The Accidental Locavore doesn’t mess around with meatloaf or recipes for meatloaf. When I’m working with ground meat and seasonings, my instinct is to turn it into meatballs. Albondigas, lamb meatballs, veal meatballs with baby artichokes (a great spring dish), I take the small round route. Luckily for me (and our friends), my husband makes a terrific meatloaf! He’s a good cook, just doesn’t do much of it. Along with the meatloaf, he makes lovely omelets, steak pizzaiola, and an occasional waffle (but that’s a whole other blog). Usually he likes to make meatloaf for a crowd, but the other day I talked him into doing a small one for the two of us. Here’s what goes into it;
Frank’s Amazing Meatloaf: Serves 2 with lots of leftovers
- 1/2 pound ground pork (we use local ground meat and turkey from our farmers upstate)
- 1/2 pound ground beef
- 1/2 pound ground turkey
- 2 eggs (also local eggs)
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs (make your own in the food processor or they can be plain or flavored, panko would work too)
- 1 onion chopped
To taste (or optional):
- Worcestershire sauce (about 2 teaspoons)
- Ketchup (about 1 tablespoon)
- Dijon mustard (about 1 tablespoon)
- Montreal Steak Seasoning (about 1 heaping teaspoon)
- Salt and pepper (if you use the Montreal Steak Seasoning, go easy here, otherwise start with 1 teaspoon each)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl add all the ingredients, and mix until just combined. In a loaf pan, put 1/2 the meatloaf mixture. Top with 3/4 cup grated pepper jack cheese, or fontina. Add the rest of the meatloaf mixture to the pan. Top with strips of bacon, overlapping them to cover the top, trim or tuck in the ends of the bacon to fit the pan. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and top the bacon with 1/2 cup tomato sauce, or about 1/2 can tomato paste (you could also use ketchup). Return to the oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Serve, share and enjoy!
Recently he’s been adding a package of baby spinach that he sautes with a little garlic, and puts in the middle of the meatloaf with the cheese. Not only does it taste good, but it looks lovely when it’s sliced and plated (not that the two of us are competitive in any way).
My rating: 4.75 stars: Big plus for me, I get to sit back and watch and the meatloaf is always delicious. Moist and tender, with the added surprise of the melted, cheesy center, the smoke of the bacon and tomato sauce on top. It’s great stuff, try it and let me know what you think.
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Thanks for the feedback! I try to keep the recipes simple, for any level of cook. In the case of Frank’s meatloaf, the add to taste really means that those ingredients are optional, and you can add them if it suits you or not. That should have been made clearer (and was). Usually “to taste” means that if you like a lot of, say salt, you can add as much as you want, or if you’re on a salt restricted diet, skip it, or add just a little at the very end. It’s always a good idea when adding ingredients “to taste” to add a small bit (and this is going to vary depending on how much of something you’re making), say 1/2 teaspoon, taste it, and keep adding more until it tastes good to you. Remember it’s much easier to add than to try to figure out how to compensate for too much of something. And always taste as you go along. If you’re making the meatloaf and worried about the spices, take a small piece of it, and fry it up like a mini burger. It will give you a good idea of how the final product will turn out.
ok, so o have some feedback about this great recipe. I printed Frank’s meatloaf recipe & am excited to make it. However, when I see a recipe that has “add ingredients to taste”, I’m intimidated & less inclined to make it. I need exact measurements or at least ” 1 tbs or more or less to taste”. That way I have an inkling of what’s intended. My sense is that your recipes are for more experienced cooks than myself, so it may not apply to your readers, but I thought I’d pass it along anyway.