Meatloaf

Yeah! It is meatloaf time again. This time I made it free form. We think this helped it hold its shape better. It was not cooked in a baking dish with a lot of grease.

I lined a baking dish with wax paper and put the mixture in and shaped it into a loaf.

DO NOT PUT THE WAX PAPER IN THE OVEN!!!

 Onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, turn the meatloaf out of the pan onto the center of the tray. Baked for an hour at 350˚.

I found a recipe from Alton Brown for a glaze to brush onto the meatloaf after it has been cooking for about 10 minutes. I forgot to do this and put the glaze on for the last 10 minutes. Either way, it was damn good!

Ingredients-
3/4 pound ground beef 
1/2 pound ground pork
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon dried sage
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 small onion, finely chopped
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp horseradish sauce

The Glaze-
1/2 cup catsup
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Dash Worcestershire sauce
Dash hot pepper sauce
1 tablespoon honey

Method-

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, and mix well. 

Place the mixture into a wax paper-lined baking pan and shape it into a loaf. 

Onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, turn the meatloaf out of the pan onto the center of the tray. REMOVE THE WAX PAPER.

Mix the glaze ingredients together in a bowl.

Baked for an hour at 350˚.

After 10 minutes, brush the meatloaf with the glaze.

Bake uncovered for 1 hour until or the internal temp is 160˚. 

After baking, let sit for 5 minutes before removing from pan and slicing to serve.

Meatloaf and Air Fryer Zucchini Sticks

I am always wanting to try different Meatloaf recipes but I still come back to my usual. This time I sauteed onion and celery and added it to the mix. The meats were beef, pork, and veal. The seasoning was salt, pepper, oregano, parmesan cheese, ketchup, horseradish, mustard, A-1, Worcestershire  Sauce, eggs, milk, and bread crumbs. Delicious!!

And we also had Air Fryer Zucchini Sticks!

The zucchini spears were tossed in a beaten egg and then coated with a mixture of breadcrumbs (Panko and plain), Parmesan Cheese, Oregano, Salt, Pepper, and Paprika. 

I popped the coated Zucchini sticks in the freezer for about 15 minutes.

I sprayed the top of them with spray Pam, also sprayed the rack before putting them on it.

Into the Air Flyer set at 400˚ for 10 minutes. I flipped them over and let them go for another 3 minutes.

Served them with a little sauce made of mayo, ketchup, lime juice, and pickle juice.

Grilled Cheese and Meatloaf Sandwiches

What is better than Meatloaf for dinner? 

Meatloaf sandwiches on the next night!

I picked up some sliced Italian bread on the way home and pulled out the panni press. 

Crunchy toasted bread, melted cheese, and meatloaf. Perfect.

The secret to golden crunchy bread? Mayo. Spread the top side of the bread. You can thank me later.

Also picked up some coleslaw for a side dish. It was a good match.

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Midweek Meatloaf

This was a really good meatloaf. 

There was no recipe to follow. 

Disclaimer: I made this on Sunday so tonight we just reheated it. The sides were prepared tonight. 

1. Preheat oven to 375˚.
2. I had a 1/2 pound of ground pork and a 1/2 pound of ground beef. 
3. I had a leftover heel of Italian bread. I used all of the bread except for the crust and mixed that with milk and let it sit for 5 minutes. After that, I squeezed out as much liquid as I could from the bread.
4. Mixed the meat in a bowl with the bread and added, sorry no measurements, ketchup, horseradish sauce, A-1 Sauce, dijon mustard, salt, pepper, oregano.
5. I added some fresh mozzarella in the middle of the loaf, as a surprise!
6. I put the meat into a greased loaf pan and brushed ketchup on the top.
7. Then I sprinkled the top with French’s Original Crispy Fried Onions.
8. Into the oven for about 50 minutes. The loaf needs to register 160 degrees Fahrenheit on an instant-read thermometer before it’s done because any food containing ground pork needs to be cooked to at least 160 degrees to be safe. (From Themormeat.com and Pork.com)

The result was a deliciously moist meatloaf. The green beans were from my sister's garden that I had in the freezer.

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Polpettone, Italian Meatloaf

 

A classic recipe, Polpettone, Italian Meatloaf. This recipe is from An Italian In My Kitchen blog. This received wild praise. Enough leftovers for what was declared the best lunch ever. Click here for the recipe. I used Ground Beef and Pork. To the seasonings, I added Ketchup, Worcestershire Sauce and oregano. Perfect!

Meatloaf, My Way

I made this meatloaf recipe back in 2009. I have over time made a couple of changes. Here is what I think is the best version so far.

Ingredients -
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 1/4 cup 1 % milk
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon dried sage
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup bread, soaked in a little milk, then chopped (I used Rye and Italian Bread)
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 Swiss cheese
3/4 cup cheddar cheese
1/2 cup Crispy Fried Onions, chopped
 
Method -
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a saute pan heat olive oil over medium heat, add onion and carrots. Saute until tender. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, except 1/2 cup Crispy Fried Onions, and mix well. Place mixture into a loaf pan. Sprinkle 1/2 cup Crispy Fried Onions over the top of the meatloaf. Bake uncovered for 1 to 1 1/4 hours until no pink remains at the center of the meatloaf. If using a meat thermometer, the internal temperature of the meatloaf should be 160 degrees. After baking, let sit for 5 minutes before removing from pan and slicing to serve.

Polpettone di Manzo Con Ricotta

This is the second time I have used this recipe from Lidia's Favorite Recipes. I just love it. And even this time I forgot to heat up the tomato sauce! Heck I even forgot to add the Mozzarella cheese! No harm done it was still delicious.

For a side dishes I made Mashed Potatoes (of course), and I roasted Brussels Sprouts. Just in a little olive oil and salt. Perfect. And I saw someone who will remain nameless go back for seconds of the sprouts!

And I did some baking today ...

Lidia'a Amazing Meatloaf

From the book Lidia'a Favorite Recipes I found the most amazing meatloaf recipe. Polpettone di Manzo Con Ricotta. The recipe uses ricotta and fresh mozzarella. The bread was suppose to be be a country farm bread but I used the rye bread I made earlier in the week. It held together perfectly. It was delicious. It was suppose to be served with a tomato sauce, which I had in the refrigerator but forgot to heat it up.

Also from  Lidia'a Favorite Recipes I made Swiss Chard Potatoes, Bietola e Patate.
I have never used the stems of the chard before. Oh I feel so wasteful know that I know how they can be used.
You boil the potatoes for 20 minutes. Add the chard stems for another 10 minutes and then add the chard leaves for 5 minutes and drain. Heat olive oil in a skillet and add the chard and potatoes, seasoning them with salt and pepper. Mash the potatoes as they heat up. Add more olive oil and season to taste. (The best thing about this recipe is you can make it in advance up to the step where you add the boiled potatoes and chard to the skillet.)

We both love this side dish but I think the whole meal would have been even better if I had heated up the darn tomato sauce!

Grilled Mini Meatloaf, Grilled Potatoes and Arugula Salad

New favorite meal, well my Mom's Baked Macaroni and my brother-in-law's Christmas Eve dinner will always be my favorite favorites. But tonight's dinner was right up there... let's say it is a summer favorite. Grilled Mini Meatloaf and Grilled Potato Slices. I got the idea from this recipe,  Mini Meatloaf and grilled potato slices, but used my own meatloaf recipe. Super moist and delicious.

The salad was put together in 5 minutes. Okay I roasted the Chickpeas on Sunday.
I loved the peppery taste of the Arugula and the splash of mint. Want the recipe.... Click right here - Arugula and Roasted Chickpea Salad with Feta.

Meatloaf

The title of this should be Amazing Meatloaf. I have no idea of amounts of the ingredients. I literally but a little ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, panko bread crumbs, sauteed onion and carrots, salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese and cheddar cheese. It was amazing!

Meatloaf, Zucchini and Mashed Potatoes

Crazy day today. Anyway we had Meatloaf, Zucchini and Mashed Potatoes for dinner. To the meatloaf I added Bleu Cheese and I used Chicken Broth instead of milk in the Mashed Potatoes. All three dishes were very good.

My dad is in the hospital and will be home tomorrow so this will be a week of take out. Stay tuned....