I like making meatloaf. I never make it exactly the same way twice and don't use a recipe. Some common things I do are use stuffing mix and veggies.
I've wrapped it in bacon before. Sometimes I do a ground turkey/beef blend
This one, which is dinner tonight has bell peppers, onions, a bit of cheese, pinto beans, BBQ sauce and stuffing as the main ingredients besides the beef.
Share your meatloaf recipes, guidelines and pics......
I'm pretty rigid with making meatloaf! I (well, the whole family, too) like a sweet n' sour BBQ sauce over it, with extra for the mashed potatoes.
The basic recipe (I don't measure, so these are guestimates):
1 pound ground venison
1 pound ground lamb (or pork, or beef, or more venison)
1 large egg
1 minced onion
About a cup of freshly made breadcrumbs
Worchestershire sauce
Ketchup
Dijon Mustard
brown sugar
milk
Pour milk over breadcrumbs, and let it be absorbed. Use enough milk to moisten all of the breadcrumbs and let sit for a few minutes. Add 1 minced onion, the meats, and a large egg (or two if small). Add a generous splash of Lea & Perrins worchestershire sauce. Form into a loaf and place in a 13x9 pan.
Make a sauce in a large glass measuring cup- about 3/4 cup ketchup, 1/2 cup brown sugar (more or less according to taste), and a generous squirt of dijon mustard. Add worchestershire sauce to taste, about 3 tablespoons or so. Stir well, and add a bit of water to thin enough to pour. Taste and adjust to sweeter or more vinegary as desired. Pour over meatloaf and bake 1 hour and 15 minutes, covered with foil, at 375. Take off the foil occasionally and baste meatloaf with the sauce.
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Like the OP, I don't really follow the same recipe twice. I do follow a few guidelines though:
1. Use a combination of different meats, preferably wild game like YooperBrew's recipe above.
2. Brown sugar mixed with ketchup over the top.
3. Bacon.
Using those three rules, I've never really made bad meatloaf. Though I don't believe there is such a thing as bad meat loaf.
do you mess with nuts at all? Pine nuts have worked.
What do you think about the differences between using stuffing, soaked bread, or bread crumbs?
Stuffing works surprisingly well, especially when you use some egg. I've used nuts before, don't remember which ones for sure, but I think I've done pecans.
I did put cumin in a meatloaf once, but overdid it. Could hardly eat it.
You'd be surprised what you can dump in meatloaf and still have it turn out. Oatmeal works. Veggies are a good idea, because you can slip them past some of the kids that way. I prefer to use BBQ sauce on the top.
Ya know, I'm an Alton Brown disciple, but IMO his meat loaf recipe sucks. The cumin in the glaze just ruined it for me.
Mine is pretty straight forward. Lots of ground elk (or beef), tons of yellow onion, a little green bell pepper, salt, pepper, garlic, egg, bread crumbs, etc.
Basically a giant meatball, with a ketchup/BBQ sauce glaze for the last ~10 minutes of cooking.
Meatloaf is a comfort food for me so I make it similar to the way my mom did. Which is just a fairly basic meatloaf (I don't measure either) with no sauce at all...then I put cold (must be cold) ketchup on it. And I pretty much don't eat ketchup on anything else.
One thing I did change is that I sweat the onions/peppers before mixing them into the loaf. Personal preference.
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Official HBT Meatloaf Thread.
And I pretty much don't eat ketchup on anything else.
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