BBQ Meatloaf... Yep, That's Right

I unearthed a recipe that I had not yet shared with you, but turned out very yummy for BBQ meatloaf.  Why BBQ you ask- do you really make this on the grill?  No grill, although you could try it that way, it would be an interesting touch!  The reason it's made with BBQ sauce is simple, KETCHUP IS SICK!!!

OK, here's what you need for your meat:

• about 1/3 of a white onion
• 1/2 a green pepper
• 1 Idaho potato
• 1 little tomato (just because, remember no ketchup in this)
• basil
• oregano
• garlic powder
• Adobo seasoning
• Stone Mill Poultry Seasoning found at Aldi
• Trader Joe's Bold n Smoky KC BBQ Sauce
• hot sauce, whatever kind you like
• bread crumbs or crackers

As for the meat you choose, I guess meatloaf is usually pork and beef, I think.  I'm a believer for those who don't eat red meat, it's always ok to use ground turkey!  If I remember correctly I think we used a low fat ground beef, possibly ground sirloin, which is very low in fat.

You can begin by seasoning the meat with the powdered/dry ingredients.  For this recipe we used somewhere around a pound to a pound and a half of ground beef.  The dry ingredients for the meat are as follows: garlic, oregano, basil, poultry seasoning (good on beef too), and I know we must have put in some cracked black pepper.  The poultry seasoning contains salt so you're good there, as does hot and BBQ sauce and the crackers.  I don't like it when food accidentally becomes too salty when you don't consider all the salt in your ingredients.  Mush these into your meat and keep it refrigerated while you do the other stuff.

The other stuff you're going to do is to sauté the potato, green pepper and onion in a pan with Adobo added for a little bit of salt in veggie oil so the potatoes brown a bit- no raw potatoes here!  Of course these ingredients are roughly chopped.  At the very end of the sauté process add the chopped tomato in just to heat it up and get it going together for the flavors to do their thing.  You can add some herbs to this also.

Now the meat and veggies come together!  Your going to knead everything together with bread crumbs or crackers.  You also add in your BBQ sauce and some hot sauce to taste.  Then your creation goes into a loaf pan and then an oven around 350 until the internal temperature is 170.  During this process you can add BBQ sauce to the top of the loaf, of course in the place of ketchup.

You can do all kinds of things with meatloaf, there's a great restaurant near my house that serves a cajun meatloaf that is really good.  Here's a link to a page about some meatloaf tips:

http://homecooking.about.com/od/beef/a/meatloaftips.htm

Happy meatloafing and remember ketchup is EVIL!!!

Trader Joe's Cabernet Beef Dinner

Yes, this starts with Trader Joe's Cabernet Beef.  It's a neat little ready marinated beef roast at a great price.  You don't need to do anything to the beef roast unless you want to.  I think I may have tossed a little bit of garlic and onion powder on it, but nothing is needed unless you feel like experimenting.

You need these to go with it:

• portabella mushrooms sliced
• carrots peeled and sliced or cheat with a bag of baby ones
• white onion roughly chopped
• chopped celery
• bok choy
• Franzia box of Cabernet Sauvignon

Ok, it's been a minute since the bitchez made this, so I might be forgetting the process.  I'll try my best.  The scrap of paper with this recipe on it is scribbled with lots of typos next to a courthouse address, but we're not going to talk about that.  Anyway, there aren't any directions so here's how I think it went.

Throw your onions, celery and mushrooms in a pan with a little bit of oil to sauté them.  In doing this you have to get your box of wine and make a reduction with your box wine.  The box of wine is best because if you're entertaining friends you should have enough wine to go around.  This might have something to do with the transcription problems of the hand written recipe.

Oh, I think you're going to braise your meat in the pan, then add the onions etc. and then make your reduction.  As I remember this all ends up in a baking pan, with the reduction poured over it.  You can add potatoes to your pan, easy enough.  What you don't want to do is add the bok choy to the pan too early.  It's delicate and cooks fast so put it in towards the end of the cook time.

To cook the meat simply follow the instructions on the package.  It will be in a baking pan along with the other things you prepared on the stove top and the carrots and bok choy.  This is pretty simple, maybe a little more labor intensive because of the braising and sauté process.  It's a meal all by itself, although you could add mashed potatoes or garlic bread as a side.

Enjoy MEOW!