Many years ago I had a neat meatloaf recipe that I have long since lost, but wish I still had: Sweet-and-Sour Meatloaf.
It was on the back of a box of All-Bran Flakes, so obviously that was an ingredient. IIRC it also included some scoops of condensed orange juice, mustard powder, and minced green pepper.
Yesterday I made a meatloaf for the first time without doing any measuring. My loaf is extremely basic- usually onion, hamburger, sauce, egg, and filler. I added a little salsa to the sauce. My lightbulb moment was mixing everything but the filler, and then adding it gradually until I could lift the loaf out of the mixing bowl as a coherent blob, and plop it into the pan. It turned out not bad.
eta: my filler is usually oatmeal, because I love my sis’s meatloaf and oatmeal was in recipe from an ancient children’s cook book. This time I started with a little oatmeal, and then added Stovetop Stuffing until it was the desired consistency. I had once tried nothing but Stovetop, but didn’t care for the results.
I made meatloaf (1-1/2 lb. hamburger), 2 eggs, 1-1/2 C. lightly crushed seasoned croutons, a bit of milk. I topped it with a little each of ketchup and Korean bbq sauce (sweet and hot). It was scrumptious and I am ashamed to admit I polished it off within 24 hours.
Was it a better joke? I looked them both up on Wikipedia, and at least Steinman’s article mentions an association with Meat Loaf.
I made meatloaf last weekend and cooked it on the smoker with hickory. Very good, probably a B+.
2 lbs chuck (80/20)
2 lbs beef & pork ‘meatloaf mix’ (80/20)
1 lb Italian sausage
One large onion, minced
3 beaten eggs
8 oz Ital. breadcrumbs
I didn’t measure the rest but toasted sesame oil, sage, thyme round out the mix. Two loaves on a perforated tray with a second larger tray below to catch the copious drippings. Glaze with brown sugar, cider vinegar & mustard (4:1:1).
Minus half a letter grade because the onions were a little undercooked.