There is nothing more comforting than good old fashioned home cooking! They are the types of meals you can smell as soon as you walk in the door; they’re warm, hearty and delicious.My list of comfort foods is rather long, in fact I find most foods comforting. If I had to put them in order, meatloaf would be pretty close to the top, for so many reasons.
As a home cook, I love the simplicity of meatloaf. There is little chopping, only some basic preparation and it needs no baby sitting while baking in the oven. Meatloaf can be dressed up hundreds of ways with different flavours, or it can be prepared with love and basic humble ingredients.
When it comes to eating, I find it hard to pass up piping hot mashed potatoes alongside thick slices of just baked meatloaf dressed in gravy. It is one of the quintessential comfort foods and perfect for the cooler fall weather.
Meatloaf
Makes 1 large or 5 mini loaves
Prep time: 20 minutes
Total time: 95 minutes
2 lbs (908 g) lean ground beef
1 lb (454 g) ground mild spiced sausage
½ cup (125 mL) ground Compliments Lightly Seasoned Croutons
½ cup (125 mL) finely grated onion
½ cup (125 mL) finely grated carrot
1 pkg (40 g) onion soup mix
Salt and pepper to taste
1 large egg
¼ cup (63 mL) Compliments Ketchup
¼ cup (63 ml) brown sugar
1 tbsp (15 mL) yellow mustard
¼ cup (63 mL) Compliments Steak Sauce
- Pre-heat your oven to 350°F(177°C).
- Combine the ground beef, sausage, ground croutons, onion, carrots and soup mix in a large mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper, mix well. In a separate bowl, blend together the egg, ketchup, sugar and mustard. Add this to the meatloaf mixture and mix well without squeezing the meat.
- Pack the meatloaf into a large loaf pan to mold the shape and turn it out onto the center a parchment paper lined baking pan. Transfer to the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Glaze the meatloaf with the steak sauce and return to the oven, cooking until it reaches an internal temperature of 175°F (80°C), approximately 60 minutes.
- Let cool slightly, slice and serve with Compliments Garlic Mashed Potatoes, gravy and your favourite veggies.
Happy Comfort Cooking!
Chef Ryan Skelton
