Tuesday's Cookin With Mister C

So I had one of those proverbial days on the eve of Tax Deadline, and a billing error with the accountant pretty much derailed all my Studio work today. I'm blessed with a lot of very interesting jewelry commissions, but the delay is killing me. Sooo, with an eye towards preparing something that I can mash into goo I realized that my kids had never experienced the savage joy of the mighty meatloaf. Tonight's the night...

Barbecue Meatloaf with Smashed Potatoes and Vegetable Medley.

The Smashed Potatoes are simply a bit more... man-mashed, you could say. The vegetable medley is basically whatever I can find that I can steam together. That saves more time to devote to the meatloaf: It's an easy list of ingredients but more importantly it lets me rummage through my cabinets like a mad scientist, wield sharp knives and mangle meat with my hands. Some days a guy just has to make some meatloaf.

Preheat oven to 375F
1.5lb lean ground beef or turkey
1 cup oatmeal or breadcrumbs
1 onion chopped
1 egg
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1.5 tsp salt or to taste
1/2 tsp coarse ground pepper or to taste (I use at least 1 tbsp)
24oz bottle of Barbecue Sauce of your choice or you can make your own:
16oz tomato sauce (fresh or from the can)
1 cup water
2 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp spicy mustard
1 tsp vinegar
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Combine three-quarters of the sauce with the rest of the ingredients, mangling until unrecognizable as anything other than raw meatloaf with onions. Dump the mixture into a casserole dish (9x6 should do), level it off and place in the oven for 30 minutes. Add the remaining sauce to cover the top of the meatloaf and bake another 30 minutes or until the loaf is 165F in the center. Before slicing, take 5 minutes to fix yourself a refreshing drink. With rum. And an umbrella. And a straw. That's better. Have another sip, to prepare for the slicing. Lay it out just like Mom used to do, diner-menu style if you want to add some presentation value to your meal, and the leftovers make a fine, tangy Shepherd's Pie. Just mangle them a bit more, heat and serve.