I have a tiny apartment and an equally tiny kitchen.
Scratch that. Depending on how you look at it, I either have a large kitchen with a couch, TV, and bookshelves or a living room with a sink, refrigerator, and stove. Yes, my living room and kitchen are essentially one large room. Oh, New York, New York.
Anyway, with literally a foot of counter space to work with, cooking at home is sometimes a bit of a chore. That's why I went a little crazy the other day here at the Serious Eats office, cleaning up and organizing our underused kitchenette to free up a relatively ample work surface. My plan was to make my National Meatloaf Appreciation Day meatloaf in the toaster oven here. Crazy, I know, but it was either that or the microwave, and not even I am willing to go there.
So with a made-over work-ready kitchenette on stand-by, I made a quick mid-morning trip to the Whole Foods a couple blocks from the office, with my recipe in hand.
My recipe is one I got from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine. And just so you don't think I never cook at home, I'll have you know that this recipe is taped to the inside of my cupboard there, with annotations and such scrawled on it.
Recipe Details
(Toaster Oven) Meatloaf With Chili Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup milk
- 4 slices white sandwich bread, torn into pieces
- 1 1/2 pounds ground round
- 1 1/2 pounds ground pork
- 2 small onions, finely chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup chili sauce, plus 1/4 cup for glaze
- 1/4 cup ketchup, plus 1/4 cup for glaze
- 1 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
Directions
Preheat toaster oven to 350°F, with rack at bottom. In a large bowl, pour milk over bread and let soak about 30 seconds. Add ground round, pork, onion, garlic, 1/4 cup chili sauce, 1/4 cup ketchup, parsley, Parmesan, eggs, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Using your hands, mix until combined, but do not overmix or your meatloaf will become dense.
Divide mixture in half. Gently form each half into a log, placing one log in an 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch loaf pan. Do not press down or into corners. For other log, you may refrigerate (for up to 1 day) or freeze for later use.
Bake 50 minutes. Mix together 1/8 cup of chili sauce and ketchup and the tablespoon of brown sugar. Brush glaze onto top of loaf; continue cooking until juices run clear and an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part registers 160°F, about 10 minutes more.
Remove from oven; let rest 5 minutes. Turn loaf out of pan; slice into 3/4-inch-thick slices.
Repeat step 3 for second loaf.
Note: For even more crisp edge surface, you can form meat mixture into a loaf shape and bake directly drip pan.