My wife made meat loaf last night for dinner. For those who don't know, that is one of my absolute favorite meals. My mother made meat loaf, and although hers was uninspired (just beef) it was good. In my single days I'd eat meat loaf at Boston Market when I felt like treating myself to a "good" meal (meaning one that wasn't frozen, pizza or Burger King). Meat loaf is my comfort food. My wife tells me that her meat loaf never tastes the same way twice, all I know is that it's uniformly good, it's never been dry and it's always very tasty. You will NEVER hear me say "Oh no, meat loaf again!" (ten points if you can identify what movie that's from!).
I need a napkin, I'm slobbering just thinking about it!
I had an English teacher in High School who used to tell stories about his mother's cooking, one of her "specialties" was meat loaf. Her version of meat loaf was simplicity itself, throw a couple pounds of chopped meat in a pan and bake. She noticed that it tended to fall apart though, so she sought some method of holding it together. Research showed that the French cooked with peanut oil, so she decided to make French meat loaf. Not having any peanut oil though, she substituted peanut butter. She forgot to put on oven mitts when she took it out of the oven and dropped the glass pan, the pan broke and the meat loaf didn't. My teacher told us to try to imagine burnt meat loaf that stuck to the roof of your mouth.
I'd share my wife's recipe here, but I really don't know it. I know there's a mixture of beef, pork and veal, there's carmelized onions in it, and there's a glaze on top made of, I think, catsup. Maybe she'll share the recipe if enough readers ask nicely in the comments.
