Better than Steak Meatloaf

What do you do when you're feeling homesick and in a country that can't figure out how to make a decent hamburger? You make meatloaf, of course. But not just any meatloaf: A Bachelor’s “Better Than Steak” Meatloaf.

I'd love to say this was a family recipe handed down through six or seven generations, but it actually comes from the classic 1994 The Great American Meatloaf Contest Cookbook, modified slightly to suit my taste.

It's not your normal meatloaf. Instead of pouring on the ketchup to cover up the taste of heaps of meat, this meatloaf uses bread, cream, and cheese to accentuate the taste of a beef/pork/veal mixture. It's a rolled meatloaf, meaning you create the meatloaf exterior and then roll it around the insides, making the final output a series of layers. I've made it several times for friends and dinner parties, always to rave reviews.

Ingredients:

Meat Mixture
1 small white onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
6-8 fresh basil leaves; minced
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
8-10 drops Worcestershire sauce
2½ lbs ground beef
1¼ lbs ground veal
¾ lb ground mild pork sausage
Editor's note: You can modify the meat mixture to taste. I've also used a beef/turkey/pork mixture, a beef/lamb/pork mixture and, for smaller loafs, just a beef/pork mixture. I'm a fan of very lean beef for health reasons, but the higher-fat beef does give it a bit more flavor

Filling
½ small loaf sour-dough French bread
½ cup half and half or full cream
1 cup crumbled bleu cheese
3 tbsp minced fresh parsley

Preparation Instructions
First, create your meat mixture. In a large bowl, combine the various types of meat, adding in the onions, garlic, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, basil, and eggs. Making meatloaf requires getting dirty. Wash your hands and then mix the meat up thoroughly by kneading through it with your hands. This will take some effort, but is worth it -- otherwise you'll end up with the beef, pork, and veal all in different parts of the meatloaf.

Next, lay down a strip of about 12 inches of wax paper or aluminum foil. Pull the meat out of the bowl and flatten it out on the foil. It should be about 1/3" thick, a little smaller than the width of the foil, and extend, well, until you run out of meat. Keep two small pieces of meat aside.

Now, find a long pan (a baking pan will do). Then, slide the French bread lengthwise so that you've got the crust and some soft bread. Pour half-and-half or cream in the bottom of the pan and then lay the bread on top of the half-and-half. Press the bread downwards so it sucks up all the cream. Take the bread and lay it on top of the meat. Repeat this with the remaining pieces of the bread until the meat is covered. Leave about a quarter inch on each side of the bread, as you'll want to be able to seal the meat when you're finished. Next, take crumbled blue cheese and spread it out on top of the meat. Add parsley (I've also used rosemary, which adds some nice flavor).

Now for the fun part. You want to roll the meatloaf up. Starting on one end, use the paper to roll the meatloaf, as if you were rolling up a newspaper. Keep it pretty tight, if you can. You want it to look like a cake roll. When you're finished, seal the two ends of the meatloaf using the extra meat you kept around.

Place the meatloaf on a lightly oiled cookie sheet. Cook in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for approximately one hour (depending on the size of the meatloaf). Let stand for 10-15 minutes before serving.

And let us know if you try it!