straight up smoke, huh? LOL

RRP

RRP

I should have added that this was cherry chunks smoking a beautiful kick butt meatloaf!

wps456

That looks really good, care to share the recipe?

Foghorn

Both pics look great. 

RRP

wps456 said:

That looks really good, care to share the recipe?

The title of this meatloaf is OVER used, but this is the one I have fixed and we have enjoyed for years! And no offense to anyone - but there is NO CATSUP in nor even near this meatloaf - so no need to say "put lipstick on the pig"!

Not Your Mother’s Meatloaf

The original recipe was gleaned from one made at a Texas Eggfest in 2004 though I have made several modifications to it over the years to our satisfaction. The most recent is the addition of anchovies! Ron Pratt, Dunlap, IL

Ingredients:

1 pound 80/20 ground chuck

½ pound ground pork

4 strips of bacon

4 anchovies 

1 T oil from the anchovies tin

½ cup chopped onion

½ cup chopped green pepper

½ cup Panko bread crumbs – Parmesan herb style

1 T Worcestershire

4 cloves diced garlic

1 raw egg

1 tea ground black pepper

½ tea kosher salt

½ tea Tabasco

¼ tea ground cumin

¼ cup beef stock

In large skillet slow fry 4 strips of bacon to semi-cooked, but still limp. Remove bacon and set aside. Add 1 T of the oil to the bacon grease and add anchovies, onion, green pepper and sauté all the while stirring and mashing the anchovies into a paste and thoroughly mixing.  As it simmers add the ground pepper, salt, cumin, garlic and continue cooking until veggies are softened. 

Meanwhile slice and dice the bacon strips into small pieces. Don’t worry if they are undercooked to your liking as they will finish cooking inside the meatloaf. Besides if the bacon is crisp to start with they will become hardened, unpleasant surprise nuggets inside the loaf!

Pour the skillet contents into a large mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mix and mix well with your hands by squeezing repeatedly through your fingers. (HINT: wear disposable plastic gloves!) Then form your loaf. Trust me - with the bread crumbs and egg binder this will be a solid loaf when thoroughly mixed! Place the loaf on top of waxed paper which is sitting on a cutting board. That way you will be able to coat the ends, sides and one top with a favorite rub such as Dizzy Pig Cow Lick. You can then flip the loaf and coat the final side.

I use a wire meatloaf basket, which allows smoke to reach it on all sides, but you may want to use a small oven proof flat pan or even a “pizza pan” which has holes.

Set up your BGE to cook indirect by using the plate setter with legs up and grate on top. I also foil my PS to keep the grease from getting the PS too dirty. Shoot for a 330° dome temp and cook to an internal temp of 160°. Typically this will take about 90 minutes. BTW I prefer the taste of cherry wood chunks as that smoke seems to “honor” this loaf!

ENJOY!

wps456

Thank you! I'll give it a try but there's no way my wife will let me put anchovies in there, ha!

RRP

wps456 said:

Thank you! I'll give it a try but there's no way my wife will let me put anchovies in there, ha!

No problem! Actually the anchovies were one of MY additions to the original recipe. Don’t worry that meatloaf recipe still rocks! 

henapple

That's exactly like my mother's meatloaf. 

Gamecockeggman

Ron this is a fantastic post.  Keeping it real!  Nice job.  Shiit now I’m starving for meat loaf…….

alaskanassasin

Substitute fish sauce!

RRP

alaskanassasin said:

Substitute fish sauce!

Or even oyster sauce...but whether anchoives, fish sauce or oyster sauce may I suggest you try ALL of those one by one in some OTHER dish so you will know how they are received by your family? This meat loaf does take time to ready the ingredients, then fry and sauté some of them and then assemble the loaf, much less egg it!
So IOW if some family member is bummed out by a mere sauce ingredient to ruin the meat loaf for them then you sure wasted a lot of time and effort! 

Botch

In limited experiences, I’ve found if I just don’t mention certain “flag” ingredients, and just serve, I don’t hear complaints.
Coconut being the exception.  

Carolina Q

Botch said:

In limited experiences, I’ve found if I just don’t mention certain “flag” ingredients, and just serve, I don’t hear complaints.  

I agree. Unless someone at your gathering happens to be allergic to what you're serving... SURPRISE!! 

RRP

Botch said:

In limited experiences, I’ve found if I just don’t mention certain “flag” ingredients, and just serve, I don’t hear complaints.
Coconut being the exception.  

About 40 years ago we entertained 4 couples with a kick butt strogganoff I make. With it I served a delicious Caesar salad....you know...made with raw egg...Well one of the guys, named Gordon said something like "this is a great taste that I've never had before..." and about then his wife stood up and said "HOLY SH*T...this has raw egg!!! GORDON STOP EATING! "

i swear within 30 seconds Gordon turned beet red and started to choke! Thankfully she had some medicine in her purse which he took and then quit eating! He turned out OK, but needless to say that sure bummed the evening....

Epilogue...after that Gordon got drunk as a shrunk that night and his wife drove him home! 

Sometimes we do need to warn or at least ask people about any allergies! 

DavidCrumpton

RRP said:

Botch said:

In limited experiences, I’ve found if I just don’t mention certain “flag” ingredients, and just serve, I don’t hear complaints.
Coconut being the exception.  

About 40 years ago we entertained 4 couples with a kick butt strogganoff I make. With it I served a delicious Caesar salad....you know...made with raw egg...Well one of the guys, named Gordon said something like "this is a great taste that I've never had before..." and about then his wife stood up and said "HOLY SH*T...this has raw egg!!! GORDON STOP EATING! "

i swear within 30 seconds Gordon turned beet red and started to choke! Thankfully she had some medicine in her purse which he took and then quit eating! He turned out OK, but needless to say that sure bummed the evening....

Epilogue...after that Gordon got drunk as a shrunk that night and his wife drove him home! 

Sometimes we do need to warn or at least ask people about any allergies! 

I’m deathly allergic to wheat and corn. Epipen goes everywhere I go.
I eat nothing unless I know all the ingredients. 

People with allergies should never just chow down. 

I find it’s my responsibility not my hosts to make sure I don’t die.   

Bellavista52

JMHO but likely one can't specifically taste the anchovies in this recipe.  I make a pizza sauce recipe that has anchovies and can't tell they are included.

Legume

Bellavista52 said:

JMHO but likely one can't specifically taste the anchovies in this recipe.  I make a pizza sauce recipe that has anchovies and can't tell they are included.

Yep.  You don’t taste it in Worcestershire sauce, but it’s in there too.