I love chicken. Hubby loves beef. My son loves either one. I try to make dishes that alternate between chicken, beef, pork and have a meatless dish every week. While a chicken dish trumps a ground beef dish for me any day of the week, I am learning to make some pretty good beef dishes, and this one is no exception.
My mother in law is the master of meatloaf. Her secret recipe? The one on the Lipton onion soup packets. I made her recipe for years and even put it in the crock pot, which resulted in a moist tender meat loaf with absolutely no crust. Hubby likes to put ketchup on top, which sits there like a blob...of...well....ketchup.
I did not want to be dependent on the "soup packets" and found this recipe you are about to see.
This is a definite winner in our family and far surpasses the traditional meatloaf we have been eating for years. Why? It's a great combination of ground beef, sausage, and oh, the glaze.....let me tell you about the glaze. A tomato-ey blend of tangy sweetness that has a slight kick. You know how the frosting makes the cake? In this case, the glaze makes the meat!
Similar to my Marvelous Meatballs recipe, this starts with milk and crackers that are blended...
Ground beef and sausage are added and blended well.
So far, so good!
Everything is put into a large bowl: sauteed onions, garlic, eggs, and seasonings. Your hands can be your best mixing tools, but I can't stand handling raw meat.
Hooray for disposable gloves!!
After mixing, the mass is shaped into a loaf of uniform height...
and stuck under the broiler for about 5 minutes. This will give it a crust for the glaze to adhere to.
2 tablespoons of glaze are brushed on the top and put back under the broiler for 2 minutes.
The meatloaf is baked for about 45 minutes, removed, tented with foil for 20 minutes to finish cooking and get all juicy inside. Ooooooh.....looking good!
Cut yourself a thick slice and dip each bite into the best part. The glaze.
Next time, I will make smaller mini loaves and coat each one of them with this marvelous concoction!
Glazed Meatloaf
(full page printable recipe)