The Ultimate Local Meatloaf

Every once in a while, I need to make a meatloaf. When my twins were babies, I would make meatloaves in mini bread pans and freeze 6 of them for my sitter to cook while I was at work. I laugh at those memories … meatloaf in a mini bread pan. Gone, gone, gone are those days. Now I make a 2 pound monster-piece and we might have a slice or two left by the time dinner is over.

Meatloaf is really one of the very few dinners I serve where the meat is truly the centerpiece of our meal. For various reasons, meat is often an afterthought, and rarely the focus. However, when you combine one pound ground beef with one pound of pork and start adding in tasty ingredient after tasty ingredient, there is no doubt about what is for dinner. Meat.  Tasty meat.

Everyone who has ever tried my meatloaf always confesses to me, “I don’t usually like meatloaf!” I know, I know. The key to amazing meatloaf using the best local ingredients you can find and really seasoning everything well. Please don’t mush some meat together, sprinkle it with salt and pepper and call it a day. Meatloaf needs love.

Meatloaf needs egg and breadcrumbs and barbecue sauce and every Italian seasoning you can get your hands on. Or, in my case, egg and corn meal and kale and lots of seasonings …

The beginning of the ultimate local meatloaf

Rowland’s Row Family Farm

For the past couple of weeks, I had a hard time getting my regular farm fresh eggs. The girls were, apparently, too hot to keep up with their daily quota. Who knew?! Joe (from Rowland’s Row Family Farm here in NC) offered up some duck eggs. I eyed them skeptically and asked, “What do I DO with them?” He assured me I could use them just as I would my regular chicken eggs. Of course he was correct. Duck eggs were a perfect substitute in our egg rotation. I even used one in this amazing meatloaf.

The Ultimate Local Meatloaf

1 pound ground pork or pork sausage
1 pound ground beef
1 large egg (duck eggs work great!)
8 ounces kale, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 or 3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/3 cup barbecue sauce
1-2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup bread crumbs or crushed corn flakes or corn meal
Generous amounts of seasoning … whatever your mood – Italian seasonings, Creole seasonings, etc. plus sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

1. Using your hands, combine all the ingredients together in a large bowl.

2. Cook in small loaf pans or shape into one large meatloaf. Sprinkle the top generously with freshly ground sea salt and pepper.

3. Cook at 350 degrees for about 60 to 70 minutes. Because you are using ground meat and ground pork, your meatloaf must be well cooked to 160 degrees. If you don’t use a meat thermometer, you can also just take your meatloaf out of the oven, cut it and check to see it is cooked through.

Serve your ultimate local meatloaf with a large green salad or fresh cut veggies. Enjoy!