Meatloaf..
 

So what's the secret to a good meatloaf?

Any hints?

Mom.

I like to use bacon grease, oats, and a package of dry lipton onion soup mix.

:yesnod:

That right there! My mom used that too. I don't know what's in it, but it makes a damn good meatloaf.

I like it when you take a slice of meatloaf, cooked, then grill it so the outside gets nice and crispy!

....left over meatloaf sandwiches....Mmmmmm!
And remember, never let your meat loaf.....:lol:

You've liked mine a time or two, also. Here's my recipe, that I've been making for years.

Ranch Meat Loaf

1-1/2 cups soft bread crumbs
3/4 cup milk
2 lbs. ground beef
1 medium carrot, peeled and grated
1 small onion, minced
2 eggs, beaten

1/4 c ketchup
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons prepared mustard

Heat oven to 325 degrees

Put bread crumbs in a large bowl and pour the milk over them. Stir in ground beef, grated carrot, onion, and beaten eggs. Mix thoroughly.
Shape the mixture to make an oval loaf. The less you handle the mixture, the juicer it will be. Place in shallow baking pan.
Mix ketchup, brown sugar and mustard and spread it over the top of the loaf.
Bake for 1-1/2 hours.

Yum!

This is my meatloaf. I cooked it for friends last weekend. It's good.......:D


Meatloaf

Serves 8 to 10.

* 4 slices white bread, torn into pieces
* 2 1/4 pounds ground beef 80% makes a juicer loaf
* 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and cut into eighths
* 2 cloves garlic
* 3 stalks celery, cut into 2-inch pieces
* 1 large egg
* 1/2 cup ketchup
* 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
* 2 teaspoons dry mustard
* 1 tablespoon coarse salt
* 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
* 12 rectangles of Velveta cheese

Topping

* 2 tablespoons brown sugar
* 1 teaspoon dry mustard
* 1/2 cup ketchup

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Place bread in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade; pulse until fine crumbs form. Transfer to a medium bowl, and add ground beef.

2. Place onion, garlic, and celery, in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade; pulse until fine. Add to meat mixture, using hands to mix well. Add egg, 1/2 cup ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, 2 teaspoons dry mustard, salt, and pepper; use hands to combine thoroughly.

3. Line a large cookie sheet (with sides) with aluminum foil. Form a long oval with 3/4 of the mixture (@ 5" x 10"). Push chunks of the velveta into the loaf, and cover with the remaining meat mixture.

4. Combine 1/2 cup ketchup, 1 teaspoon dry mustard, and 2 Tbls. brown sugar in a bowl; stir until smooth.

5. Spoon mixture over meatloaf; place in the oven. Cook until a meat thermometer inserted in the center reads 160 degrees, about 90 minutes. If top gets too dark, cover with foil, and continue baking.

Did anyone else's Mom used to put a hard-boiled egg in the middle of the meat loaf?

You must have a Scottish background, sounds like a Scotch Egg. They wrap a hard boiled egg in ground meat and bread it and fry it.:seeya:

OMG - there is a place that used to be in Nashville that made the BEST damn Scotch eggs in the world, but they eventually closed and now there is nowhere good to get them in town.

I do my meatloafs a little differently. I turn the loaf out onto parchment before baking - it's not as greasy (my wife does need to watch that sort of thing for health reasons). It's just as juicy and tasty.

I'm familiar with Scotch eggs, but I'm just talking about a regular, huge family sized meat loaf with one or more hard boiled eggs baked in the middle of it. It was done for thrift reasons to make the meat loaf larger at little cost.

Well here's another thing me and the wife seem to notice. Most recipes feed an army. We only need enough for us and a little for the baby, and mabye some left over for the next day to take to work for lunch.

I do a full batch and then put them into small bread pans (the disposable aluminum foil ones) and freeze the rest.

It's meatloaf, put whatever you have in the cabinate in there :leaving:

I do remember Alton Brown using beef/pork/lamb mixture. I tried beef pork/once, not too bad.

That's the one of the "traditional" forms of meatloaf, but it can be really expensive (some even call for beef/pork/veal). The I use an Alton Brown recipe that calls for ground chuck and sirloin. It's been the staple meatloaf in my house since we started using it.

Good Eats Meatloaf Recipe : Alton Brown : Food Network

I made an italian meatloaf out of a marlboro cookbook that was real good. I'll have to find that.

Please do, it appears that it's not even on the internet. :o_o:

That's the nice thing about meat loaf. You can let your imagination run wild to incorporate any country's seasonings. If you want it less greasy for health reasons use extra lean or lean and increase the moisture with stock or whatever, and, sear the bottom on a skillet first and use a rack inside your baking pan to keep it up off the bottom....no grease.:cheers: