Dad's Meatloaf

So my dad is pretty awesome. He's one of those people who was meant to be a parent and just did a really great job raising us (obviously, right?). One of his many talents is cooking. We could have 3 food items in the house and he'd whip up a wonderful meal, and only dirty one dish in the process! My skills are nowhere near his but since I'm an adult now and have to make my own meals I figured I'd take a stab at one of my favorites, his meatloaf.

I tried making a recipe once called "Dad's Meatloaf" and it tasted nothing like my dad's. I should have stopped when it said to add tomatoes but I pressed on and was sorely disappointed. I should have just asked my dad for his recipe so a few weeks ago that's exactly what I did (via text of course cuz my dad's hip like that). I finally got around to making it tonight and it tasted pretty darn close to the real thing which tastes pretty fantastic if you've never tried my dad's meatloaf.

I started with the basic meatloaf recipe from Quaker Oats but also included brown sugar, Lipton Soup Mix, and bacon per my dad's text.

Ingredients

1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef or turkey
3/4 cup Quaker® Oats(quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup catsup
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce or soy auce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 package Lipton Soup Mix

1/4 cup brown sugar

enough bacon strips to cover loaf

I ended up doubling the recipe so pretend there is an extra egg in the picture above. Since my dad doesn't measure anything I had to guess at the amounts for the brown sugar and soup mix and think that I'll use a whole packet of soup mix and 1/8 cup of brown sugar next time (for recipe as shown, not doubled). Also I would cut the onions back to 1/2 cup or less in the future. 

Preparation

Heat oven to 350°F. Combine all ingredients in large bowl; mix lightly but thoroughly. Shape meatloaf mixture into 10x6-inch loaf on rack of broiler pan.

I don't have a broiler pan and my attempt at using a wire rack was pretty abysmal so I just used a metal pan. Mike helped me mix the ingredients and shape the loaf:

Then I draped bacon strips over the entire loaf and tucked the overlap underneath. I combined 1/2 cup of ketchup with 1/2 cup of brown sugar and  spread that over the top. I think I'll put the glaze on first, then the bacon next time because I removed the bacon and with that came the glaze. I suppose if you are planning to eat the bacon and not just use it for flavor then problem solved!

Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until meatloaf is to medium doneness (160°F for beef, 170°F for turkey), until not pink in center and juices show no pink color. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing. Cover and refrigerate leftovers promptly and use within 2 days, or wrap airtight and freeze up to 3 months.

 For the double loaf it took about an hour and 20 minutes to reach 160 degrees. Mike helped me move it to another pan to cool while I prepared the rest of the meal. We got that trick from his mom who said that if it cools in the same pan it will soak up all the fat that dripped off.

 The end result isn't all that beautiful to look at but boy did it taste good! I steamed some broccoli and made rice pilaf to go with it.

 If I made you drool, please consider donating a few dollars to support the Center for Assault Treatment Services which helps children and adults who are victims of sexual assault: http://www.crowdrise.com/crystalarrieta