Meatloaf

Stop the presses! This new meatloaf I just tried is better and lower carb:

Juicy Keto Meatloaf

I had three pounds of ground beef, so I upped the ingredients appropriately and used two normal size eggs (didn't have large ones).

Also gave me a chance to try out my "Dot" thermal probe, and it worked fine, sounding the alarm at 160 degrees.

Here's the original (now obsolete) recipe I hacked together:

Dump about 4 oz of breadcrumbs (I used Italian style) in a bowl and pour about 4 oz of whole milk over them to soak for a while.

Start oven heating to 350 degrees.

Tear off a piece of parchment paper that will fit in the baking dish and run up the sides. Fold the edges so it is box like (with no lid) and fits in the dish. Set the parchment paper aside for now.

Dice 1 large white onion and dump in baking dish.

Scatter 1 packet of McCormick meatloaf seasoning over it.

Dump on some Worcestershire sauce (not too much - I think I went a little overboard last time).

Scatter on some dried parsley (might need to take the shaker top off if it doesn't want to come out too fast, but don't dump too much in).

2.5 lb of hamburger is about the most that will fit in the pyrex baking dish I have. Crumble it out evenly over the pan.

Toss on some shredded cheddar cheese if you want to.

The breadcrumbs should be soaked by now, dump them over the meat.

Break in two large eggs.

Toss in a bit of ketchup and Dijon mustard if you feel like it.

Now get smushing! Mix everything up good. Rolling it up from the end and turning it 90 degrees and smushing it down again is a good technique to get things evenly distributed. The final roll should be patted into a loaf shape in the middle of the pan.

Put the parchment paper on the counter, turn the dish upside down over the paper and drop the loaf into the parchment paper (should be just sticky enough to the pyrex dish that you can center it over the paper before it comes loose).

While nothing is baked onto the dish, wipe it out with paper towels and wash off all the grease and wot-not.

Now you can pick up the parchment paper and loaf and put it back in the dish. Pat it back into shape if necessary, and make sure the parchment paper isn't stuck up the sides of the loaf.

Spread some ketchup over the top of the loaf, pop it in the 350 degree oven for 1.5 hours. It should be at 160 degrees by then if you have a thermometer to check (the one I just made said 159 - I figured that was close enough).

Now you'll have a meatloaf swimming in grease contained in the parchment paper (but sitting in an almost totally clean baking dish). I usually cut it in half and work a spatula under each half to lift it out of the grease (while trying to avoid tearing the paper) and put on a paper plate to cool a bit and drain more grease.

You can lift the parchment paper and grease out by grabbing and gathering the 4 corners and put it on a paper plate as well to go in the fridge and solidify enough to put in a plastic bag and toss in the trash. (Or refine into biodiesel or something).

Now cleanup of the pyrex dish is a breeze with just minor spatter and leakage to clean, but no crusty baked on stuff.