Pioneer Woman's Meatloaf

It isn't very often you take a bite of meatloaf and say WOW! Even more rare for your husband to take a bite and say WOW! This is a WOW! meatloaf. This meatloaf is just that good.

The only reason I even made this meatloaf was because I don't have the recipe for my Mom's meatloaf. She and my Dad were out of the country, (aboard the Queen Mary 2, on their way across the Atlantic on their way to Dubai!) so I couldn't call and get it from her. I will eventually, because that is a good meatloaf too. It was cold and gray, and we were craving some comfort food. So, I looked to my cookbooks. Yes, I prefer to page through a book versus looking online. Ray thinks I am crazy for that! I knew PW would not steer me wrong.

I adapted the recipe a bit. The original recipe called for 1/4 - 1/2 cup chopped, fresh parsley and I am just not so sure of that in meatloaf. I also didn't feel comfortable substituting dried. I had everything else, which is another nice thing about this meatloaf. The meatloaf came together very easily.

I am not sure if I mentioned before that earlier this fall we purchased 1/4 of an organic, grass-fed cow. The meat is very lean. It is the beef I use in all of our cooking. So, even though I lined the bottom of broiler pan, I didn't need to because we didn't have a lot of grease. You probably would with anything else- well, maybe not ground sirloin. I would do it anyway just in case. I also used center-cut bacon, which is less fattier than regular bacon.

The tomato gravy is so good! It really makes the meatloaf, so don't skip it!

The cooking time in the cookbook was WAY off for my oven. I know my oven is heating to temperature, so I think PW has a super-powered oven. We ended up eating the meatloaf from the ends, then cooking it quite a bit longer. I adjusted the cook time in the recipe below.

The one thing I would do differently next time, is cook the meatloaf for 15-20 minutes without the tomato gravy on, to get the bacon crisped up a bit. The texture was a little off to me.

Meatloaf
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks

1 cup milk
6 bread slices
2 pound ground beef
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt
1/4 teaspoon Lawry's season salt
Fresh ground black pepper
4 eggs, beaten
8 -12 thin bacon slices


Tomato Gravy:
1 1/2 cups ketchup
6 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
Hot Sauce, to taste


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.


Pour the milk over the bread and let it soak in for several minutes.


Then, combine the ground beef, milk soaked bread, Parmesan cheese, salt, seasoned salt, and black pepper in a large mixing bowl. Pour in the beaten eggs.


With clean hands, mix the ingredients until combined.


Form into a loaf on a broiler pan.


Lay bacon slices over the top, tucking underneath.


To make the tomato gravy, pour the ketchup in a small mixing bowl, and add the brown sugar, dry mustard, and Tabasco. Stir until combined.


Pour one third of the tomato gravy over the meatloaf. Bake for 45 minutes, then pour another third of the gravy over top. Bake another 45 minutes.


Serve the remaining tomato gravy as a dipping sauce.

Oven Baked Beef Stew

My friend Sandy shared this recipe. It is so, so good. It has become a Fall/Winter favorite. It is something I save for the weekends, because it takes a couple of hours to cook. It is started on the stove top and then moved to the oven.


The chopping doesn't take too long, and most of it can be done while the beef is browning. The flavor is well balanced. It doesn't seem to matter what type of beef you use - I've used an English Roast as well as the stew meat. It comes out delicious every time.


It has been about a year since I made this last. I knew the boys had forgotten it, Ray did too at first, but I knew they would love it once they tasted it again.I love being right. I was asked to put this on our list to make forever. The boys asked for seconds too!


This makes a large batch of stew. There was enough left over for a couple servings for lunch as well as a big bowl for the freezer for some harried weeknight we need something quick. The stew freezes and reheats well.

I had between a 1/4 and 1/2 bag of green beans and corn in the freezer, so I threw those in too. It normally doesn't look this corny.

Oven Baked Beef Stew


My friend Sandy


1 tablespoon. oil
2 pounds stew meat, cut in 1½" cubes
1/3 c. flour or 1/4 c. cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
2 teapsoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon marjoram
14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
10 oz. beef  broth
1/2 cup dry red wine
2 cups cube peeled potatoes (I use closer to 3)
1 cup sliced celery
4 medium carrots, sliced (2 cups)
3 small onions, chopped
1/4 tsp. pepper
16 oz chopped green beans, frozen (optional)
16 oz corn, frozen (optional)


Preheat oven to 325º. Heat oil in 4 quart Dutch oven over medium. Brown beef cubes in oil.


Add flour, salt, garlic powder, marjoram and pepper. Stir in tomatoes, broth and wine; mix well. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Add remaining ingredients, mix well.


Cover; bake for 2 hours or until meat is tender, stirring twice during baking. If using the corn and/or green beans, add to the dutch oven with an hour left in cooking. I always use both.