The World's Best Meatloaf

Yes, there is such a thing.  This is so good you could feed it to company.

This makes 2 dozen small meatloaves so cut it back proportionately.  In a very large bowl mix 2 lbs. of ground beef with 1 lb. Italian sweet sausage, 1 lb of ground pork and 1 lb. of breakfast sausage.  Add 1 cup of breadcrumbs.  I used fresh ones I made from my rosemary bread because it adds extra flavor.  Saute' 1 large onion with several diced peppers just until they soften. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix in a bunch of chopped fresh herbs.  Set them aside to cool and then add them to the meat. Add 3 tablespoons of granulated garlic.

And always, always add several diced anchovies.  You will never know they are in there.  There is a chemical reaction between the enzymes in the beef and anchovies which enriches the beef flavor.

Fry about 8 pieces of bacon, crumble them and add to the mix.

Add 4 large eggs and a bunch of fresh chopped parsley. Pour in 1/2 cup of milk.

Mix and mix and mix some more. Cook a small piece and if it isn't killer wonderful, adjust your seasoning.

Form it into rounds about 2  1/2 inches high and wrap them tightly with thinly sliced bacon.  Pull the bacon as you wrap them so when it cooks it shrinks and really holds the little loaves together.  You can see the first ones I wrapped at the top of this photo. Bake at 350 degrees until the internal temperature reaches 170 degrees.  They take about an hour.

The Blog Tech is crazy for carrots so I made him Julie Child's recipe.  Cook the carrots in a bit of water, salt and pepper and butter and 1 tablespoon of sugar.  Drain them when they are tender and add some fresh dill.

People that are not carrot eaters like these.

Sometimes I serve this dish with mashed potatoes but I had 2 large heads of cauliflower staring me in the face so I mashed them instead.  Just boil them in salted water.

Here are the mini loaves fresh from the oven.

I sliced some buns I had made and spread garlic butter on them.

Then topped them with a bit of grated Provolone cheese.

And broiled them until golden.

When the cauliflower is tender, drain it and add a bit of cream cheese, butter and milk and S & P.  Mash it using a stick blender until it is the consistency of mashed potatoes.

It is quite hard to tell the difference.  I think these have more flavor.

In a heavy pot, cook some spinach until it is wilted.  Add a couple tablespoons of cream and some Parmesan.  Mix it until it is creamy.

I usually serve the mini meatloaf on top of the garlic bread but I forgot so this photo has the garlic bread off to the side.  Top it with some gravy and serve it with the carrots and spinach.  I will post the gravy recipe again soon but if you need it before then you can find it here:

http://octoberfarm.blogspot.com/2011/09/returning-guests-and-gravy.html

This dinner will make you cry!