Bacon Blanket Meatloaf.

Bacon Blanket Meatloaf

First of all let me start out my saying I am not a huge fan of meatloaf...I'm not even a small fan of meatloaf... I don't like any meat with the term "loaf" used in it's name... although I love Meatloaf the Singer/band,  I only tried this one because it has bacon alll over it. Otherwise, I could have lived the rest of my life without eating meatloaf. 

 Having said that, this recipe will not let you down. It has bacon in it, so how could bacon let anyone down??  It's is packed with herbs, it's moist and the tomato glaze is sweet and spicy and tangy like it should be and not some drizzle of plain old ketchup on top as an afterthought.

Ingredients

For the meatloaf

4 eggs, beaten

1 cup panko bread crumbs

1 cup milk

3 lbs ground beef, i used 80/20

pound of THIN bacon 

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/3 cup minced parsley

1/4 cup sweet basil finely chopped

1 sprig of rosemary stripped and minced

a sprinkle of cayenne pepper (optional)

1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

sprinkle of Herbs de Provance

pepper to taste

 salt to taste 

 1&1/2 cups Ketchup.. maybe 2..

1/2 -3/4 cup brown sugar

dry mustard (optional)

Tabasco to taste.. I like mine spicy.. so I added several splashes.. 

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 Start by gathering your ingredients and preheating the oven to 375

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In a small bowl beat all 4 eggs and set aside

 Next, in a large bowl take your panko bread crumbs and mix with milk,  let rest til the bread crumbs are all soaked. 

Then add (to your bowl of soaked breadcrumbs) your Parm cheese, parsley, basil, rosemary, cayenne pepper, garlic powder,onion powder, herbs de provance, pepper and salt and eggs mix thoroughly and set aside.

   Spicy Tomato Glaze

 Mix together the ketchup, brown sugar, dry mustard and tabasco.. Give it a taste. Make sure it has the level of sweet and spicy you desire.. set aside.

 Next take your large bowl filled with panko and the rest of the ingredients, to that add 3 pounds of ground beef, glove up and dig in with your hands to mix! Making sure that everything is completely mixed.

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Place your mixture on a broiling pan allowing the meatloaf to drip and not be greasy. Form it into the a meatloaf.. mine ended up being about 2 inches thick.. give or take a little.

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Then apply your blanket of bacon..

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Then pour about half the Tomato Glaze over the top and spread. I sprinkled a generous amount of pepper on it.

 Place in 375 degree oven fr about 60-90 minz...the time really depends on how thick you make your loaf. just dont over cook it. I baked mine til my thermometer read 160. about 15 or 20 minutes before it's finished ... carefully remove from oven and spread the remaining glaze over the meatloaf..or, you can heat it to simmering in a small pan and spoon it over slices.. I chose to add a second layer as opposed to adding it to slices.

  

TADA!!!

 In addition to the main dish, I baked potatoes in the same oven .. they are very cool  sliced baked potatoes  Saw this on Facebook and decided to give it a try. 

So Take your potatoes,, I used russet,, wash them and set them on your pan lined with foil.

 then take each potato and slice shortways about 3/4 thru to the bottom.. do not slice thru.. dont be surprised if you do slice thru on the ends a couple of times.. not that i'd know anything about slicing thru.. hahahaha

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drizzle a little olive oil over them.. 

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 let bake til tender and yummy

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and serve with garlic butter drizzled over them 

YUUUUM!   

Garlic Butter

5 Tbsp butter, melted

1 med clove garlic minced well

flat leaf parsley finely shopped

1/8 cup grated parm cheese

 generous sprinkle of ground paprika

few sprinkles of black pepper

touch of kosher salt or sea salt.. avoid table salt.

Place in small bowl and mix together, drizzle over whatever food you choose.. or place in fridge to slightly harden so you can spread it on bread or rolls. 

 Happy cooking!