Meatloaf...

My husband loves meatloaf but I have been trying to win my little munchkin over for years. I think this meatloaf recipe finally did. He ate TWO pieces. Now for a boy that doesn't like his food mixed up, unless it is in a tortilla, this is BIG. He said it was the best meatloaf ever. I think may have been the slightly sweet yet really savory glaze.

I started out by sauteing my onions and bell pepper. I really hate crunchy/under-cooked bell peppers so I like to cook them before adding them to the meat "dough". If you like that crunch by all means throw them in raw.

This was the first time I used my stand mixer to blend up the meat "dough" and I was a little scared but it actually worked great. You can definitely use the tried and true hand mix method. It was just cold outside and I didn't want to let the water run for twenty minutes to warm up enough to get all the goo off my hands.

Once your meat mixture is nice and homogeneous, form it into a loaf. I learned from Alton Brown a few years ago that the best way to cook meatloaf is to take a sheet pan, a rack that fits into the sheet pan and piece of foil the estimated size of your meatloaf. You poke a few holes into the foil to allow grease to drain, set it on top of the rack and put the rack into the sheet pan. Then you form your meat into a loaf on the foil. This means no soggy/greasy meatloaf and a nice browned glaze. Oh and you should spray the pan with nonstick spray just in case to aid in easy clean up.

 Now it is ready to pop into a 350 degree oven for thirty minutes. While it is cooking make the glaze. After the 30 minutes apply your glaze with a spoon or pastry brush.

Cook it for twenty more minutes and apply a second coat of glaze. Then continue to cook until the internal temperature is 165 degrees. Mine took 1 hour and 15 minutes but use that thermometer and you will know for sure when it is done.I have a digital thermometer with a metal probe that sticks into the meat. The digital screen has a magnet you can secure to your fridge or oven. The thermometer will beep when the food reaches the right temperature. I highly recommend this kind of thermometer for all meat cooking. It takes away the guess work and will prevent overcooked dry nasty food.

 Notice the thumbs up from my little man? Now meatloaf is really hard to take a pretty picture of but it is so yummy. I like to drizzle my piece with my favorite hot sauce, sriracha. I served this dinner with fully loaded baked potatoes (a rare treat) and sweet peas. My little man gobbled up the whole plate. I hope you enjoy, I also highly recommend watching the Good Eats episode on meatloaf to really see how to set up the pan properly.

Meatloaf

1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp Ketchup
2 eggs
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
1 Tbsp Montreal steak seasoning
1/2 lg onion, finely diced and sauteed to soften
1/2 bell pepper, finely minced and sauteed to soften

Glaze
2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 Tbsp Honey
1/2 cup ketchup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a Sheet pan with a rack and piece of foil. Poke holes into the foil, put onto rack and put rack into the sheet pan. Pray lightly with nonstick spray. Add all the meatloaf ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment and mix on medium low until thoroughly combined. Form into a loaf and bake for thirty minutes. While cooking stir together glaze ingredients in a small bowl. After the first thirty minutes glaze the meat loaf with a pastry brush. After 20 more minutes glaze with remaining mixture and continue cooking until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. Let rest 5-10 minutes, slice and serve with your favorite side dishes.