Blair’s Messy Meatloaf

Ahhh meatloaf. It’s classic. It’s American. It’s comforting. Did you know that it’s been around since Medieval times? The first recorded recipe for meatloaf was in the 1870s instructing to “finely chop up whatever cold meat you have”. Back then, meatloaf was served for breakfast rather than dinner. Meatloaf was common on the American dinner table during The Great Depression because it extended protein further and could feed more people. In the 1950s, Betty Crocker featured 70 different recipes for meatloaf in one of her cookbooks. 70! You can’t help but feel a bit nostalgic when cooking meatloaf especially after reading all that. Bet ya didn’t know meatloaf had such a history!

Here’s my take on the recipe. It’s not the best looking dish. It’s a little messy, but it’s yummy!

For the meat loaf:

3-4 lb lean ground meat of your choice (I usually use beef, deer, pork or a mixture)

2 eggs

2 celery stalks diced 

1/4 cup onion diced 

1 tbsp garlic diced 

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tbsp zydeco chop chop

Few dashes of Worcestershire 

Few dashes Tobasco

1/2 cup of bread crumbs (or a dash or two more if ground meat isn’t sticking together)

Red pepper to taste 

Black pepper to taste 

1 tsp garlic powder 

1 tsp onion powder 

Salt to taste 

1/2 tsp liquid smoke 

1 15 oz can of tomato sauce 

For the topping:

1 cup ketchup 

1 tsp Tobasco

1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

1 tbsp honey 

1 tbsp brown sugar 

1. Mix all ingredients for the meat loaf EXCEPT the tomato sauce. Mix everything well using your hands.

2. Form mixture into a “loaf”. I use a casserole dish and mine always ends up resembling a big brain rather than a loaf but you get the idea… Oooooh appetizing! And just in time for Halloween ;)

3. Pour the entire can of tomato sauce over the meatloaf and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 350 for 1-1.5 hrs or until cooked through. The internal temp should be about 160 degrees F. (You may have to drain any excess juices from dish)

4. In the last thirty minutes or so, apply your topping and allow to finish baking.

5. Serve over mashed potatoes and Enjoy!

Step 1

Featuring Isla’s little hands

Step 2

See, it kinda looks like a brain….

Step 3

Step 4

Spread itttttt! (Before this step, I actually had to drain a lot of juice. I didn’t get a lean enough ground meat and it was super greasy/juicy.)

Step 5

ENJOY!