Best Ever Meat Loaf

Consulting Wikipedia, by now you've gathered that is one of my favorite 'go to' resources...
The meatloaf has European origins; minced meat loaves were cooked already in the 5th century, and were mentioned in the famous Roman cookery collection "Apicius". Meatloaf is a traditional German, Belgian and Dutch dish, and it is a cousin to the Italian meatball. American meatloaf has its origins in scrapple, a mixture of ground pork and cornmeal served by German-Americans in Pennsylvania since Colonial times. However, meatloaf in the contemporary American sense did not appear in cookbooks until the late 19th century.


In many parts of the United States, meatloaf is a popular dish. In 2007, it was voted the 7th favorite dish in the United States according to the Good Housekeeping website.

During the Great Depression, cooking meatloaf was a way to stretch the food budget for families, using an inexpensive type of meat and other ingredients as leftovers; along with spices, it was popular to add cereal grains to the meatloaf to stretch the meat. The tradition lives on with the merits of producing a lower-fat dish with superior binding and consistency.

The meatloaf is typically eaten with some kind of sauce or relish. Many of these recipes call for pasta sauce or tomato sauce to be poured over the loaf to form a crust during baking. The tomato-based sauce may be replaced with simple brown gravy or onion gravy, but the meatloaf is prepared in a similar manner. Barbecue sauce, tomato ketchup, or a mixture of both tomato ketchup and mustard may also be used. American meatloaf may be garnished with ketchup.

Another variety of meatloaf is prepared by frosting it with mashed potatoes, drizzling it with a small amount of butter, and browning in the oven.

The meatloaf is normally served warm as part of the main course, but can also be found sliced as a cold cut. Meatloaves can also be considered as a typical Midwestern comfort food, or even soul food.




BEST EVER MEAT LOAF

2 pounds ground beef
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup Ranch Chip Dip or Sour Cream
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup catsup
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 tsp. prepared mustard
1 cup catsup for top of meatloaf (or however much you wish)


Heat oven to 375 degree. Mix ground beef, eggs, ranch dip/or sour cream, bread crumbs, catsup, soup mix and mustard. Spray a cookie sheet with sides with Pam. Lay aluminum foil on sheet, spray with Pam (aids with easy clean up). Form meatloaf mixture into a ball and dump on middle of sheet. Continue molding meatloaf into a rectangle shape and flattened top. Bake uncovered until done, 45 to 50 minutes. You may need to drain the cookie sheet of juices that cook from the meat, use a baster and rid the pan of excess liquid during the cooking process. Half way through the cooking cover the entire meatloaf in a layer of catsup, being liberal with it and continue cooking.

I have often doubled this recipe and baked two loaves side by side. Cool the extra, wrap in wax paper, then aluminum foil and slip into a zip lock bag. Freeze for a quick mid-week dinner option.

Want a fast meal fix? Take a bag of small petite/baby redskin potatoes and quarter them. (After washing of course, and leave on skin). Toss them with vegetable oil to coat each and put them around the meatloaf to roast as well. If the meatloaf needs 'drained' from the cooking juices take a meat baster and remove the liquid so the potatoes have a dry sheet to roast upon.

Need a great vegetable to go with it too? Take one package of frozen lima beans and one package frozen peas, 2 tablespoons water, 1/2 tsp salt, 3 tablespoons butter and 1/4 tsp dry dill weed. Combine in a 1 quart casserole with a lid, cook for 50 minutes until tender.

Your meat, potatoes and vegetables cook in the same oven...remove and serve!