloaves.
Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.
Let meatloaves sit for 15 minutes, then cut off the ends of the pans and remove loaves for slicing.