Possible Allergy warning – please read all recipes carefully
and be aware of any allergies or sensitivities that may affect your health and well-being

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Please Fave the original Here

A new recipe from that is BACON-riffic :p

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Vrghr’s Wolfenoot Layered Meatloaf

This dish mixes a “depression era” meatloaf idea, which uses a large amount of “Panade” or bread-milk mixture to add juicy tenderness to the meat, with layers of mushroom duxelles and caramelized onions. Topped with bacon and a tangy chunky tomato sauce, it set the centerpiece for a meaty Wolfenoot feast that Vrghr enjoyed with neighbors & friends.

This meatloaf tasted amazingly good! The sweet flavor of the onions and the rich, umami flavors of the mushrooms spread through the tender, juicy meat, heightened by the smokey savory bacon and the tangy herbal tomato sauce. This is definitely NOT the pedestrian stereotypical bland and dry meatloaf that features predominately in horror stories of bad cooking!

It got rave reviews from all at the table!

Yes, it DOES take more work; not for the loaf itself, but for creating "real" caramelized onions and cooking up the mushroom duxelles. But the results are totally worth it. And you can easily create those two add-ins a day or two in advance, so putting the loaf together on serving day can be quick and easy.

A couple tips:

1) The bacon may not cook completely when you bake the loaf, especially if you use thick cut as wuffy did. Pre-cooking it for 3 minutes in a microwave, resting on and covered with paper towels to absorb the grease, will ensure its session in the oven will finish it up more crisply.
2) Try not to over-work the meat, but be sure to mix it enough to combine everything thoroughly and give it a little structure. The amount of panade will make this more tender, but you can still over-work it enough to create a more heavy and dense loaf if you go too far.
3) Wuff is starting the mushrooms off with beef stock instead of sauteing them in butter, because of a tip from America's Test Kitchen: Mushrooms are like little sponges when they first start cooking. If you start them with liquid, they will absorb it and retain more of their mushroom flavors as well as stay more tender the juicy. When the mushrooms have cooked to the point that the liquids are mostly gone, wuff continues to build their flavors by adding the butter and other ingredients to meld together

Give this dish a try if you want to impress for a special occasion, or are just craving a really great plate of meatloaf.

(Make 8-12 servings total, in 2 loaf pans)

INGREDIENTS:
For the Meaty part:

2 lbs ground Chuck
3 Large Eggs, beaten
1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 tsp Light Soy Sauce
4-5 strips Bacon, chopped fine or 1/2 C Real Bacon Bits
1/2 Jar (12-14 oz) Roasted Red Bell Peppers, diced
2 oz Parmesan Cheese, freshly grated
1/3 C Flat Leaf Parsley, diced/fine chopped or dried parsley flakes
1 tsp Garlic Powder or Granulated Garlic
2 tsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Italian Herbs Seasoning
1 tsp ground White Pepper
1/2 tsp fresh ground Black Pepper
1 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Cayenne Pepper
4-5 strips of Bacon (to top)

For the Panade

2-2.5 C very dry coarse breadcrumbs
1 can Evaporated Milk or 1 C heavy cream
2/3 C Milk
1 TBS Soy Sauce
2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

For the Mushrooms:

3/4 lb each Crimini (brown), Shiitaki, Trumpet, Portobello, & White Button (or select other mushooms with assorted flavors) Mushrooms, minced
1 1/2 C Beef Stock
2 TBS Butter
2 Shallots, minced
2 TBS Minced Garlic
2 oz Asiago or Parmesan Cheese (or a combo), fresh grated
1/2 tsp Thyme
1/2 tsp Savory
1/4 tsp crushed Rosemary
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp ground black Pepper
1/2 C White Wine
1/2 C Cream

For the Onions:

5 med-large Yellow Onions, sliced
2-3 TBS Butter
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp ground Black Pepper
1/2 tsp ground White Pepper
Pinch sugar

DIRECTIONS:

We want to keep the meat tender and juicy, not dense. So try to avoid over-working and over mixing it too much when combining the ingredients

Make The Panade:

Take several slices of French or Italian (or plain white if you can't get the others) bread and lightly toast them and dry them out in a toaster or in the oven.
- You want them very dry all the way through to the center, so it can be better to cut/tear them into pieces and dry/toast them in an oven or toaster oven.

Break or cut into chucks to make blending into crumbs easier. (Dried/toasted crumbs will soak up the milk better!)
Blend/crush the bread into coarse crumbs

Add the Worcestershire and soy sauce to the canned Evaporated Milk or Cream and the regular milk. Stir to combine. Place crumbs in a bowl and pour the milk mixture over the crumbs. Stir to thoroughly combine and allow to sit to soak up the milk for AT LEAST 20 minutes, stirring occasionally
(Can be made the day before and stored over night, covered with plastic wrap pressed down to the surface, in the refrigerator until ready to form the loaf)

For The Onions:

Slice the peeled onions in half and then slice those into rings about 1/4 in thick or less.

Heat the butter over medium high heat until melted in a large skillet. Add the onions. Sprinkle with the baking soda, salt, peppers, and sugar. Stir to combine
- The baking soda changes the PH of the onions and promotes browning. But don't use too much or it can affect the flavor. The sugar kicks the caramelizing off faster

Start with medium high heat until the onions just begin to color around the edges and go from translucent to very pale yellow/tan. Then reduce the heat to medium or medium low. You want the onions to gradually darken and reduce, not fry!

Continue cooking, stirring every 4-5 minutes or so, until the onions reduce to a thick, sweet condiment and take on a light brown/tan caramel color. Don't darken too much or you will pick up scorched flavors. The proper result is soft and sweet with nutty nuances and gentle onion flavor. (You may want to spread it on crackers like jam at this point - - DON'T! You need it for your meatloaf. Save the cracker spread for any leftovers. *smile*)
(Can be made a day or two in advance and kept covered until ready to form the loaf)

For The Mushrooms:

Dice up the mushrooms into very fine bits. You can use a food processor to create a fine dice but don't process them into a paste
Add the mushrooms to the skillet along with the beef stock/broth. (See the tip on starting mushrooms with liquid).

When the mushrooms have cooked down to the point most of the liquid is gone, add the butter, diced shallots, and garlic. Continue to cook the shallots are becoming translucent.

Add the wine, salt, pepper, rosemary, savory, and thyme and stir in. Continue to cook until nearly all the wine is gone

Add the cream and the cheeses and stir in once again. Continue to cook until the mixture is thick and
fairly stiff
(Can be made a day or two in advance and stored in the refrigerator until ready to form the loaf)

Create The Meat Mixture and Form The Loaf:
If using fresh bacon, in a large skillet over medium heat, gently sauté the diced bacon until the meat has just started to cook off but isn’t crisp. With a slotted spoon, remove the bacon bits to a large (and store the fat for other uses!). This step is not necessary if using real bacon bits

Add the ground beef and bacon to a large bowl. Sprinkle with the parsley, onion and garlic powders, Italian seasoning, cayenne, salt and peppers, and grated cheese.

Very Gently, squeeze the excess milk, if any, out of the breadcrumbs. There should not be much. Discard the liquid. Add the bread to the bowl with the meat

Add the soy and Worcestershire sauce to the beaten eggs and pour it all over the ingredients in the bowl. Stir together (clean hands work best) until everything is homogeneous and well-combined, but don’t squeeze excessively and over-work the meat. You want to create enough structure to hold together when sliced, but not too much to where the loaf becomes dense and heavy.

In 2 greased (with butter or cooking spray) large loaf pans, gently press a layer of meat into the bottom of the pan. Cover with a thick layer of the mushrooms and a thin layer of onions. Spread on another light layer of meat and repeat the mushrooms and onion layers. Finish with a last layer of meat.

Pre-cook the sliced bacon in the microwave for about 3 minutes, covered and laying on top of sheets of paper towels to absorb the grease. The bacon should be starting to turn translucent and very floppy, but not at all crisp (ensure it will finish up in the oven). Layer over the top of the loaf

Gently press everything together and refrigerate for an hour to set up/solidify slightly

Baste the top with Tangy Red Sauce (see below).

Bake The Loaf:

Preheat the oven to 325
Place a temperature probe/thermometer to read the temperature in the center of the loaf
Bake until the center of the loaf reached 160 degrees (70-90 minutes, check for temp at 60 minutes), basting with more sauce at the halfway point
If the top is browning too much around the edges at the 60 minute point, you can cover with foil while continuing to bake until interior reaches the proper temperature

Remove from oven an allow to set and rest for at least 10 minutes for the loaf to stabilize before slicing. The loaf should be stable enough to remove from the pan to a serving dish if you wish.

Carefully slice and serve. Offer more sauce on the side.

!DEVOUR!

Tangy Red Tomato Sauce:

This makes a nice, chunky, thick sauce with prominent tomato flavor, combined with tangy notes from the mustard, vinegar, onion and garlic, and Worcestershire sauce. The soy sauce brings an umami foundation with a bit of sweetness from the brown sugar. If you want a smoother sauce, just sub tomato sauce for the diced tomatoes. You might need to cook it longer to thicken if you make this change.

INGREDIENTS:

1 8 oz (small) can Tomato Paste
2 TBS Butter

1 14 oz can petite diced tomatoes
1 8 oz can Tomato Sauce
2 TBS Ketchup
1 TBS Brown Sugar (or to taste)
1 TBS Soy Sauce
1 TBS Cider Vinegar
2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 tsp Prepared Mustard Powder
2 tsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Garlic Powder or Granulated Garlic
Dash Cayenne Pepper
Salt & Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter until it starts to foam. Add the tomato paste and cook for 3-4 minutes until the paste is slightly cooked and caramelized in spots to heighten flavors.

Add the remaining ingredients and stir until thoroughly combined. Continue to cook until everything is heated through, flavors meld, and sauce is desired thickness. If too thick, thin with a bit of water or tomato juice as desired.

Note: you can "spike" this with a bit of hot sauce if you like more kick