It's National Meatloaf Day Everybody!

It's Not Burnt!, originally uploaded by razzieswirl.

On October 18th, that is.

So, this is my first participation in a food blogging event! It's fitting that it's meatloaf because we love to make meatloaf at our house. Well, to be honest with you, we generally make turkey loaf. It's not the greatest texture, but I enjoy that it's lighter both in fat and for the tummy. We don't eat a lot of red meat, it's not necessarily intentional, I just didn't grow up eating a lot of meat. And Thomas grew up eating mostly frozen or canned food, so anything that isn't in one of those categories he loves!

This recipe is from The Icon in Seattle. One of my favorite restaruants. The cocktails are simply divine, and their fried mac and cheese squares are devilish! Last week I finally tried their meatloaf, something I'd been meaning to do for years. I really enjoyed it! Okay, I've drawn it out long enough, you're probably wondering what IT is? 

Bacon Wrapped Molasses Glazed Individual Meatloaves with Corn and Cilantro Mashed Potatoes and Blackstrap Gravy! Whoo, that's a mouthful. Literally! Well, suficed to say, I loved it! It was delicious, tangy, salty, a little sweet, and anything wrapped in bacon is an A+ in my book, am I right? The potatoes are equally satisfying. And the gravy is just the cherry on top. It's thick, salty and pretty darn sweet. 

A few days ago I came across National Meatloaf Day hosted by Serious Eats. I decided I wanted to re-make the Icons recipe, and as luck would have it, I came across their recipe. Thank you Fine Living Network. Although I could've come up with a very close recipe, I wanted to see how they did it. 

I suggest giving this recipe a try. There's nothing better than curling up in a comfy chair on a cold autumn day with a good rib stickin' meal. Okay, well maybe, curling up on an autumn day in a comfy chair with a rib stickin' meal while watching Twin Peaks. . . 

Delish!

Recipe: Icon Meatloaf with Blackstrap Gravy

Ingredients:

8 slices apple smoked bacon 

2 lbs. lean ground beef 

2 Tbs. ketchup 

1/4-cup mayonnaise 

2 Tbs. shallots, minced 

1/4-cup fresh bread crumbs 

2 tsp. salt 

1 tsp. Tabasco sauce 

1 cup meatloaf glaze (recipe follows)

Instructions:

Fill a large saucepan with water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Add bacon to boiling water and blanch for 30 seconds. Remove blanched bacon from water and set both bacon and water aside. 

Preheat oven to 375F. 

In a large bowl, mix ground beef with ketchup, mayonnaise, minced shallots, fresh bread crumbs, salt and Tabasco. 

Divide meatloaf mixture into four equal portions and shape each one into a football shape. Wrap each individual meatloaf with three slices of blanched bacon and place it seam-side down on a baking sheet. 

Bake meatloaves for 20 minutes. Liberally coat loaves with meatloaf glaze and bake 10 minutes more. 

Serve with sweet corn, mashed potatoes and Blackstrap Gravy.

Meatloaf Glaze and Blackstrap Gravy

Ingredients: 

3/4-cup ketchup 

1/4-cup dijon mustard 

1/4-cup brown sugar 

1/4-cup molasses 

2 tsp. whole yellow mustard seed 

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce 

1/2 tsp. Tabasco 

1 cup brown veal stock 

2 Tbs. additional molasses

Whisk together all ingredients except stock and additional molasses to make the glaze. To make the blackstrap gravy, combine 1/2-cup glaze with stock and additional molasses and heat gently in a small saucepan. 

Recipe: Corn and Cilnatro Mashed Potatoes

4 yukon gold potatoes

1 cup corn soaked in hot blanched bacon water

1/8 cup finely chopped cilantro

3 TBL butter

1/8 cup milk

Boil potatoes. Drain and add butter and milk. Mash well. Add corn and cilnatro and mash to combine. 

Enjoy!