Da BOMB of a mini meatloaf...

[wolfie2kX 528]

I just made what I'd say is one of the best meat loafs I've ever had.

 

Here's what I used:

 

1.) 1 lb of 80/20 ground beef - that's 80% meat, 20% fat

2.) 2 slices of really good MEATY bacon - Most commercial bacon sucks because it's mostly fat and very little, if any meat.

3.) 2 jalapenos - (or one really long one) - chopped into small bits

4.) 1 Extra Large chicken egg - beaten to within an inch of it's life.

5.) 1 Tbs of Sriracha sauce - This is a red Thia/Vietnamese chili sauce that's available in most major markets.

6.) 1 Tsp of garlic salt - or 2 cloves fresh garlic and about 1/2 Tsp of plain salt.

7.) 4 slices of plain wheat bread - no need to get super fancy - heels of the bread (the ends) are most welcome - lightly toasted and chopped up.

8.) 1/2 Tsp of black pepper - ground

9.) 1 Tbs of water - cold from the tap.

10.) enough ketchup to cover the top.

 

How to make it

 

Crack the egg into a bowl and add the water. Beat until there is no more clear stuff floating in the egg. Add the Sriracha sauce, salt and pepper to the egg and beat it a bit more until the sauce is well combined into the egg mixture.

 

Chop your Jalapenos into small pieces and add it to the egg mixture.

 

Chop the bacon into small bits and add it to the egg mixture. Now then, a quick word about bacon. I'm not a fan of the big names - mainly because most of that bacon tends to be fat. Which is good for keeping things moist, but in all fairness, I'd rather have a bit of meat on there. I found one brand that's commercially available at Smart and Final Iris - which got it's start as a restaurant supply house but it open to the public and there's no restrictions. It's called Big Buy (not exactly the catchiest name) but it's at least 75% MEAT. And it's consistently that way.

 

And the most amazing thing about it - it's about half the price of the big name brands. This puzzles me to no end given that sort of bacon is what you'd expect to find served at a 4 - 5 star hotel's kitchen...

 

Toast the bread lightly and cut it up with a knife - the smaller the bits, the better it will blend into the meat loaf. Toss it into the bowl with the egg mixture. Combine it well...

 

Allow about 5 minutes for the bread to soak up the egg and get good and soggy.

 

Carefully put the ground beef into the egg mixture, breaking it up as you go. Make sure your hands are clean - and then hand mix the egg mixture into the ground beef until it's well combined.

 

Take a 4" x 9" loaf pan and put the meatloaf mix into the bottom of the pan. Spread it evenly to cover the bottom. It should be about 1" deep - give or take.

 

Lastly, take the ketchup and squirt enough onto it to cover the entire top.

 

Preheat your oven to 350 F and when it's hot, pop the meatloaf in and bake for approximately 1 hour or until it's done.

 

Remove from the oven and allow it to cool slightly before serving.

 

Serve with mashed or baked potato.

 

Enjoy!

 

P.S. Sorry for the lack of pics - but my camera is dead and I can't take any...

[chattius 2,531]

Our kids like 'Falscher Hase' = (faked hare) most. There are boiled eggs in the meatloaf. Created in the war years when there was limited access to beef.

The family of my wife does it different to my family. We used to do a fat-netting, while my wife was used to a puff pastry. Of cause no chili and such, onions, leek, cucumbers, just what is local at the garden. The twins are still too young for the extra sharp chilies.

 

Hers ,leek and cucumber direct on the pastry not in the meat mix.

 

Mine, all mixed. Net holds it together till the mix is stiff enough then the net is fully melted.

 

Votes are splitted: wife and twins like puff pastry variant better.

[gogoblender 3,071]

lol, this is the way... mini meat loaf! I remember always begging to go over to friends' houses when they said their parents were buildling meat loaf.I just love the texture and taste (my parents were solid against it )

 

Yes Wolfie to the ketchup on top

yes Chattius to lovely chillies

 

 

gogo

[wolfie2kX 528]

How come your parents were against meatloaf? I can understand them maybe being maybe anti - Meat Loaf

 

 

But meatloaf?

[gogoblender 3,071]

heh, it was too canadian for them... too processed? For us everything was rice and curry, and my dad liked to go to the butcher store and skin the goat himself. Everytime we went over to neighbor's houses, we'd beg for just a squirt of their ketchup, or a bit of a fry... processed food tasted to weirdly wild and wonderful to us just off the boat Sri Lankan Immigrants

 

 

gogo

[wolfie2kX 528]

Too Canadian..? Meatloaf is pretty much universal in the Western hemisphere. Ketchup is a glaze of choice in the US as well...

 

It must have been a culture shock thing. That or they were just too set in their ways. I remember growing up and the stuff we had to eat was pretty much a set routine. There were a few things that were welcome - but most foreign foods were not on the menu...

[gogoblender 3,071]

heh, yeah

when we were kids, we ate zero processed foods, everything was from ethnic stores and cooked from scratch. We used to be bused home for lunches, and those lunches supplied us with heavenly delights, that were delicious and thrillingly alien to our tongue.

 

Some of our sample meals included

Hot dogs and french fries

Grilled cheese and tomato soup

Pancakes for special occasions

Canned spaghettio's

ahhh, childhood

 

 

gogo