Meatloaf with stuff...

Happy Friday the 13th!  I hope luck was on your side today.

The other day I was looking around the kitchen, trying to figure out what I wanted to make for dinner.  I wanted to do something that we don't normally do that I had all the stuff for.  I didn't want to do the same old thing, so I decided on the easy, yet different, meatloaf.

Because it's not something that I've made in a while, I looked up a couple basic recipes to make sure I wasn't forgetting something important.  So my base recipe was found here, but what I ended up making was only loosely based on that recipe...

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds ground beef (because it was packed in 1 pound portions)
• 2 eggs
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic (because it seemed like a good idea)
• 1 cup milk
• approximately 3 pieces of bread, torn (works better than crumbs)
• 3 small red potatoes, diced (because I needed to use them up)
• Spices... I used toasted cumin, chipotle ground, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper

Topping:

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons ketchup
• 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
• 2 tablespoons grainy, spicy mustard
• ground chipotle

The "Sort of" Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)

2. Soak torn bread in milk.

3. Saute diced onions, chopped (or grated) garlic and diced potatoes until potatoes are almost fully cooked and onions are soft.  Let cool to handling temperature.  (During a bit of research I did into adding potatoes to the meatloaf, I saw that a lot of people boiled their diced potatoes... I chose to saute because I didn't want to mash the potatoes during the mixing process)

4. In a large bowl, combine the meatloaf ingredients.  Take off the rings and just dig in.  It's much more efficient that way.

5. Once mixed thoroughly, I usually cook up a small amount to test the seasoning.  Let's face it... it's a little hard to adjust after the loaf is cooked.  Adjust the seasoning if needed, then form the meat mixture into a 5x9 loaf pan.  You can also create a free form loaf in a 9x13 pan.  Some people prefer this because you can get more of those crispier edges.

6. Mix topping ingredients together and taste test that.  If all is well (the flavors will meld more, the more time you let the mixture sit), then spread over the top of the loaf.

7. Bake at 350 degrees F for at least an hour.  I think mine went for an hour and a half.  I use an in-oven meat thermometer so I don't under cook things like this.  When it's done, remove from oven (carefully) and serve it up with what ever you choose.  I picked mashed potatoes and asparagus.  The mashed potatoes were from a mix because I cheated.  The asparagus I sauteed with a little olive oil and salt.

All in all, dinner was a success.  My husband enjoyed it.  The meatloaf was super moist because of the milk soaked bread.  The topping added just enough sweetness and spice without being overpowering.  And the diced potatoes worked out really well actually.  It was a nice texture addition, and they weren't mushy.

If you try this, or make your own variation of it, let me know how it comes out.

Thanks and happy eating!