What an honor. And thank you for something so compassionate.
My wife has a sweet and tangy cucumber & onion salad that is fantastic but it is in her head. I'll see if she can make it this week so I can write it down.
All the recipes I have for meatloaf are adapted from ones I've found online or in cookbooks. I hope someone steps up and adds their family favorite. The one's below all smoke up nicely and have a wide variety of flavor profiles. We tend to like ones that we can use Ketchup on, not gravy, but I'll skip the toppings at times and make a beef gravy on the ones that don't have the Italian or Cajun seasonings. Hard to pick a favorite because I like them all, including a copycat recipe of Claim Jumper's meatloaf.
Here are four of my recipes. This first two are pretty straight forward. The last two are different but delicious.
Ray's Meatloaf
I was inspired by the recipe in the link, but adapted it to my own tastes.
I
ngredients
1 Tbs butter
1/2 cup minced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced, or 1 heaping tsp of chopped garlic in the jar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 lbs ground beef
1 1/2 cups Herb-seasoned stuffing mix crushed
7 buttery round crackers, crushed
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 1/2 Tbs sour cream
1 1/2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce, divided
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 tsp basil, dried
1 tsp oregano leaves, crushed
1 Tbs sugar
Directions
1. Preheat oven (smoker) to 350 degrees F.
2. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat, and cook the onion and garlic 5 minutes, until onion is tender. Remove from heat, and season with the salt and pepper.
3. Put the stuffing and the crackers in a bowl and crush to break up large pieces, or pulse in a food processor for the same result.
4. In a large bowl, mix the onion and garlic, beef, crumbled bread, crushed crackers, egg, sour cream, Worcestershire sauce, and 1/2 can tomato sauce. Mix with hands until mixture is combined. The meat should be moist but not soggy. Transfer the mixture to a 5x9 inch loaf pan, or an 8x12 cake pan (Costco sells fresh-made salads, burritos, enchiladas, etc in nice aluminum 8x12 cake pans. We save them and use them for meatloaf!).
5. Topping follows: If smoking, do not add the topping until the meatloaf has been in the smoker for 30 minutes. If making in the oven, you can add the topping right away.
6. Combined the remaining tomato sauce, tomato paste, basil, oregano, and sugar in a bowl then spread over the top of the meatloaf.
7. Bake uncovered in the preheated oven 60 minutes. Check for an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Add additional baking time to reach the desired temperature.
Source
Author: sillyliltracy
Web Page:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/the-best-meatloaf-ive-ever-made/
Claim Jumper Copycat Meatloaf
Ingredients
2 tsp vegetable oil
⅔ cup onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup red bell pepper, minced
1 carrot, grated
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
2 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp onion powder
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork
1 cup breadcrumbs (Italian seasoned)
½ cup flour
½ cup ketchup
Instructions
1. Preheat oven (or smoker) to 350 degrees.
2. Saute onion, garlic, red pepper and carrot in oil over medium heat until they become soft. In a medium-sized bowl combine eggs with milk, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. In a separate, large bowl, mix breadcrumbs and flour into the beef and pork with your hands.
3. Add egg and milk mixture, sauteed veggies, ketchup and mix it up with your hands. Press the mixture into a meatloaf pan or a large loaf pan. Bake for 30 minutes, then spread ketchup over the top of the loaf, then bake for another hour or until the IT is 165F.
4. Let it sit for a few minutes, then slice and serve!
Source
Source: Recipe by Favorite Family Recipes
Web Page:
http://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/version-claim-jumper-meatloaf.html
Ray's Italian Meatball Meatloaf
Okay, here's the back story on this recipe. The girls were visiting and I intended to make the Italian Sausage Meatloaf. I went to the store, saw New York Sausage Company on a package of ground pork and thought I was getting lean Italian sausage. Nope. It was just lean ground pork. Okay, time to improvise. The recipe below is what evolved and it is friggin' fantastic! The recipe makes fantastic meatballs too.
Ingredients
1/2 large sweet onion finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced, or 1 heaping tsp of chopped garlic in the jar
1 Tbs salt
1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups Herb-seasoned stuffing mix crushed
14 buttery round crackers, crushed
1 cup Italian 3 cheese blend grated cheese (Parmesan, Asiago, and Romano)
1 XLg egg
3 1/2 Tbs sour cream
1 1/2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 cup red table wine (can add more if too dry)
1 15.5 oz can diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning and juice, juice only in meat, tomatoes in topping
1 Tbs basil, dried
1 tsp Cayenne pepper
1 tsp fennel seed
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp oregano
1 lb ground beef 7-10% fat
1 lb ground pork, lean
1 lb lean ground turkey with Italian spices.
Topping
Canned tomatoes from above.
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 Tbs sugar
Directions
1. Put all the ingredients and spices in the order showns in a KitchenAid bowl except the tomato products. Open the can of tomatoes and drain the juice into the mixing bowl. Once thoroughly drained into the bowl, set the tomatoes aside.
2. Turn the KitchenAid on low with the flat beater and let run for 5-10 minutes until all ingredients are well blended. Then dump the bowl into a 9x13 aluminum roasting pan and shape the loaf so it is about 2" thick and almost touching the sides, but not quite, leaving about 1/2" space.
3. Combined the tomatoes, tomato paste, and sugar in a bowl then spread over the top of the meatloaf.
4. Heat smoker or oven to 350 degrees F using any wood you desire.
5. Smoke or bake uncovered 60-90 minutes. Check for an internal temperature of 165 degrees F at one hour. Add additional baking time to reach the required temperature.
Ray's Creole Meatloaf
It is simple and has no need for gravy. You can whip it up in no time.
Ingredients
1 lb ground beef 7-10% fat
1 lb ground pork, lean
1 lb lean ground turkey with Italian spices.
3 XLg eggs
2 Tbs Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning
2 cups Herb-seasoned stuffing mix crushed
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup Ceasar salad dressing, bottled
1 15.5 oz can diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning and juice
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
Directions
1. Put all the ingredients and spices in a KitchenAid bowl except the tomato products.
2. Turn the KitchenAid on low with the flat beater and let run just until all ingredients are well blended. Then dump the bowl into a 9x13 aluminum roasting pan and shape the loaf so it is about 2" thick and almost touching the sides, but not quite, leaving about 1/2" space.
3. Combined the tomatoes and tomato paste in a bowl then spread over the top of the meatloaf.
4. Heat smoker or oven to 350 degrees F using any wood you desire.
5. Smoke or bake uncovered 60-90 minutes. Check for an internal temperature of 165 degrees F at one hour. Add additional baking time to reach the desired temperature.