Ruth’s Meatloaf
This is my mom’s meatloaf recipe, with a basting practice I picked up from Joy of Cooking. The measurements are a little haphazard, but that’s the way mom gave me the recipe. You’ll want to make it your own.
Ingredients:
“Meatloaf mix”: basically, a variety of ground meats to 1.5 pounds. I use either 1 pound of pork with .5 ground beef or vice versa.
1 medium onion
Salt
Pepper
Chopped fresh Parsley or dried Parsley Flakes
Minced garlic (about 1 Tbsp)
Worcestershire (about 2 Tbsp)
Flaky cereal (about 1/2 cup after crushing)
1 cup Chicken broth, or beef broth, if you prefer
Chilli Sauce or gravy, if you prefer
Directions:
A good meatloaf needs a binder and something wet. A lot of recipes use breadcrumbs and milk, or breadcrumbs and eggs. I’ve found that I can get all the moisture I need from pulverizing an onion in a blender. And although cornflake crumbs are my absolute favorite, I’ve experimented with other cereals, and with panko breadcrumbs. There are lots of ways to assemble your meatloaf, but I’ve found this to be the fastest and easiest.
Preheat the oven to 450.
Put the cereal in a plastic bag and crunch it up until it is almost powdery. Some larger pieces are fine.
Peel and cut the onion into small quarters. I put the onion into a large bowl and pulverize it with an immersion blender, but you can also do it in the blender and add it in. Your goal is to make an almost liquid onion.
Take off your rings and wash your hands: the best way to mix meatloaf is with your hands. Add all your ingredients to the bowl: meats, onion, seasonings, cereal, and mix it thoroughly, then shaping it into a loaf.
Place in a rimmed baking pan and cover with foil, and place in the oven.
Keeping the loaf moist is the goal for this schedule: At 10 min., pour a cup of chicken broth over the loaf and recover. At 20 min., spoon broth or baste the loaf and recover. At 25 min, pour chilli sauce or gravy over the loaf and recover. At 30 min, remove the foil, baste. Baste again at 40 min. and then leave to brown until the loaf has been in the oven 50 min to an hour. Check to be sure it has cooked through (cook times vary depending on the way you shape the loaf), serve in slices. Enjoy a comfort food dinner!
My mom on the right, with my grandmother and my aunt: I learned so many great recipes from all of these ladies!