Simple Food Contest 4 ~Mama's Meatloaf with the Sweet & Tangy Glaze...Econo-meals

This recipe is one of mine that's actually been published, featured in Favorites from Our Table (c 2013)...it's a longtime favorite comfort classic. It has a couple of steps, none of which are hard! Give it a try.

This is flexible on some of the ingredients. I'm doing ours with beef, but, you could , also, do this with ground turkey, ground chicken, or half beef and half pork. On any of those, make sure your finished temperature is 165 degrees farenheit. On with the recipe!

The Good Meatloaf with the Sweet & Tangy Glaze

• 1# ground chuck 80/20
• 1# ground sirloin 90/10
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2/3 cup chopped onion
• 1/3 cup chopped bell pepper, any color
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
• 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 3 Tablespoons ketchup
• 1 teaspoon yellow or your favorite mustard
• 2 large eggs
• 3 slices wheat or white bread, most of crust removed...or whatever you like...day old, stale is best!
• Glaze : 1/2 cup ketchup, 3 Tablespoons brown sugar, 2 Tablespoons cider vinegar, 2 T yellow/your favorite mustard

First, we get our veggies prepped up. I'm using these small sweet baby bells, because we're running out of time on them. Some are staring to fade, and they're too precious to waste. (And, I want to collect the seeds!). I've got a little bit of green bell, as it has a sharper flavor than the sweet bells, and I like that in my Meatloaf. Use what you have on hand.
The onion is just a run of the mill white onion...you know...the kind that'll make you cry in a heartbeat!

Saute the onions and peppers in the butter until they start to soften...maybe 5 minutes, stir occasionally. You don't want color, just softening...use a medium heat, to medium low. We saute the veggies to cook out the raw bite of the flavors. They don't ever seem to quite be tender enough when just added to the Meatloaf raw. An extra step, but one well worth the effort.

Add in the garlic, sprinkle over a bit of the salt and pepper, and cook for a couple minutes more. Set aside to cool.

While the veggies are cooling, tear up the bread and put into your mini chopper or food processor.

Chop to a substantial crumb size...not looking for powder, here. Note: if you don't have a food processor or mini chopper, you can tear the bread into very small bits...it's going to soak.

We're going to mix up everything that's going into our Meatloaf. Why? Well, the less we have to handle our meat while we get it completely mixed, the better. Over mixing the meatloaf will give us a heavy consistency, and that's what kills meatloaf, as a dish, for most folks. Place the breadcrumbs in one section of the pan, add the ketchup and the mustard...

Pour the milk over the bread crumbs. In go the eggs, the salt and the pepper.

Stir this all together until it's blended.

Add this to your ground meats which you've broken up into a large mixing bowl. To mix, use your fingers as a 'claw' of sorts, to gently lift and mix the veggie mixture into the ground meat.

Here's the mixed Meatloaf...see how it's still got an airy quality? It's not all compacted. That's what we're going for.

Spray your loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray. I like this special Meatloaf pan. It has a double layer, with holes in the top pan so the fat can drain into the bottom pan. If you don't have such a pan, create an aluminum foil cradle so you can easily pull your Meatloaf out of the grease when it's done cooking.

Pat the meatloaf into the prepared loaf pan.

Mix up the glaze ingredients in a small bowl.

Add a little bit of fresh cracked black pepper to the glaze, if you want to. It gives it a nice heat, to go with the sweet & tangy.

Spoon about half the glaze over the meatloaf. Place in a preheated 350 degree farenheit oven. Let it bake for 60 minutes. After the first hour of baking, add the rest of the glaze...it's so good! Pop the Meatloaf back in to the oven for an additional 15 minutes. You want a finished temperature of 160 in the center of the meat...carry over heat will bring it the rest of the way to 165 degrees, or well done.

You'll want to let the meatloaf rest for about 15 minutes before you cut it. This is a tender, moist meatloaf. If your family likes extra glaze on the side, you can, easily, double or triple the recipe! This is delicious with Mashed Potatoes or Macaroni & Cheese (like that recipe I gave you just the other day). It's also good with Rice, which is what the fam wanted when I made this.

Plate and Enjoy!! This method can be applied to any meatloaf recipe, pretty much! And the method, of mixing the ingredients, before mixing in with the meat, will keep any meatloaf you cook moist and delicious...and your family will love it again! Give this one a try, my Steemian friends! It's a money saver and a family winner winner meatloaf dinner!

Until next time! Steem on, my friends, Steem on!

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