Life on our Homestead: Day 17 "the MANLOAF"

After much awaited anticipation.

I have made this again with photo's. This is second time making this dish. First one was a lot better than the first, so I'm gonna scale back to the original recipe and re-group. I just think it needs a little tweaking. This is my first recipe for a dish, I normally do not follow a recipe to a "T". Or I just go along with my gut instinct. So here goes;

Mashed Potato's Serves 6
3 -4 medium potatoes
1/2 Lbs. Bacon
1 tsp. Kosher salt
3-4 tbs. unsalted butter
1 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 450°
Peel and slice potatoes to 1/4" slices put into a 4-5 qt. pot and cover with water. Boil for approx 15-20 min. While that is happening line a baking sheet-pan with tin foil, and lay out slices of bacon in in baking sheet-pan. Cook for 20-25 min until just crisp. While that is all doing it's thing, mix remaining ingredients in a stand mixer bowl with whisk attachment. Mince bacon (leave foil on baking sheet). and drain potatoes. Put the bacon and potatoes in the stand mixer bowl and pulse until ingredients start to come together. Set on med for 5 min and reserve mix in a medium bowl.

Keep oven on at 375°

Meatloaf

15-20 saltine crackers

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1 tsp. black pepper

1 tbs. Kosher salt

1 tbs steak sauce

1 med. onion

2 tsp. minced garlic

2 eggs

1/3 cup milk

3 lbs. Ground beef

1 lbs bacon reserved

Chop crackers in a food processor. Mix all dry ingredients together. Put beef and dry ingredients in stand mixer bowl with paddle attachment. Pulse to blend. Mix wet ingredients and pulse to blend. Mix on medium for approx 5 minutes or until thoroughly blended.

Now the fun begins.

Take bacon and weave into a mat design in baking sheet-pan. Take meat mixture and spread evenly over weave. Take the potato mix and form a row of potatoes in the center of bacon/meat mat.

Roll into entire contraption into a log. Flip over so seem in on bottom. Cover with foil and cook until meat is 165° (when checking temperature of meat do not stick thermometer into potato mix).