Meatloaf ~ by Jessie

Since I didn't become a contributor to the blog until the day after I made this last, I don't have a picture, but rest assured that it's beautiful. :-)

Don't be put off by the prunes, this is the best meatloaf I've ever had, and I believe they're a big reason for that. It's a recipe originally published by Gourmet in February 2008, but I got it from http://www.epicurious.com/ (my favorite recipe site). The first time I made it I didn't have ground pork so I used all ground beef and it was equally delicious.

1 cup fresh bread crumbs (from 2 slices firm white sandwich bread)
1/3 cup whole milk
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium celery rib, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
2 tblspns butter
2 tblspns Worcestershire sauce
1 tblspn cider vinegar
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 lb bacon (about 4 thick slices), chopped
1/2 cup pitted prunes, chopped
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork
2 large eggs
1/3 cup finely chopped Italian parsley

Preheat oven to 350 with rack in middle.

Soak bread crumbs in milk in large bowl.

Meanwhile, cook onion, garlic, celery, and carrot in butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. cover skillet and reduce heat to low, then cook until carrot is tender, about 5 minutes. Removed from heat and stir in Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, allspice, 2 tsp salt, and 1 1/2 tsp pepper. Add to bread crumb mixture.

Finely chop bacon and prunes in a food processor, then add to onion mixture along with beef, pork, eggs, and parsley and mix together with your hands. Pack mixture into a 9"x5" oval loaf in a 13"x9" shallow baking dish.

See below if you like a little something on top of your meatloaf.
Bake until an instant read thermometer inserted into center of meatloaf registers 155, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.
I like a little glaze of sorts on my meatloaf and this recipe doesn't have one, so I make my own. When I make up my own recipes, I don't measure ingredients, so this is my best guess, but do it to your own taste.

1/3 cup ketchup
2 tblspns balsamic vinegar
1 tblspn brown sugar

Mix the ingredients together and spoon over meatloaf for last 45 minutes of cooking.

ENJOY!

**Edit 1/27/10 by Sarah**
Here are some pictures I took from when I made it tonight.  It was delicious!

Jessie's glaze recipe was so good!