Meatloaf -- Help!

[MUSICMAKER]

Does anyone have a good meatloaf recipe? In all honesty I can count on one hand how many times in my entire life I have made this -- always failing at it. Too dry, too moist (meaning it would fall apart to tiny pieces) -- just couldn't get it right. Stopped trying because it would go to waste. My youngest son has been wanting a "good" old American meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy dinner. The gravy he wants is the "thick" gravy, not the au ju type.

Can anyone help? TIA!!!

[bjcotton]

Here ya go Linda:

Ultimate Meatloaf
(Cuisine at home, February 2005, Issue 49, p. 7)


Makes: 2 Loaves (About 2 lb. each) Total Time: 2 Hours Rating: Intermediate


For the Meatloaf —
Combine:
3 slices white bread, torn (such as Pepperidge Farm Hearty White bread)
1 cup whole milk
3 eggs, beaten

Saute in 3 T. Unsalted Butter:
1 1/2 cups onion, minced
1 cup pureed Roma tomatoes
1/2 cup celery, minced
1 T. garlic, minced

Add to Bread:
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 T. kosher salt
2 t. black pepper

Fold in:
2 lb. ground chuck
3/4 lb. ground pork

Prepare:
Chunky BBQ Topping

For the Chuncky BBQ Topping —
Saute:
2 strips thick-sliced bacon, diced

Add:
1/2 cup onion, diced
1/2 cup green bell pepper, diced
1 T. garlic, minced

Stir in; Simmer:
1 cup Roma tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup prepared yellow mustard
2 T. red wine vinegar

Serve with:
Tomato Gravy, see online recipe

Preheat oven to 375°. Prepare two 8 x 3 3/4" disposable aluminum loaf pans as shown below and place on cooling rack set on foil-lined baking sheet.

Combine bread, milk, and eggs in a large mixing bowl; soak 20 - 30 minutes. Then, lightly mash to a paste consistency.

Saute onion, tomato puree, celery, and garlic in butter over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes; cool 5 minutes.

Add parsley, Worcestershire, salt, pepper, and the tomato mixture to the bread mixture.

Fold in ground beef and pork. Spoon meatloaf into loaf pans.

Prepare the topping — saute bacon in a skillet over medium-high heat.

Add onion, bell pepper, and garlic; saute 3 minutes.

Stir in remaining ingredients and simmer for 3 minutes. Spread mixture over the top of each loaf. Bake 1 1/4 hours, or until internal temperature reaches 160°. Remove from oven and let cool 15 minutes before serving.

Serve with Tomato Gravy and Julia's Mashed Potatoes

If you want the recipes for the Tomato Gravy and Julia's Mashed Potatoes, let me know......oh heck, I'll just post them anyway.

Chunky BBQ Topping
(Cuisine at home, February 2005, Issue 49, p. 8)


Makes: 1 1/2 Cups Total Time: 15 Minutes Rating: Easy


Saute:
2 strips thick-sliced bacon, diced

Add:
1/2 cup onion, diced
1/2 cup green bell pepper, diced
1 T. garlic, minced

Stir in; Simmer:
1 cup Roma tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup prepared yellow mustard
2 T. red wine vinegar
2 T. brown sugar
Salt to taste
1 t. Tabasco, optional

Saute bacon in a skillet over medium-high heat.

Add onion, bell pepper, and garlic; saute 3 minutes.

Stir in remaining ingredients and simmer for 3 minutes. Spread topping over meatloaf before baking.

Tomato Gravy
(Cuisine at home, February 2005, Issue 49, p. 9)


Makes: 2 1/2 Cups Total Time: 30 Minutes Rating: Easy


Saute; Deglaze with:
2 strips thick-sliced bacon, diced
1 cup onion, diced
1/2 cup dry red wine

Add and Simmer:
1 can (14 oz.) beef broth
1 1/2 cups Roma tomatoes, seeded, chopped
1/4 cup ketchup
2 T. prepared yellow mustard
2 T. brown sugar

Saute bacon in a saucepan over medium-high heat until crisp. Add onion and saute 3 minutes, or until soft. Deglaze with wine, scraping up brown bits with a spoon.

Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer until gravy is reduced to 2 1/2 cups, 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.


Julia's Mashed Potatoes
(Cuisine at home, February 2005, Issue 49, p. 15)


Makes: 5 1/2 Cups Total Time: About 30 Minutes Rating: Easy


Boil, then Drain and Dry:
2 1/2 lb. russet or Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 2" chunks

Press or Whip Potatoes; Add:
2 – 4 T. unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 – 1 cup whole milk, heated
Salt and white pepper to taste

Boil potatoes in salted water for 15 - 25 minutes or until tender when pierced. Drain, return them to the pot, and dry 1 minute.

Press potatoes through a ricer or whip with a mixer at slow to medium speed. Add butter, milk, and season to taste.


There, anything else I can do to help ?

[lxxf]

I usually buy one package of meatloaf meat (ground beef, pork, and veal) and an extra 1/2 lb or so of ground beef (you want about 2 lbs of meat). In a large mixing bowl combine one beaten egg, l/2 cup of milk and and 1/2 of bread crumbs (or cracker crumbs or whatever bread is too hard to eat) with a small diced onion and a couple of cloves of diced garlic and some diced green pepper (you can change these veggies according to what your kids will eat), add a tablespoon or so of worchestire sauce and bake at 375 for about an hour. You will need to drain it, as it has alot of fat. Conserve 2 tablespoons of the fat to make a gravy. If you cook the flour until it's nicely brown (slowly), you'll get the kind of gravy your son is looking for.

I haven't eaten ketchup since I was a child and saw a waiter lick the top of the bottle before he put the top back on.

[esgunn]

This is my husbands favorite meatloaf recipe. It is a classic type. I did make the C@H recipe once and he was not a fan.

Meat Loaf

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 6 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Freeze Main Dish
Main Dish Beef

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
2/3 cup saltine cracker -- crushed
1/2 cup onion -- chopped fine
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sage
dash pepper
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

In a large bowl beat eggs. Add milk, saltines, onion, salt, sage and
pepper. Add beef and mix well.

Press into a loaf pan. Combine remaining ingredients in a small sauce
pan. Heat to dissolve sugar.

Spread 3/4 cup over meat loaf.

Bake at 375 for 60 - 65 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Serve remaining sauce warm with the meat loaf.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

NOTES : Freezes well. Line loaf pan with saran and nonstick
spray. Freeze in pan. When frozen remove from pan and
saran wrap. Seal in Foodsaver.
To thaw remove from bag and place in loaf pan in
refrigerator.

[bjcotton]

This is the way I generally make it, but it depends on who is eating it.


* Exported from MasterCook *

Bill's Meatloaf

Recipe By :Bill Cotton
Serving Size : 6 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : A List Beef-Veal

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
3 pounds very lean beef, 7-8% (or any combination you like)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
2 stalks celery -- chopped
1 large carrot -- peeled and chopped
1 medium onion -- chopped
8 ounces mushrooms -- cleaned and sliced
3 cloves garlic or 1 1/2 Tbs garlic salt -- minced
1/2 cup milk -- more or less
1 small can waterchestnuts -- chopped
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon sage

Mix all ingredients together with your hands until just combined. Too much mixing will make the meatloaf tough. Divide into three 1 pound meatloaf pans [preferably the ones with the inserts to drain the grease] and spread catsup or tomato salsa over each.

Bake at 350° to 400°F for 30 to 45 minutes. Test with an instant read thermometer and remove when the temperature reaches your desired doneness.

Serve hot or chill for lunches.

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NOTES : All ingredient measures are approximate. I make it differently for different people. Sometimes I use 1 pound of chicken or turkey burger depending on who it's for.

[DFen911]

I find the best results are from combining meats. You can go sweeter or more savory based on the spices and what you add to it.

Mine is always a combination of beef, pork and lamb (or chicken).

Always make 2 You'll want leftovers for sandwiches!

[MUSICMAKER]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Common denominator is using the three meats -- beef, pork, veal. Think the problem I was running into was the bread/bread crumb/cracker to milk ratio. Will give this a whirl and see what turns out! Thanks all!