BEST MEATLOAF RECIPE

BEST MEATLOAF RECIPE image

Number Of Ingredients 19

Ingredients

¾ cup Monterey Jack cheese
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 medium onion, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
2 tsp. fresh thyme (dried thyme works fine, too, just double the amount)
1½ cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. paprika
¼ cup tomato juice
½ cup low-sodium beef broth
2 large eggs
½ tsp. unflavored gelatin
¾ cup gold fish crackers
2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, minced
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. minced ginger
¾ tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
2 lb. lean ground beef (at least 85 percent)

Steps:

If possible, an hour before preparing the meal, grate Monterey Jack cheese and spread it on a piece of parchment paper in the freezer. This makes crushing the cheese up and distributing it evenly into the mixture very easy. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt butter in a non-stick medium skillet over medium-high heat, and cook celery and onions together for about 8 minutes, or until they start to caramelize. Stir regularly. Add garlic, paprika and thyme stirring constantly until fragrant, about one minute. Drop heat to low and add tomato juice, stirring constantly until the bloom of steam has subsided, no more than a minute. Set aside. Crumble gold fish crackers and set aside. A potato masher works wonders, and what you don't get with the masher, you can crush with your hands. While onion mix is cooling, whisk together eggs and broth in a medium mixing bowl. Then sprinkle gelatin over surface and let dissolve (about 2 minutes). Stir in gold fish crackers crackers, parsley, soy sauce, mustard, ginger, salt, pepper and the cooled onion mixture. Remove cheese from freezer. Fold parchment paper into an envelope to protect and retain the cheese. Crumble frozen cheese until the pieces are as small as the crushed gold fish crackers, and mix into the bowl. Add ground beef in ¼ increments, this will help reduce the amount of kneading. It is crucial to thoroughly mix the ingredients without massaging the meat too much. Use a standard bread pan as a mold. Grease pan or line it with parchment paper-if using parchment, trim paper so that it fits length-wise in pan. Don't worry about ends, the weight of the mixture will aid removal to a greased baking sheet. Bake until the heart of the loaf measures 140 degrees, about an hour.