Never The Same Twice Meatloaf Recipes

TWICE COOKED TURKEY MEATLOAF

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Mix all of the ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl, reserving 1/2 cup of sun-dried tomato puree. Form the mixture into a loaf and transfer it to a baking dish. Cover and bake until the internal temperature registers 165 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, about 1 hour. Remove the baking dish from the oven. Spread the reserved puree on top, then return it to the oven, and bake uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes.
• When ready to serve, heat up a little oil from the sun-dried tomatoes in a nonstick skillet or griddle. Cut the meatloaf into about 1-inch slices and add to the skillet. Crisp on both sides for an extra layer of texture.

CLASSIC MEATLOAF

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Place bread in food processor; pulse until fine crumbs form. Transfer to a small bowl; stir in milk. Set aside, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine beef, pork, onion, garlic, egg, 1/4 cup ketchup, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add bread-milk mixture, and mix very gently with a fork (do not overmix).
• Place meat mixture on prepared baking sheet, and form into a loaf about 9 inches long and 4 to 5 inches wide.
• Bake, brushing twice with remaining 1/4 cup ketchup during baking, until an instant-read thermometer registers 160 degrees, 45 to 55 minutes. Let meatloaf rest 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

NEVER FAILS ME MEATLOAF

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375. Wash hands.
• Pulse the crackers or oats in a food processor a couple of times. You don't want to see whole oats in the end.
• In a clean bowl, mix all ingredients except meat and oats (or crackers) well. Then add ground meat and mix only as much as is needed to incorporate all ingredients. Try not to overmix because this tends to make your meatloaf mixture more dense than is necessary. Mixing gently with your hands, mix in the oats or crackers until mixture is no longer runnuy. If it is, add more crushed crackers, oatmeal and/or pasta, remembering that the pasta will absorb excess liquid only as it cooks. Important: when right, the mixture should retain a shape made by your hand. If you don't get this part right, your meatloaf will not retain its shape when cooked. If you get the mix right, it will cut nicely and likely lose a crumble or two when transfering from the pan to plate. For that reason, I do this in mini muffin pans too and they come out just right, not crumbling.
• Put mixture into a loaf pan. Pat lightly to smooth out top of loaf. Cover loaf pan with foil and put in oven. Prepare topping by mixing ketchup with the 1 tsp of brown sugar and set aside.
• After 45 minutes, carefully pour off excess grease (place something on top of loaf so it doesn't fall OR use a turkey baster to suck out the juices) and thn spread topping over meatloaf. Put back in oven, uncovered. Cook for 5 more minutes and check to see if loaf is done by using a thermometer reading. If not done, check every five minutes until done. It is done and safe to eat at 160 degrees, but you can take it out at 152 and let it rest for five minutes and the temp will rise to a safe temperature.
• I do not trust the "it's done if it aint pink no more" method because ground meat products can both look brown long before they are safe to eat and look pink long after they are actually done. A thermometer is just easier to use and safer too. So, you use your own judgment on cook time. I pulled mine out of the oven after 52 minutes of cook time and it was 161 degrees and DELICIOUS.
• If you are making mini muffins, start your initial cook time at 30 minutes and keep checking with your temp till the center of the muffins reach at least 155. Also, you still have to remove the excess grease from the pans during cooking. For that reason, when making meatloaf muffins, I put a baking sheet under the pan to catch drips.
• A word of warning: This recipe is not friendly to subbing out the pasta or the lean ground meat. If you omit the pasta, the loaf will not be moist and hold its flavor. If you use higher fat ground meat, your pasta will be cooked in grease and the loaf will be mis-shapen, swimming in grease and unappetizing. Believe me, I know -- I've tried both. When you have both ingredients, just try it as it's written and most of all:.
• Enjoy.

DOUBLE MEAT LOAF

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. Crumble beef and sausage over mixture and mix well. Pat into two greased 8x4-in. loaf pans. Top with tomato sauce. , Bake, uncovered, 55-60 minutes until no pink remains and a thermometer reads 160°. Freeze option:Cover and freeze one uncooked meat loaf for up to 3 months. To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight. Unwrap meat loaf; reheat on a greased shallow baking pan in a preheated 350° oven until heated through and a thermometer inserted in center reads 165°.

NEVER-THE-SAME-TWICE MEATLOAF

Steps:

• Soak slices of bread in chutney until soft and combine with remaining ingredients.
• Mix well, and place in a meatloaf pan.
• Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes.
• Remove from oven and, with the back of a teaspoon, make a shallow ôtrenchö, lengthwise, on top of the meatloaf, and fill the 'trench' with barbecue sauce.
• Return to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes.