This is a recipe from my cookbook, and I’m sharing it here because I love it.
I’m tired of meatloaf getting a bad rap. Tired of it, I tell you!
Within the pages of my cookbook, I proposed that people’s perception of meatloaf became permanently skewed when a certain disheveled rock singer burst on the scene back in the seventies…but after much consideration, I’ve decided that it’s actually the word “loaf” that has contributed the most to meatloaf being such a maligned food.
You didn’t know my cookbook delved into such anthropological and sociological issues, did you?
Don’t worry. I didn’t, either.
So open your minds for a moment. Pretend the title of this dish does not contain the word “loaf.” Focus, instead, on the simplicity of the ingredients: a beautiful meat mixture bound together with bread and eggs and made delicious with Parmesan and seasonings. Focus, instead, on the fact that the meat mixture is wrapped lovingly in a blanket of thin, flavorful bacon, and topped with a tangy-sweet sauce that pulls it all together in perfect harmony.
See? That’s all meatloaf is.
Oops. I said “loaf.” Shoot! I forgot.
It’s like in the movie “Somewhere in Time” where Christopher Reeve (rest his soul) is blissfully living in they year 1912, then discovers the 1979 penny in his pocket and is suddenly and violently sucked back to present day. I hate it when that happens!
And now. For the recipe.
I know this is a really weird photo, but I’m a really weird person so it fits. Begin by throwing six slices of regular white bread (I’m talking sandwich bread, folks) into a bowl. Pour the milk over the bread and let it soak in.
Grody, I realize, but bear with me.
And you can use crusty artisan bread if you want to. But I honestly love the comfort food nature of the soft, white stuff.
Into a large bowl, throw the ground beef, Parmesan cheese, and chopped parsley.
I used Parmigiano Reggiano.
But you don’t have to.
Throw the soaked bread into the bowl, along with some eggs. Add salt, and lots and lots of freshly ground black pepper. And you can add some finely minced garlic if you’d like!
But you don’t have to.
Scrub your hands with soap and water, scour them with an SOS pad, hold them under a bacteria-destroying UV light, and dip them in antiseptic solution (okay, just soap and water will do) and knead the mixture together.
When it’s all mixed together, form the mixture into a (I’m going to say it) loaf shape on top of a broiler/drip pan.
Next, drape slices of bacon over the top, tucking them underneath the meatloaf and overlapping pieces as you go along.
Note: It’s important to use thin bacon here! The thinner the better.
Keep going until the meatloaf is totally covered.
And now comes my favorite part. Throw some ketchup into a bowl.
Add brown sugar and dry mustard.
Then add as much Tabasco as you’d like.
Pour a third of the sauce over the top and spread it to cover the bacon, then bake the meatloaf for 45 minutes. After that time, pull the pan out of the oven and spread another third of the sauce over the top. Return it to the oven for fifteen minutes or so.
These photos don’t show it because I took them back when I was even more of an amateur photographer than I am now, but the sauce is truly bright red. There are some meatloaf recipes that have more of a canned tomato-based sauce, and those can be delicious, too. But to me, a ketchup-based sauce is what makes meatloaf truly…meatloaf.
And that’s it! I know it doesn’t look it, but what you have here is a comfort food like no other—a scrumptious delight through and through. And you’ll notice the edges are nice and brown; that’s the way I like it, baby. It increases the flavor of things, and also indicates that the inside of the meatloaf has been adequately cooked.
Pink meatloaf = No, no, no, no, no, no, no
So here’s what you do: Slice it up and serve it with the remaining third of the sauce, which can be used for dipping.
Serve the meatloaf next to mashed potatoes. Buttered egg noodles. Or better yet—gulp—cheese grits! There’s nothing better on earth.
And the next day, make meatloaf sandwiches with the leftovers.
You’ll wonder where leftover meatloaf has been all your life.
(Food affects me very deeply. Can you tell?)
Enjoy this, my friends! If you’re on the fence about meatloaf, or even if you’ve written it off entirely as something you’d never, ever try, give this a shot. Consider it adventure eating, like huitlacoche. Or calf nuts.
Enjoy!
