Classic American Meat Loaf

This is the basic Meat Loaf--all beef, with a touch of green pepper and onion, topped with strips of bacon--instantly recognizable as the all-American diner/hash house standard! This comes from a book of meat loaf recipe's... without a doubt the most unique wedding gift that Mary and I received ten years ago. According to the author of the book, this recipe was inspired by one diner cook whose secret was to make this meat loaf with "ketchup in and ketchup on" for maximum flavor and moistness. The bacon certainly doesn't hurt either!

Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 cups finely chopped onion
- 1 medium green bell pepper, finely chopped (about 3/4 cup)
- 1 large celery rib, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
- 2 pounds ground beef
- ¼ cup rolled oats
- 2/3 cup ketchup
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 2 teaspons salt
- 1½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 4 slices of bacon, halved crosswise

Instructions:

1. In a medium skillet, melt the unsalted butter over medium heat.


2. When it foams, add the onion, bell pepper, celery and thyme. Cover and cook, stirring once or twice, for 10 minutes, Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.


3. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, the onion mixture, oats, 1/3 cup of the ketchup, the eggs, salt and pepper; mix thoroughly.


4. Spoon the meat mixture into a large, shallow baking dish and shape into a flat loaf about 2 inches high. Smooth the top with the back of a spoon. Spread the remaining 1/3 cup ketchup over the top of the meatloaf. Arrange the bacon strips, overlapping them slightly, if necessary, on top of the ketchup.


5. Bake the meat loaf for about 1¼ hours, or until an instant-reading thermometer inserted into the center registers 145 degrees. Let the meat loaf rest on a rack for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve hot!

Note: This recipe tastes very similar to the meatloaf that Mom used to make, minus the bacon of course! I loved Mom's recipe, and it was always very good, with the tangy baked-in ketchup on top. Mom also baked it with dill pickle spears from time to time, although pickled meatloaf was not my favorite.

Also, be aware that when I used the pan in the photo at the top of this recipe, it filled to the very brim. As a result, the bacon grease sizzled and boiled over the top, coating the bottom of our oven and leaving it a nasty mess to clean up. :-( Although the smoke from the smoldering bacon grease did give the meatloaf a rather nice hickory-smoked flavour! So make sure to place a cookie sheet BELOW the meatloaf if the ingredients nears the top of the pan! On a serious note, I did have to lower the oven temperature for the last 25 minutes because the bacon grease really would have started a fire. So be careful...

Finally, the recipe makes no indication as to whether the bacon should be cooked first. So I placed the bacon in raw! I used thick cuts of quality maple-flavoured bacon. The generous amounts of bacon juices deeply penetrated the loaf. It sure tasted fantastic! *yummy* But if you want to cut fat calories, I would advise you to cook the bacon slightly and then drain the grease before adding it to the top of the loaf. Doing so will also cut down on how much the bacon spits while the meatloaf cooks.