Meatloaf and Potatoes

Ok, I know that this picture probably isn't that appetizing, but here's the thing: after a couple of weeks worth of recipes that didn't quite float my boat, I was ready for something to finally go right! I was also determined to win over my picky-eater husband even though he's not a huge fan of meatloaf or of potatoes (although he will eat mashed potatoes!). Thankfully, I even accomplished this lofty goal! This means that this is definitely a dinner to be passed on for others to enjoy!



We'll start with the potatoes, because mine took an eternity to cook and I wish I'd started them before I started the meatloaf.

Take a bunch of small potatoes or a couple of large potatoes cut in half, and start them boiling in a big pot of salted water. Then preheat the oven to 350.

Then gather up your ingredients for the meatloaf! Make sure you don't skip the step where it says to cook the onions and garlic before adding them to the mix. Crunchy onions in meatloaf are not my favorite.

Mix everything together and try to get past the disgusting appearance.

The original recipe (link below) comes with great explanations as to why certain ingredients are included. I highly recommend reading it!

Then brush the meatloaf with a yummy sauce made mostly of ketchup (please don't gag)...

...and wrap it in bacon! I probably should have used more bacon strips and wrapped in the other direction, but I'm sure it didn't make a huge difference.

Pop the meatloaf in the oven for about an hour (I don't like having a lot of extra moisture in my meatloaf, so I kept mine in the whole hour even though it was only about 2/3 of the recipe).

When the potatoes are well cooked (and hopefully there are still about 15-20 minutes left on the meatloaf--yes, it really did take an hour for my potatoes to cook through this way), take them out of the water and place them on a greased baking sheet. Grease it REALLY WELL or use a silicone mat. Or both. You really don't want to have to spend half an hour scraping these things off the pan.

Then, you're supposed to use the following kind of masher for the next steps:

I, unfortunately, have a very fun and unique kind of masher.

So my potatoes didn't come out looking quite like they were supposed to. You'll have to see the official recipe (link below) to see how they were supposed to look.

I mashed mine with my masher and also with the bottom of a coffee cup. I tried them flat side down and flat side up. Every way resulted in messy-looking potatoes, but ultimately, they all taste amazing.

So smash your potatoes to bits (or, if you're the organized type, maybe just cut them into smallish chunks) then brush olive oil over them. I used canola oil, because I'm cheap. So there. Next time I might brush them with the meatloaf glaze instead.

Then sprinkle them with kosher salt if you happen to find some in the way back of a random cabinet. Sprinkle with regular salt if that's what you have. Then sprinkle with some spices. I went with rosemary, but I couldn't really taste it. I recommend picking another flavor unless you have fresh rosemary. I imagine that would have much better flavor.

By now your meatloaf should be almost done. Depending on your crispiness-preferences for the meatloaf, you can leave it in or take it out while you turn the oven up to 450 for the potatoes. I recommend leaving the meatloaf in. You should let it rest and cool for about 15 minutes before serving, but the potatoes take longer than that to cook. Sorry about that. I vote crispy meatloaf.

Whatever your timing choices, meatloaf out, potatoes in. The potatoes should get good and crispy and pretty dark around the edges...but I forgot to take a picture.

You should probably make a vegetable at this point. I also forgot to do that. Where has my memory gone?!

Then slice up the meatloaf and serve it all up! And smile incessantly because dinner came out perfectly :)

The Recipes:
Since neither of these were my own creations, and I followed the recipes pretty closely, I'll send you right to the sources.

Pioneer Woman's Crash Hot Potatoes & Our Best Bites' Glazed Bacon-Wrapped Meatloaf
My only change in the meatloaf was to omit the mustard, and I used a couple of tablespoons of dried parsley in place of the fresh; for the glaze I used about 2/3 ketchup and 1/3 hot sauce, since I'm not a big fan of spicy things. I highly recommend brushing the potatoes with the red meatloaf glaze.

Enjoy!