Fall Cuisine

My favorite food time of year is switching recipes...whether it is winter to summer or summer to winter, I like the change up. BUT! I have to say, when it's cool enough to start having meat loaf again, I'm all for it! So, here's my favorite meat loaf recipe, as seen on Good Eats and modified by me.

MARVELOUS MEATLOAF!
GLAZE: About 1/2 cup ketchup, 1/2 tablespoon cumin, 1-2 shots worcestorshire sauce, 1 shot hot sauce, 2 squeezes honey. Mix and let sit until the loaf has been in the oven about 20 minutes, then spread like frosting on a cake.

STEP 1: In a blender mix 1 6oz bag croutons, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 tsp chili powder, and 1 tsp thyme. Dump in bottom of large bowl.

STEP 2: In same blender mix about 10 baby carrots, 1/2 an onion, and 2 heaping tsp minced garlic. You can also put in red/green peppers if you have em.

STEP 3: Put meat (1-2 pounds groundbeef or use 1/2 beef, 1/2 ground turkey) on top of crouton mixture and salt the top of it. Dump vegie mixture on top of that. Add one egg, wash your hands if you haven't already, and mix it all together the good old fashioned way. When it's all combined, put into a loaf pan, then loosen the sides and dump it into the middle of a baking sheet. This way you get lots of yummy crusty stuff and plenty of room for sauce. Don't forget to put the glaze on! It would also be good to double the glaze, put 1/2 on the meatloaf and heat the other half to serve with the final product.

BAKE: 350 oven for 1-1/2 hours. I always bake potatoes with this and it smells SOOO good, you won't be able to stand it. Place meatloaf on a pretty plate and soak the pan so it won't be too hard to clean up later. Enjoy!