Magnificent Meatloaf

Last week the hubster, Bryan, was in Cleveland for business which was kind of a bummer. We both don’t like traveling without each other, but especially not to freezing cold and lonely places (i.e. Cleveland). So I thought I would make him something he loves upon his return. I bought ingredients for a lasagna and a meatloaf. I used to think the concept of meatloaf was totally gross (and I guess it can be if you don’t like meat or loaves) but you know, it can be really delicious. As it turns out, I made the meatloaf first, then the lasagna over the weekend for Bryan and my sister, Caroline. 

I bought a little more than a lb. of great, lean organic beef (side note: I recognize that organic food really can be a lot more expensive, but I really put my foot down about buying and eating organic meat and dairy and I encourage you to, also. I only buy organic meat when it is on sale, and if it’s not then it’s a vegetarian meal for us in my house. I don’t want to take this down a dark road, but seriously I encourage everyone to make the switch to at least organic meat/dairy. Bonus- it truly does taste better). Anyway, I chopped up a half of a white onion (still a bit of a challenge for me. I ‘d love to be like Julia Child’s character in “Being Julia” and just buy pounds and pounds of onions to practice my chopping…remember when Stanley Tucci came home and was like, “WHOAAAA” because the smell hit him before he walked through the door?).

Mix the onion with an egg, about ½ cup of milk (I use skim – does not affect the taste), 1/3 c. of breadcrumbs (again, some nice whole grain seasoned breadcrumbs do not sacrifice flavor in my opinion- the breadcrumbs are there to for texture), ½ tsp. of dried oregano or basil (whichever is on hand), and 1 tsp.  of salt. After mixing that up, add the meat and then the fun begins! You’ve got to make sure it’s all evenly mixed and SOMETIMES you have to use your HANDS! Ah! Meat hands.

Put the meat into a 8X4X2 inch loaf pan (most loaf pans are this size) and bake at 350 degrees for an hour to an hour and 15 mins (a meat thermometer will definitely come in handy here because the internal temperature of the meatloaf needs to be 160 degrees). Spoon off the fat and you can spread the top of the loaf with a ketchup/brown sugar mixture (which Bryan likes and is pretty traditional) or there are many variations of spreads – some people do Worcestershire sauce, honey, and ketchup, or simply top it with a marinara. It all depends on your personal preference. After spreading the sauce out, bake for another 10 mins.

Bing! Take the meatloaf out of the oven, let it cool and might I suggest some vegetables on the side? Simple steamed broccoli is a nice side for meatloaf, and as a starch I like to do potatoes (this week I made potatoes baked “in their jackets” as Laura Ingalls Wilder used to say). Make sure you fill up half that plate with the veggies! Mmmmmm dinner is served :)