Meatloaf for farmers

This is a recipe that Ree Drummond (the Pioneer woman) put on her website and described as 'cowboy approved' so I thought that the farmer would appreciate it. When we get a cattle beast done on the farm, it is always a bit of a mission to figure out what you are going to do with so much mince, so I was stoked to make this discovery. Meatloaf usually makes me think of the small windowless buildings my dear mother used to produce from time to time, however this has a really nice texture and is a bit more like yummy meat patties rather than dense loaf.Thanks also to Pip and George for volunteering to tackle so much meatloaf!

INGREDIENTS:
Meatloaf:

• 1 cup Milk
• 6 slices White Bread
• 800g  Beef Mince
• 1 cup (heaping) Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon Seasoned Salt (I use smoked salt)
• 3/4 teaspoons Salt
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 1/3 cup Finely chopped Flat-leaf Parsley
• 4 eggs
• Garlic (optional)
• 10 slices streaky/regular Bacon

Sauce:

• 1-1/2 cup Tomato sauce
• 1/3 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Dry Mustard
• Tabasco To Taste

METHOD:
Preheat oven to180 degrees Celsius.

It looks gross but bare with me here

In a bowl, put bread and milk. Allow it to soak in for several minutes.

Place the mince, milk-soaked bread, Parmesan, seasoned salt, salt, black pepper, garlic (if you choose) and parsley in a large mixing bowl. Pour in beaten eggs.
This is the fun bit: With clean hands, mix the ingredients until well combined.  The bread will munch up and become a part of the mixture, you may have to break up any big bits.

Form the mixture into a loaf shape on a broiler pan (I don't have one so put tin foil on the draining rack of my deep oven pan and poked some holes in it, which will allow the fat to drain. (Line the bottom of the pan with foil as well to avoid a big mess!)

Lay bacon slices over the top, tucking them underneath the meatloaf. I used home-kill bacon from my wonderful father's farm because it is so darn good, but you can use any kind, streaky bacon is probably the best and easiest to wrap the loaf in.

Make the sauce: add tomato sauce, brown sugar, mustard, and hot sauce in a mixing bowl. Stir together. Pour 1/2 of the mixture over the top of the bacon. Spread with a spoon.
Bake for 45 minutes, then pour another 1/2 of the sauce over the top. Bake for another 15 minutes. Slice and serve.

Serve with mashed or hedgehog potatoes.

Enjoy xx

A

TIPS:

• This is a BIG meatloaf so either invite people for tea or use the leftovers for sandwiches the next day(s)
• It may be easier to mush up the bread before adding everything else, I find that you get lumps of bread otherwise (as you can see in my pictures)