Tracy's Meatloaf

Growing up Meatloaf, peas and mashed potatoes were one of my favorite comfort meals my mother would make.  Not too long ago, I read a great article in Fine Cooking.  They always do a great section on how to create your own recipes - in this case, meatloaf.  They give you lists of things you can put together, so this is what I came up with for my own version.  My son loves horseradish, so we add it not only in the meatloaf, but in the mashed potatoes as well.  If you feel it's too strong, then edit to your tastes.  Enjoy! 

Ingredients:
1 stalk celery
2 small carrots
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic - minced
One pound of ground meat (2 cups)
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1 tbsp Worcestershire
1 tbsp fennel seeds - chopped or ground
2-3 tbsp chopped fresh herbs - my favorites are sage and parsley, but I will add thyme if it's on hand.
2 tbsp horseradish (you can do 1/4 cup if you're not feeding it to kids
1 egg
1/4 cup milk

Salt and Pepper
Bacon/Ketchup for topping

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350F (170C)

Chop the onion, celery and carrots very, very small and saute for about 8-10 minutes until soft.  Add the minced garlic and saute for one minute longer - set aside in a bowl to cool while you prep everything else.

In a separate bowl, combine breadcrumbs, Parmesan, mustard powder, fennel seeds and herbs with the ground meat. In another bowl beat the egg, milk and Worcestershire and then add the horseradish. Once mixed then add to the ground meat mixture and incorporate.

I use a rectangular baking pan and shape the meat loaf in the center of the dish like a flat log, not having the sides of the loaf touch the dish. This extra room on the sides is needed to top with the bacon as well as so the juices from the bacon can drip down to the sides (in a loaf pan, the juices would just sit on top and the meat will be very soggy). Lay the bacon strips across the top of the meat loaf side by side, not on top of each other. If then ends of the bacon hang over the sides and are too long, don't worry, it will shrink while cooking. Next pour a small amount of ketchup over the top and rub to cover the top and sides - adding more to your preference. Place in the middle of preheated oven and bake for about 30-45 minutes, depending on your oven. If you have a meat thermometer you want the center to cook to 160 degrees.

For the potatoes
After you have prepared mashed potatoes, add 1 tbsp butter, 1/4 cup sour cream and then jarred horseradish to taste. When serving it to our son we do about 1-2 tsp. When it's just for us, we do 1/4 cup.
If you want to save time - just add some diced potatoes to the baking dish with the meatloaf and drizzle with a bit of olive oil.  They can back with the meatloaf and ease up on the time and prep.

For the peas
We just cook frozen peas with a touch of salt and butter.  If you want to punch up the flavor, add some garlic to the peas while you cook them in butter.