Roo's Birthday Meatloaf

Joey's birthday was last Thursday - and he requested MEATLOAF for his B-Day dinner. I had never in my life made meatloaf, so of course I volunteered to experiment with meatloaf and make it a special day for him. My version is called "Roo's Meatloaf" because a baby kangaroo (Roo) is called a "Joey." The meatloaf does NOT contain kangaroo meat (although it might if I lived Down-Under, mate).
We had already planned to meet for cocktails after "work" and I didn't want to have to come home and wait for 1 1/2 - 2 hours for dinner while the meatloaf cooked, so I researched Crock pot Meatloaf - yes, if you can imagine it, you can find it on the Internet! Using the crock pot method, I could put it all together, start the cooking process, and come home - AFTER cocktails - and have dinner ready in a flash.

Crock pot Meatloaf:
1 lb ground sirloin
1 lb ground pork
1 lb ground veal
5 cloves garlic, chopped
4 - 5 stalks celery
1 medium red onion
1 medium yellow onion

1 1/3 cups seasoned bread crumbs
1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup catsup
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon fines herbs
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
sprinkle cayenne pepper
sprinkle chili powder

Sauce:
1 cup catsup
2 BIG dashes worcestershire sauce
2 BIG dashes hot sauce
4 teaspoons brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
adjust to taste!

Chop the onions, celery and garlic. In a large pot, melt a pat of butter and saute half the onions and celery, and all the garlic. Set aside to cool - because you're going to use the big pot to mix the rest of the ingredients and make the meatloaf.

When the pan has cooled, stir in the rest of the onion and celery. Add the remaining ingredients for the meatloaf, with the exception of the bread crumbs and the 3 meats. Stir it all together, then stir in the bread crumbs.

Add ground sirloin, pork and veal and mix gently with your hands (spray a light application of Pam directly on your hands to reduce sticking. Thoroughly mix the meat into the wet ingredients, but be careful not to "squeeze" the meat/mixture - that will cause your meatloaf to be too dense.

I don't have a rack that fits into my crock pot - so I used onions - I trimmed 4 onions the same size, and put these on the bottom of the crock. Next I cut a large piece of heavy foil - large enough rise above the rim of the crock - this comes in handy for getting the meatloaf out of the pot when it's cooked! Poke holes in the bottom of the foil so the fat can drain out of the meat, into the crock.

(the onions you see to the left are the result of the cooking)

Scoop in your meatloaf goop! And if you try this method - you'll know exactly what I mean. I filled the crock to the top - and had too much meatloaf goop.

So in addition to the crock pot method, I shaped the remaining meatloaf goop into a loaf and baked it in the oven, over a foil covered tray, at 350 degrees - but that's going a bit off topic.

Cover the crock and set on low - then cook for 8 hours or so. I was running a bit behind schedule so I cooked mine on high for 2 hours, then turned it down to low for the remaining 4 hours.

To make the sauce, just whisk all the ingredients together, and adjust to your own taste. About an hour into the cooking process, spread a thin layer over the top (I didn't have room to spread it on the sides - but if you can, do. Same for the oven-baked meatloaf - spread thin layer on about 30 minutes into the cooking). When you take your loaf out to rest, spread another layer on. Serve remaining sauce with the meal, for people to add as much or little as they like.

When you get home from cocktails - carefully lift up your foil tray and let the meatloaf rest for 20 - 30 minutes - otherwise, when you slice it, it will just fall apart - still tasty, but not as aesthetically pleasing :)

To round out Roo's B-Day dinner, we started with Beet Cake - beets layered with goat cheese, then drizzled with Balsalmic vinegar. Mark brought Cheesey Potatos - and I made Cheese Rolls. If anyone is interested, I'll post these additional recipes in future posts.

We enjoyed a delicious dinner - Joey was completely satisfied with the crock pot method meatloaf - and ended the evening with pound cake, fresh strawberries and whipped cream. YUMMY-DELICIOUS !