Glazed Meatloaf Recipe

My sister Sally gave Anna and I a fantastic meatloaf recipe as part of a collection of recipes she gave us for a wedding gift. I have since "tweaked" it to make it easier to prepare and to add a few more flavors to it. The result is something that Anna and I really enjoy and that our guests for Easter this year simply raved over. What really sets this meatloaf apart from so many others is the glaze. It's amazing!


















Ingredients:

Glaze

• 1 cup ketchup


• ⅔ cup brown sugar


• 1 tablespoon lemon juice


• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar


• 2 teaspoons dry mustard

Meatloaf

• 1 pound lean ground beef


• 1 pound ground Italian sausage


• 1 cup Italian bread crumbs


• 1 envelope Lipton's Beefy Onion soup mix


• 1 tablespoon minced garlic


• 1 egg, beaten


• 3 tablespoons lemon juice


• ¼ cup of the above glaze mixture

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).


2. In a medium bowl, combine ketchup, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, dry mustard, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice until smooth.


3. In a large bowl, combine ground beef, ground Italian sausage, bread crumbs, beefy onion soup mix, egg, minced garlic, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, and ¼ cup of the glaze mixture until well mixed. Form into a loaf and place in a 9x5 inch loaf pan.


4. Bake 1 hour. Pour off fat. Pour half of the remaining glaze mixture over loaf. Bake 10 minutes more.


5. Slice loaf into eighths, and serve. Use remaining glaze mixture to drizzle on meatloaf slices or to dip slices into while eating.

Tips:

• Draining the fat from the hot pan can be difficult. An alternative that I frequently use is to line the bottom of the loaf pan with four slices of sandwich bread in two layers (two slices side by side, topped with another two slices side by side) before placing the raw meatloaf in it. These bread slices then absorb the fat that normally has to be drained. The fat-soaked bread can then be removed and discarded from each slice of meatloaf as you take it out of the pan.


• For a healthier meatloaf, substitute lean ground turkey for the ground beef and lean ground Italian turkey sausage for the sausage. Anna and I can't even tell any difference in taste and it cuts out a ton of the fat.


• Anna and I usually serve this with mashed sweet potatoes (we use Ore-Ida Steam n' Mash) along with either a green salad or steamed asparagus. They all go great together.

Baked Beans Recipe

Because this is my umpteenth attempt at blogging, I decided I would start out slow and easy by simply posting a recipe I've developed that's been a huge hit at several BBQ and potluck events. It's taken lots of trial and error but the final recipe is fantastic!



Ingredients:

• 1 can (28 oz.) Bush's Best Original Baked Beans


• ½ lb. bacon


• 3 tbsp. light brown sugar


• 2 tbsp. molasses
  
• 2 tsp. ground (dry) mustard


• cayenne pepper, to taste (see below)

Directions:

1. Fry or bake bacon to desired crispiness, drain grease, and pat dry with paper towels. Then break into ¼ in. to ½ in. pieces and set aside.


2. Place a bowl under a colander and dump the can of beans into it, making sure to catch all the liquid from the can in the bowl.


3. Place the drained beans into a slow cooker (crock-pot) and add back in half the liquid from the bowl. Discard the other half of the liquid.


4. Add the bacon pieces, molasses, brown sugar, and mustard into the bean mixture, stirring gently (be careful not to smash the beans).


5. If you ...
   
   • don't mind a little spice but aren't a big fan either, add a pinch (less than ⅛ tsp.) of cayenne pepper
   
   
   • enjoy a fair amount of spice, add a dash (between ⅛ and ¼ tsp.) of cayenne pepper
   
   
   • are a spice whore (like me!), add as much cayenne as you dare (minimum ½ tsp.)
   
   
   • cannot even tolerate the least bit of spicy heat, omit cayenne pepper altogether (wuss!).


6. Set the slow-cooker to high for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. When fully heated through, set the slow cooker to warm or low and serve.