Meatloaf 2.0

So the last time I made meatloaf, I posted it here and thought that while it was pretty good, it was distinctly underwhelming. There has to be better meatloaf. Browsing around online didn't show me anything I thought was particularly impressive, but then I looked in my Cook's Illustrated cookbook. I found one that sounded great. (They provide a recipe for a tomato-y glaze, but like me, they advise against it).

I learned that over-stirring your meat can make your meatloaf tougher. I had no idea. I have a bad habit of mixing the meat mixture after every. single. ingredient. Oops.

So this time I started by browning my onion, bell pepper and minced garlic in a little bit of coconut oil. Let that cool.

Meanwhile, mix together:

2 eggs

1/2 tsp. thyme

salt and pepper

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

few dashes of hot sauce

1/2 cup plain yogurt

2/3 cup oat bran flakes (uncooked)

When the onion mixture has cooled, add it to the egg mixture, stir thoroughly, then add 2 lbs. of ground beef and mix together gently. (The book recommends using 50% ground beef, 25% ground pork and 25% ground veal. If I ever hit the lottery I'll let you know how that is.)

Mold it into a freeform loaf shape, place on a rack over a drip pan (as seen in last post) and bake at 350 for about an hour.

Holy crap, this version isn't even that much different than my old one, but man is it a thousand times better. Much more tender!

I don't know why cabbage goes so well with meatloaf, but it just does. This is just braised in a tablespoon of butter and a little beef broth. Cover and simmer till tender.

Update: I tried this meatloaf recipe with a 2 parts beef/ 1 part ground pork mix. I hoped it would be good because ground pork is cheaper than ground beef, but I have to say I wasn't really impressed. I just made it fattier. Boo.