Happy Birthday to Papa John!
One of the weirder, yet endearing things about my husband is the fact that if he goes to a fancy restaurant and they have meatloaf on the menu, he will order it. Every. Single. Time. Like a total weirdo. I’m carving my way through a juicy perfectly cooked steak. And he’s eating meatloaf. So we make quite a bit of meatloaf at home, too. Here’s another version of my classic: feel free to double it as I did and freeze one (or both) for later!
First ye grab yer meat. A lot of it. Enough for two loaves. I prefer the lean stuff – the extra lean is wayyyy more expensive and is harder to stick together.
Then ye take yer onions.
And yer mushrooms.
And ye put them in a bowl.
With a lot of other stuff: panko bread crumbs, Newfoundland savoury, oregano, salt, pepper. The works, really.
Then you chuck the meat in a bowl and add some eggs. Like, four or five.
Dump in the rest of the stuff too and give it a good stirring. Feel free to use your hands. Tip in some Worcestershire sauce as well for flavour.
When you’re ready, whisk up a concoction that’s a mix of barbecue sauce, Dijon mustard, and honey.
Spread that in the bottom of your two loaf pans.
Cram the meat on top and smooth it down. See how that sauce comes up the sides? That’ll keep it from drying out.
When you’re done, you can either cover it up and shove it in the freezer …
Or you can bake it at 350°F until it reaches an internal temperature of 160°F.
Then you eat it. Unfortunately cooked meatloaf does not photograph well. But you get the picture.
Ali Does It Herself 