BBQ Meatloaf Done Right

I love meatloaf! A long time ago, my Mama gave me her recipe for BBQ Meatloaf. She actually took an original Martha Stewart recipe and made it much much better with her Mama powers.

As a testament to my love for the loaf of meat, I've revamped an old post of a classic favorite. I added a little bit of my own twist on the recipe. So, get 'cher tummies rumblin' because here we go!

You will need:

• 1 lb. ground sirloin
• 1 egg
• 1 1/4 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce
• 4 slices of white or wheat bread, diced
• 1 tsp. of Grey Poupon Mustard
• 1/2 medium onion diced
• 1 tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 tbsp. honey

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Place your bread bits in a medium sized mixing bowl, as seen above. Next add your ground sirloin, onions, egg, and brown sugar. If you want your meatloaf with a kick, add the red pepper flakes now or sprinkle some on after it's done.



Wash your hands because you're about to be wrist deep in raw meat. The best way to mix all the ingredients together is with your bare hands. I know it's gross, but grow up. Thoroughly mix 1 cup of BBQ sauce and Grey Poupon mustard into the meat with a spoon.

Take all the meat out of the mixing bowl and form it into a loaf shape on a greased baking pan. I don't like putting meatloaf in a loaf pan, you might as well be cooking your loaf in a bucket of grease. Moving on, in a small mixing bowl, combine the extra BBQ sauce and honey to make a tasty glaze. Pour the glaze  over the length of the meatloaf. Pop it in the oven for 50 minutes.

Yum! See? And all the grease leaked out. I suggest a side salad and some scalloped potatoes on the side of this meaty treat. Don't forget! The leftovers make fantastic sandwiches!

Love,

Liz

Spicy BBQ Lamb Rack

If ya feel like being fancy but, ya know, not so much. So good. So easy. Soooooo not so cheap. Ok, a rack of lamb can run you from about $15-25 even higher depending on how much baa you want for your buck (Oh, God, that was painful punny, I'm sorry). But just stow this idea away for a rainy day when you want to make something nice for your boo, or impress a bunch of people, or feel like Uncle Moneybags.

What you need:

• rack of lamb, get it from a nice grocery store. Not your Kroger or Stop N' Shop. Nay nay, go all out and get it from Whole Foods or something. It'll be a leaner and better cut.

• Bone Suckin' Sauce, I got the spicy kind, gurggle gurggle, drool drool. This might be hard to find so you can use whatever kind of BBQ sauce you want. But this is better.
• salt
• black pepper
• 1-2 small-medium size onions, this is to put on top of the lamb while it bakes. This makes the onions soak in some of the BBQ sauce while they caramelize. Nummy.

Alright, now take your lamb out of the packaging, rinse it and LEAVE THE FAT ON! Just do it. You can cut it off later if its so important. Place it in a baking dish of some sort, one with raised edges, NO baking sheets. If you use a baking sheet there will be a mess.


Coat all side of lamb rack with a light, even coat or salt and pepper. Make sure you get the ends and obviously don't waste too much of your time with the bone part.

Next, liberally base your lamb with BBQ sauce. As you can see, mine are laying in a puddle of joy. (Why I used a round dish, I'll never know.) Now's a good time to cut up those onions and sprinkle them around and on top of the lamb.

Here comes the waiting. I think I might have marinated my lamb for about 36-48 hours. Mostly because I kept forgetting. You don't have to marinate that long of course, 4-6 hours will probably do it. Just keep it mind the longer you marinate the better, the juicier. The less you marinate, not so much. But don't keep raw meat in your fridge too long or it will spoil and be nasty as hell.

Whenever you've decided you're done marinating, pre-heat the oven to 400-450. Yeah that's high, but here's kicker, you're gonna leave it in there a while. Like, a WHILE. Check on it after an hour, makes sure it's not burning, but I guarantee you, it's not done yet. Take another hour, nope, still too raw.

Now depending on how your like your meat, you might want to stop at around hour 3. Like I said, at this point it's up to you. I prefer my meat well-done.



After about 4 hours, this is what I came out with. First time ever making something like this, they came out soo juicy. Those are honey butter peas on the side, 1 can peas, 2 TBSP of butter, drizzle of honey. I happened to share this meal with a fervent vegetarian who had never tried lamb before. Unfortunately, I have the appetite of Shaggy and could have easily eaten the entire rack and barely been satiated. Oh, well. Sharing is caring.

Love,

Liz