Meat Loaf

This recipe is adapted from the 75th Anniversary edition of Joy of Cooking. This is a great book that I turn to often. I was in the mood for meatloaf the other day , so I picked up 2 pounds of ground beef, thinking I would have all the other ingredients at home. I did not have an onion, but I had some granulated toasted onion from Penzey's so that would take care of the onion part. I changed the recipe a little, but based it on the cookbook. While eating this very tasty loaf of meat, I thought, "Hmm, sure tastes garlicky, but I did not use garlic". I promptly got up and went to the spice cabinet and found the problem. Instead of using the onion, I used dried garlic! This was not a bad thing, it actually tasted good, just a little bit of a surprise. My loaf pan has an insert for the actual loaf with holes that drain the fat into the lower section so you don't have to drain the grease off yourself.

Meat Loaf

1 lb. ground beef
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
2/3 cup BBQ sauce
2/3 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp. dried Italian herbs
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Mix the ingredients with your hands until well blended. Fill the loaf pan with the mixture, mounding the top. Bake the loaf at 350, until firm to the touch and the loaf has pulled from the sides of the pan. A thermometer inserted in the center should read 160. This takes 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.