Kitchen Sink Meat Loaf – Serves 8
So named because it contains a lot of ingredients:
Preheat Oven to 350 degrees while mixing the loaf.
Lightly spray meat loaf pan with Pam or oil lightly with extra virgin olive oil. Just enough oil so that the meat loaf won’t stick to the pan.
Ingredients:
1 ½ lb of 92/8 hamburger
¾ to 1 lb of mild ground Italian Sausage. I use Kroger brand which contains fennel seed, anise seed, paprika and sweet red peppers. (You could get some plain sausage and make your own too.)
1 egg beaten and reserved
½ cup dry bread crumbs or ½ cup oatmeal
1 Slice Onion chopped course (yellow, white or Vidalia)
2 -3 tbs Steak Sauce your favorite. (Mine is Kroger 1883 or Heinz 57)
½ to 1 tbs Worcestershire Sauce
Spices:
1 tbs Basil chopped fine ½ tbs if using dried
1tbs Curled Parsley or Italian Flat Leaf chopped fine Cut to ½ tbs if using dried
1 tbs Garlic Chives or 1 clove garlic minced or ½ tbs if using dried
1 sprig Thyme – Strip leaves and course chop or use ¼ tbs of dried thyme
3 or 4 leaves Sage chopped course or ¼ tbs dried sage
2 or 3 sprigs Rosemary chopped or ½ tbs of dried Rosemary
¼ tbs course ground black pepper
¼ tbs sea or kosher salt
Instructions:
Mixing the loaf
Wash Hands thoroughly especially fingernails.
Put the hamburger into a large mixing bowl along with the sausage. Using your hands press the two meats into a flat shape.
Sprinkle the spices and chopped onion evenly over the surface of the meat patty.
Using your hands start a premix by squeezing handfuls of the meat, spice and onion mixture into balls and out through your fingers. (You can use a mixer if you wish. I use my hands so I can feel when the sausage and hamburger are starting to incorporate together.)
Once the meats, spices, salt and pepper are coarsely blended together, add the bread crumbs, the beaten egg, the Worcestershire and Steak Sauce. Again using your hands mix the bread crumbs or oatmeal, the egg and the sauces into the meat until you can tell the loaf is mixed well. The feeling should be one of the meat mixture being moist throughout.
Shape the meat into a loaf and place into the preheated oven. Bake for about 45 – 50 minutes or until the top of the loaf is a nice brown. The sides of the loaf should have pulled away from the sides of the loaf pan and should also be brown or done looking.
Turn oven off and let loaf cook on retained heat for 5 more minutes if you think it is not done. Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes before cutting.
Serve a generous slice of meat loaf with mashed potatoes with a pat of butter on top and fresh green beans for a hearty and satisfying meal. Wine or a nice micro brew or plain water goes well with this meal.