1770 House Meatloaf via the Barefoot Contessa

 I am not one to wax poetic about a meatloaf...but as far as meatloaves go this is a very, very, good version. This is not something I make often because my kids despise meatloaf. I am not sure why,  but they have a thing about meat...formed into a loaf...and, well... they will not eat it. They eat meatballs and hamburgers, but have an aversion for the meatloaf. My husband likes it a lot and especially loves it the next day on a sandwich.

I saw this made recently on the Barefoot Contessa show and Ina Garten declared this her favorite meatloaf, it looked good to me so I knew I had to try it. It had been a long time since we have had meatloaf and it seemed like good comfort food on a cold winter night. This makes a large meatloaf and I froze the leftovers. They froze quite nicely and the leftovers made a great sandwich. This was a very tasty, moist and light meatloaf. I will absolutely make this dish again...

1770 House Meatloaf
Adapted from the Barefoot Contessa /Food Network
6 to 8 servings
Ingredients

* 1 pound ground veal 
* 1 pound ground pork 
* 1 pound ground beef
* 1 tablespoon chopped, fresh chives, plus 1 teaspoon for the sauce
* 1 tablespoon chopped, fresh thyme leaves, plus 1 teaspoon for the sauce
* 1 tablespoon chopped, fresh Italian parsley, plus 1 teaspoon for the sauce
* 3 large eggs
* 1 1/3 cups finely ground Panko( ground with a few pulses in the food processor)
* 2/3 cup whole milk
* 1 tablespoon kosher salt
* 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
* Olive oil
* 2 stalks of celery, finely diced
* 1 large Spanish onion, finely diced
* 2 cups chicken or beef stock
* 8 to 10 cloves roasted garlic
* 3 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the veal, pork, beef, chives, thyme, parsley, eggs, Panko, milk, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl.

Heat a medium saute pan over medium-high heat and film it with extra-virgin olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the celery and onion to the pan and cook, stirring, until softened. Remove the celery and onion from the pan and let cool. When the mixture is cool, add it to the mixing bowl with the other ingredients.

Using clean hands, mix the ingredients until well combined and everything is evenly distributed. Place a piece of parchment paper on a sheet pan (it should have sides at least 1 1/2 inches high to prevent grease runoff from the pan). Place the meat on the sheet pan and pat it and punch it down to remove any air pockets. Shape the meat into a loaf (about 14 1/2 inches long by 5 inches wide by 2 inches high). Place the sheet pan in the oven and bake 40 to 50 minutes or until a meat thermometer indicates an internal temperature of 155 to 160 degrees. Remove the meatloaf from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, for the sauce, combine the broth, roasted garlic and butter over medium-high heat and simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until lightly thickened. Add 1 teaspoon of each of the chopped thyme, chives and parsley. Slice the meatloaf into serving portions and spoon the hot sauce over the meatloaf and serve.

MY NOTES:
This makes a very large "loaf" and it was not done at 50 minutes, at 350*...so I turned on my convection roast option, to 350* which is really 375*...I roasted some asparagus during the cooking time along with the meat. I used an instant read thermometer and took it out at about 165*...it was nice and brown. it took a bot more than an hour to finish in my oven. So be sure to start checking yours at 50 minutes becasue everyone's oven is different.

I had 1 3/4 pounds of ground pork, veal, and beef, which is sold in my market in three little piles of individual meats, as meatloaf mix, which I used and made up the difference with some ground chuck. It was fine.  I had this in my freezer needing to be used, so I did.


Now for the sauce...I did follow the recipe...roasted the garlic, and I used chicken stock. I put it together as the recipe stated...BUT it really did not thicken. It reduced...it tasted really great...but it was still rather like a broth. It was a golden color because of the chicken broth. At the last minute I decided to put a few drops of Gravy Master in it, and that changed the color to a darker richer one. Then I mixed a little bit of Wondra flour...maybe two shakes of the can( A Tablespoon?) into a 1/4 cup of cold chicken broth, made a slurry....then whisked that into the sauce mixture. It came out just slightly thickened and silky...I liked it much better that way than the original sauce. It had the mouthfeel of a sauce, rather than a broth.

I think the step of grinding the Panko Crumbs in the processor makes a difference in the lightness of this meatloaf, so definitely do not miss that step.