Never Fail Meatloaf Food

NEVER FAIL MEATLOAF

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, eggs, stuffing mix, hickory smoke flavored barbeque sauce, onion, garlic and milk. Mix thoroughly and place into the prepared baking dish. Shape into 2 loaves.
• In a small bowl, combine the barbeque sauce and brown sugar; blend well. Pour the glaze over the 2 meatloaves.
• Cover the baking dish and bake in the preheated oven for 60 to 90 minutes. Uncover the last 15 minutes of bake time. Let sit for 15 minutes before slicing.

ANN LANDER'S MEATLOAF

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients together except bacon and chili sauce.
• Put in loaf pan.
• Cover with bacon strips.
• Pour chili sauce over top.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

NEVER FAILS ME MEATLOAF

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375. Wash hands.
• Pulse the crackers or oats in a food processor a couple of times. You don't want to see whole oats in the end.
• In a clean bowl, mix all ingredients except meat and oats (or crackers) well. Then add ground meat and mix only as much as is needed to incorporate all ingredients. Try not to overmix because this tends to make your meatloaf mixture more dense than is necessary. Mixing gently with your hands, mix in the oats or crackers until mixture is no longer runnuy. If it is, add more crushed crackers, oatmeal and/or pasta, remembering that the pasta will absorb excess liquid only as it cooks. Important: when right, the mixture should retain a shape made by your hand. If you don't get this part right, your meatloaf will not retain its shape when cooked. If you get the mix right, it will cut nicely and likely lose a crumble or two when transfering from the pan to plate. For that reason, I do this in mini muffin pans too and they come out just right, not crumbling.
• Put mixture into a loaf pan. Pat lightly to smooth out top of loaf. Cover loaf pan with foil and put in oven. Prepare topping by mixing ketchup with the 1 tsp of brown sugar and set aside.
• After 45 minutes, carefully pour off excess grease (place something on top of loaf so it doesn't fall OR use a turkey baster to suck out the juices) and thn spread topping over meatloaf. Put back in oven, uncovered. Cook for 5 more minutes and check to see if loaf is done by using a thermometer reading. If not done, check every five minutes until done. It is done and safe to eat at 160 degrees, but you can take it out at 152 and let it rest for five minutes and the temp will rise to a safe temperature.
• I do not trust the "it's done if it aint pink no more" method because ground meat products can both look brown long before they are safe to eat and look pink long after they are actually done. A thermometer is just easier to use and safer too. So, you use your own judgment on cook time. I pulled mine out of the oven after 52 minutes of cook time and it was 161 degrees and DELICIOUS.
• If you are making mini muffins, start your initial cook time at 30 minutes and keep checking with your temp till the center of the muffins reach at least 155. Also, you still have to remove the excess grease from the pans during cooking. For that reason, when making meatloaf muffins, I put a baking sheet under the pan to catch drips.
• A word of warning: This recipe is not friendly to subbing out the pasta or the lean ground meat. If you omit the pasta, the loaf will not be moist and hold its flavor. If you use higher fat ground meat, your pasta will be cooked in grease and the loaf will be mis-shapen, swimming in grease and unappetizing. Believe me, I know -- I've tried both. When you have both ingredients, just try it as it's written and most of all:.
• Enjoy.

SIMPLE, FAILPROOF MEATLOAF

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Place all ingredients into bowl and mix with hands until all ingredients are incorporated.
• Place mixture into a 9X13 baking pan and shape into an oval, making sure there is about an inch left on all sides.
• Place into oven and bake for about an hour.

NEVER-FAIL MEATLOAF

Steps:

• Mix all of the ingredients together thoroughly, using your hands. If you prefer to use a spoon, beat the eggs slightly before adding.
• Pack into a standard loaf or form a loaf on a baking sheet.
• Top the loaf with the bacon slices.
• Bake in a preheated 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 1 hour or until done.
• Variations:.
• Replace the corn flake crumbs with any other dry cereal, cooked rice, uncooked rolled oats, or cracker crumbs. Increase the measure to 1/2 cup when using soft bread crumbs.
• Replace the sage with your favorite dry herb or herb mixture. When using fresh herbs increase the measure to 1 tablespoon.
• Add minced garlic when making meatballs.

FOOD & WINE'S NO-APOLOGIES MEATLOAF

Steps:

• In a large skillet, melt the butter over moderate heat. Add the onion, green pepper, celery, and thyme. Reduce the heat to low; cook covered, stirring one or twice, until the vegetables are very soft (about 20 minutes). Remove from heat; cool to room temperature.
• Preheat oven to 350°F In a large bowl, combine cooked vegetables and beef. Add oats, 1/3 cup ketchup, eggs, salt, and pepper; mix well. Spoon the meat mixture into a large shallow baking dish. Form the meat into a flat loaf about 2 inches high and smooth the top with the back of a spoon. Spread the remaining 1/3 cup ketchup over the loaf; arrange the bacon strips on top.
• Bake the meatloaf for 1 hour or until it is just cooked through and shows no trace of pink. (A thermometer will register 145°F in the center of the loaf). Let the meatloaf stand for about 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
• NOTES: For my large family, I double the recipe and increase cooking time to approximately 1-1/2 hours. A dash of Worcestershire sauce or Pick-A-Pepa kicks up the flavor nicely. You can also substitute turkey bacon, or omit the bacon and add a dash of liquid smoke. Using tomato paste on top of the meatloaf instead of ketchup adds a tangy flavor.

"BETTER THAN BEEF" MEATLESS MEATLOAF

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Very generously grease a loaf pan.
• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add mushrooms and 1 teaspoon kosher salt and sauté until nicely browned and juices have evaporated, about 10 minutes. Stir in onion and cook until soft, another 5 to 7 minutes.
• Add celery, tomato paste, and beef base; cook and stir until tomato paste begins to toast on the bottom of the pan, about 3 minutes. Stir in water and turn off the heat; let sit for about 3 minutes.
• Transfer mushroom mixture into a food processor. Add cooked lentils and pulse until finely chopped but not pureed.
• Transfer to a mixing bowl and add eggs, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, oregano, thyme, cayenne, ketchup, bread crumbs, oats, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Mix until thoroughly combined.
• Transfer mixture into the prepared loaf pan, then wrap with foil and place on a sheet pan.
• Bake in the center of the preheated oven until firm to the touch, about 1 hour.
• Remove the loaf from the oven and place on a wire rack. Remove the foil and place it on the baking sheet. Grease the foil with 2 teaspoons olive oil. Let the loaf sit for 10 to 15 minutes, and increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
• While the loaf is resting, make the glaze: Whisk ketchup, Dijon mustard, and brown sugar together in a small bowl.
• Invert the loaf onto the foil and spread glaze all over the surface, mostly on the top but some on the sides.
• Return to the oven and bake until the glaze is cooked on, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Carefully transfer the loaf onto a cutting board. Cut into 6 slices and serve.