traditional meatloaf

Bon Chappétit actually started out as a recipe bank of sorts. It was a way for me to begin documenting and storing recipes that either my mother had passed down to me, or new ones that I'd tried and wanted to tell her about. It was a much more organized method than the random emails and newspaper clippings, Word documents (she gave me a Word doc recipe book when I'd gone to college) and the other various means we've used over the years.

That's really at the core of what this is all about - sharing recipes with those you love. Whether it be your parents, grandparents, friends back home (some of who may have blogs of their own), friends from wherever you may be now, or perfect strangers. Sometimes even more so than photographs, a meal can evoke all kinds of memories and emotions.

You may be wondering what this all has to do with meatloaf? Well, meatloaf has always been one of my favorites. I've always loved my mom's - even if it was one of the simpler dishes she made. It was hers, and it always reminded me of home no matter where I had it. Recently, I found my great grandmother's recipe buried in an email from my great aunt. I decided to give it a whirl, and even though I never had the pleasure of having the meal directly with my great grandmother, I still had nostalgic feelings while preparing and enjoying the meal. It was a true pleasure to make, and I got several meals out of it (including a breakfast, which I'll post soon). So without any additional rambling, here's what you'll need:

For the loaf:

• 2 lbs. of meat (I used 1 lb. of ground beef, and an additional lb. of beef/pork/veal combo)
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1/2 onion, grated
• 1/4 finely chopped green pepper
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup cracker crumbs (I crumbled up Ritz)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon pepper
• 3 slices bacon

For the sauce:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon prepared mustard
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• touch of water

Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Combine all of the ingredients for the loaf in a large bowl and mix together. Place into a large baking dish and mold into a loaf. Place the strips of bacon over top.

In a small bowl, combine the sauce ingredients, adding just a touch or two of water until you achieve a syrupy consistency. Pour half of the sauce over the loaf and cook for 45 minutes

After that, remove the excess juice from the bottom of the pan and pour the rest of the sauce over top. Cook for an additional 45 minutes.

I've actually used an almost identical sauce over salmon in the past. This seriously made my apartment smell amazing. I highly enjoyed helping myself to almost the entire loaf (I know), and even more than that, I loved being able to take part in the age-old tradition of sharing a family recipe.

Bon Chappétit!