Bacon-wrapped Meatloaf

I have a confession to make: before tasting this meal, I’d never in my life had meatloaf. I’ve always been curious about the taste and texture, and didn’t really know what I was getting myself into by making it. To be safe, and make sure I loved it, I followed the meatloaf recipe in The Fanny Farmer Cookbook, and added bacon all around it as an extra precaution. It turns out meatloaf is actually really delicious and I really look forward to eating it again! Making this recipe was also the first time I ever used Worcestershire sauce in my cooking. I think I was just afraid of it because of its crazy spelling! The flavours were excellent.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. of lean ground beef

2 cups of breadcrumbs

1 onion, chopped

2 eggs

¼ cup of Mayonnaise

2 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce

1 ½ tsp of Dijon Mustard

1 ½ tsp of Salt

½ tsp of Pepper

¾ cup of Milk

A pack of bacon (you may not need to use the entire pack, and you can also layer slices on top instead of all the way around for a “healthier” alternative!)

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl until well combined. Pre-heat the oven to 350-degrees. Line a loaf pan with strips of bacon, making sure each strip started on alternate sides of the loaf pan edges (so they can be wrapped all the way around). Once the bacon is placed, pat the meat mixture into the loaf pan evenly, and tightly wrap the bacon around the top, tucking it into the opposing edge. Bake for 45 minutes in the 350-degree oven, and then raise the temperature to 400-degrees for 10 minutes to brown the bacon a bit more. Let it cool a few minutes before slicing; serve with mashed potatoes and gravy.

(Side-note: Place the loaf pan on a cookie sheet to avoid having to clean your oven... Bacon makes a mess)

Bon Appétit!