This video recipe for Trader Joe's meatloaf was produced for a few reasons. First, I like meatloaf, and Trader Joe's (a chain of great little grocery stores) has some wonderful ingredients that make this recipe easy and delicious.Secondly, I would love to be hired as a sort of video spokesperson for them - showing off their products for the benefit of my foodwish faithful, as well as the benefit of my feeble checking account balance.
Since I really use and love their products, it seems to be a perfect fit. The only problem is I don't think they know about me yet. I have people working on this, but I thought their job would be made easier if I had a few examples they could refer to.
Regarding the actual cooking of this meatloaf; I've always told people to cook their meatloaf to an internal temp of 155 degrees F. I've begged them to get a quality meat thermometer and use it religiously. I've told them the cooking times given in meatloaf recipes are only an approximation that will vary greatly.So, it's with some shame that I now confess I haven't followed my own advice. I feel like the cardiologist who gets caught buying fried pork rinds at the mini-mart… "They're… err… for my friend."
Since I usually use the same amount of meat (2 pounds) and fixings, I just cook my loaf for one-hour and ten minutes at 325 degrees F, and it comes out beautifully moist.
But, for whatever reason, when I removed this lovely loaf o' meat from the oven, I decided to pop in a thermometer to check. As you can see from the completely un-edited photo here, the final internal temp was…155 degrees exactly. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter
3 cup diced onions, carrots, celery
2 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup roasted tomato salsa
1/2 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup fine breadcrumbs
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 1/2 tsp salt
pinch of cayenne
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
For the glaze:
1/2 cup roasted tomato salsa
3 tbsp brown sugar
For the sauce:
1/2 the cooked veggies
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
3 cups beef broth
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce