Recipe(tried): Comfort Foods Tonight! - The Perfect Meatloaf, Green Beans with Bacon-Balsamic Vinaigrette

Today sunny South Florida wasn't sunny, so it was a day for comfort foods. Pam Anderson's "The Perfect Recipe" is my favorite for meatloaf, with it we had left over cornbread muffins from yesterday, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, and green bean - bacon w/ basalmic vinegrette salad, yummy! I can't wait for lunchtime leftovers tomorrow!

The Perfect Meatloaf
Recipe By :Pam Anderson
Source: The Perfect Recipe Cookbook
Serving Size : 6

Meatloaf:
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion -- chopped
2 cloves garlic -- minced
2 large egg
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon hot red pepper sauce
1 cup milk, buttermilk, or low-fat plain yogurt
1 pound ground chuck
1/2 pound ground veal
1/2 pound ground pork
2/3 cup quick cooking oats or saltines crushed
1/3 cup fresh parsley -- minced
1 8 ounces thin sliced bacon (8-9 slices)

Glaze:
1 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar or light brown
2 teaspoons white or cider vinegar

Glaze: Mix all ingredients and set aside.

Meatloaf: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil in a medium skillet. Add onions and garlic, saute until softened, about 5 minutes; set aside to cool.

Mix eggs with thyme, salt and pepper, mustard, Worcestershire, hot sauce, and milk or yogurt. In a large bowl add egg mixture to the ground chuck, pork, and veal. Next add oatmeal or crackers, which ever you prefer, parsley, cooked onion and garlic; mix with a fork until evenly blended and meat mixture does not stick to the bowl. (If mixture does stick, add additional milk, a couple tablespoons at a time and continue stirring (until mixture stops sticking).

Turn the meat mixture onto a work surface. With wet hands, pat mixture into a loaf approximately 9x5 inches.

To bake free-form: Cover a wire rack with foil, prick the foil in several places with a fork to allow drainage. Place rack on a shallow roasting pan lined with foil for easy cleanup. Set formed loaf on rack. Brush loaf all over with glaze, then arrange the bacon slices, crosswise, over the loaf. Overlap them slightly and tuck under the loaf to prevent curling.

Bake loaf until bacon is crisp and loaf registers 160F. This will take about an hour. Cool for at least 20 minutes. Slice and Serve.

Green Beans with Bacon-Balsamic Vinaigrette
Serving Size : 8; Serving Size: 3/4 cup

2 pounds green beans
2 bacon slices
1/4 cup minced shallots
3 tablespoons coarsely chopped almonds
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar

Cook green beans in boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water. Drain well; set aside.

Cook bacon in a small skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove bacon from skillet. Crumble; set aside. Add shallots to bacon fat in skillet; saut 1 minute. Add almonds; saut 1 minute. Remove and let cool. Add sugar and vinegar; stir until sugar dissolves. Add crumbled bacon.

Pour vinaigrette over beans, tossing gently to coat.

Source: Cooking Light, December 1996, p.93
Copyright: Cooking Light