It’s probably pretty brazen of me to claim my meatloaf as “the very best,” but it’s just hard to be humble sometimes, dang it. This is another one of those times when you’ll just have to trust me. You do trust me, don’t you?
So the other morning I traipsed myself on down to our little farmers’ market that gathers on the courthouse sidewalk (I really need to do a story about it, don’t I?) to see what might remain after the early birders had feasted. I mean. I love me some local farmers’ markets, but I really would prefer that they started ‘em later in the day. I get up early but I just don’t get around early if you know what I mean.
There was okra. I didn’t need that since my plants have suddenly decided to be very prolific. There were tomatoes, but they were foreigners. I don’t buy “foreign” tomatoes. Either they’re local or they’re not going in my basket. Plus, my Cherokee Purples and Golden Jubilees are coming on strong these days. What remained though and what I grabbed as quickly as I could, were some purple hull peas. Oh yeah! I do love me some purple hulls. You can have my share of black-eyed peas, but keep your chubby little fingers off my purple hulls! And don’t write me some cutesy little comment telling me that there’s no difference. God and I know better!
You’re probably asking yourself right about now what purple hull peas have to do with TVBM. Well, IMO (I’m learning the hip language – or at least I’m trying.) if you have PHP, you gotta’ have meatloaf. You can keep your mashed potatoes (well, maybe not all of them), but me, I want peas with my meatloaf.
So there you have it. That’s the whole summation behind why I just happened to scribble in TVBM on last week’s menu board (You do have a menu board, don’t you?)
The Very Best Meatloaf (ever!)
Notes
Serve it up with some of those fresh purple hull peas – and some mashed potatoes if you want --- you’re in blue plate heaven!
See that frosted cauliflower sneaking in the photo? I’ll be telling you about that soon. Ya’ll come on back, ya’ hear
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 pounds lean ground beef (85-15)
- 3/4 pound ground Italian sausage
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
- 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
- 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh marjoram
- 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme (Substitute 1/2 teaspoon dried if you cannot possibly use fresh.)
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 pound hickory-smoked bacon
- 1 12-ounce bottle Heinz Chili Sauce (do not substitute)
Instructions
- Sauté onion, celery, bell peppers and garlic in the 1 Tablespoon of olive oil until tender; set aside to cool.
- Mix eggs, milk, salt, pepper, oregano, marjoram, thyme and parsley together in a large bowl.
- Add in ground beef, ground sausage, and sautéed vegetables. Sprinkle breadcrumbs over all.
- Mix together well, but do not over mix or you will end up with tough meatloaf.
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place a wire cake rack on the foil-lined pan and cover it with aluminum foil as well. Punch holes in the foil on the wire rack. (You won’t believe that you EVER made meatloaf in a loaf pan after cooking yours this way. Trust me.)
- Form the meatloaf mixture into an oblong loaf on the wire rack.
- Cover the top and sides of the loaf with a single layer of bacon strips.
- Baste with a thick layer of the chili sauce.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 45 – 50 minutes
- Baste with another round of the chili sauce and return to the oven for 15 minutes. Repeat every 15 minutes until you have reached your desired doneness.
- Mine usually takes about 80 minutes. Do not overcook.
- Remove from the oven , baste and allow to rest 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
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Ya’ll come on back, ya’ hear?
Oh, purple hulls and blackeye peas are definitely NOT the same thing. But I do love both! –Rhonda
Debbie, do you have any help for this recipe in a convection oven? I’m going to make this at the men’s transition shelter, for between 70-90 men. I have 1 1/2 hours to make the meal, and want to make sure the commercial convection oven works well with this recipe. Thank you very much.
Most convection ovens have the option to turn them off if you prefer to cook it regularly. Since I’m not familiar with a commercial convection oven, my best suggestions would be to 1) turn the oven down 15 degrees or 2) cook the loaves 10-15 minutes less. I am assuming you will be making several loaves rather than one large one:) Certainly, I would probably test one at the shorter cooking time to see how it’s doing. Remember, the meat will continue to cook after removed from the oven — take them out and tent (not seal) them with foil — and allow to rest before slicing. Thanks for doing this. I hope yours turn out well. We love this meatloaf.