As usual, we start with the mise en place. As meatloaf recipes go, this is a simple one that really lets the flavor of the beef shine through; in addition to the meat, there are just a few aromatic vegetables (onion, garlic, and carrot) and a few herbs (parsley, thyme, and marjoram), plus rolled oats and an egg as a binder. The glaze is equally simple, with mustard, honey, soy sauce, and ketchup.
A really smart idea in this recipe which I don’t see very often is to chop up all of the plant ingredients to a uniform size in the food processor. This contributes to a finer texture in the final meatloaf without requiring the assistance of an army of prep cooks to mince the vegetation by hand. (An alternative method might be to use a box grater.)
The vegetables, meat, and binder are all mixed together and then packed into a greased 9×5 loaf pan, which serves only as a mold, not a cooking vessel. After turning the loaf out onto a sheet pan, as shown above, the glaze is poured on top (I used a knife to spread it evenly) and the loaf is baked at 425°F (220°C) for half an hour to set the crust. The loaf continues baking at 325°F (160°C) until fully done (checking with an instant-read thermometer), and then comes out of the oven to cool for ten minutes or so.
The recipe says to slice into ¾-inch thick slices; I’m not much good at dividing things into twelfths, so I made eight 1¼-inch thick slices instead, making two slices rather than three or four the standard serving size. The stated yield is “4 to 6”, so I don’t feel like I’m deviating too much, and for my meal planning, 6 meals would be two weeks (with half of the food in the freezer, so probably not consecutive weeks).
But then after eating the first meal, I decided that it might be nicer to have thinner slices, so I cut each of the big slices in half.
As I mentioned, this is based on getting four servings out of a 9×5 loaf. Your mileage may vary. Note that a lot of fat runs out of this loaf while it’s cooking (I used 85% ground beef as the reference), so the actual calorie, fat, and cholesterol values are smaller than stated here.
| Serving size: 2 slices | |
| Servings per recipe: 4 | |
| Amount per serving | |
| Calories 570 | Calories from fat 387 |
| % Daily Value | |
| Total Fat 43g | 66% |
| Saturated Fat 16g | 78% |
| Trans Fat 0g | |
| Cholesterol 196mg | 65% |
| Sodium 493mg | 21% |
| Potassium 91mg | 3% |
| Total Carbohydrate 13g | 4% |
| Dietary fiber 2g | 9% |
| Sugars 3g | |
| Proteins 46g | 91% |
| Vitamin A | 57% |
| Vitamin C | 6% |
| Calcium | 4% |
| Iron | 37% |