Best Meatloaf EVER!! (Recipe Included!!)

So, my boyfriend and I were watching ‘The Best Thing I Ever Ate’ (‘The Classics’ version) the other night, and Ina Garten’s selection was the Meatloaf at The 1770 House Restaurant and Inn, located in East Hampton, NY.  When they showed this meatloaf, I have to say it didn’t look as appetizing as the meatloafs I’m used to.  You know, the kind with some type of sauce on top…etc.

This meatloaf consists of beef, pork and veal, along with other kinds of flavorful goodies.  Then the sauce is chicken or beef broth simmered with butter and cloves of roasted garlic.  After perusing the internetz for about 10 minutes looking for the recipe, I was delighted to find that the Food Network posted the recipe on their site!!  Oh happy happy day!

I made this meatloaf last night (sorry, it makes enough for 6-8 ppl and I froze the rest after we ate…no picture taken.), paired it with homemade mashed potatoes and whole kernel corn.

And it was one of the best dishes I’ve made in quite a while.  The taste was savory, and the sauce with the roasted garlic was spot on!  I know I’ve posted my own version of meatloaf on this blog a while back, and I do figure I’ll make that version again.  But you can rest assured…this one is for sure to be in heavy rotation.

Here’s the link!!

Beef Broth

This is a beef broth that I use frequently.  It’s published in the ‘Cucina Rustica’ cookbook penned by Viana La Place and Evan Kleiman.  If you have this book, the recipe is on pg 119.  Roasting soup bones in the oven first gives hearty beef flavor to this basic stock.  In addition to soups, use the beefy broth to provide extra flavor in stews, gravies and sauces.    

This recipe is hearty, bold, and flavorful (as you can see from the beautiful bowl of Pho, pictured below).

Makes approx 4 quarts

Ingredients

 

7 lbs beef bones, such as shank

Olive oil for coating bones

1 large onion, unpeeled, coarsley chopped

1 large carrot, cut in large pieces

1 celery stalk with tops, cut in large pieces

10 mushrooms

1 head of garlic, cut in half

5 sprigs parsley

5 sprigs fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

10 peppercorns

6-7 quarts of water

Directions

 

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees f.  Rub the beef bones with olive oil and place in a heavy roasting pan.  Roast bones for about 20 minutes.  Add the onion and continue to roast for about 30 minutes, or until bones brown.  Remove the bones and onion from that oven and carefully place in a large stockpot with the vegetables, herbs, and spices.  Add water to cover by 4 inches and bring to a simmer.  Skim off scum and fat until broth is clear.  Simmer broth gently at least 4 hours.  Strain the broth, use it immediately or refrigerate for later use.  When broth is well chilled, carefully lift off any remaining congealed fat and discard it.

print this recipe here

Chicken Broth

Here is a recipe I found quite a few years ago, and have used frequently.  If you have the cookbook ‘Cucina Rustica’  penned by Viana La Place and Evan Kleiman, then you have this recipe.  It’s on page 118. 

This is a simple, versatile, and flavorful broth that can be used as a base for soups (as pictured to the left), sauces, and from time to time, for moistening braised dishes or pasta sauces.  Hint:  If you want the broth to be richly colored, leave the peel on the onion.  It will add a deep burnished-gold color to the broth.

Ingredients

  

1 medium stewing chicken

1 lb chicken backs and necks

Water

2 carrots, trimmed and peeled

3 celery stalks, washed and trimmed

3 sprigs Italian parsley with stems

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1 small onion

1 bay leaf

5-10 peppercorns

Directions

 

Wash the chicken carefully, rinsing out any blood that remains in the cavity, and gently pull of any extra fat attached to the breast or tail area.  Place the whole chicken and backs and necks in a large, heavy soup pot.   Cover chicken completely with water.  Bring to a boil and skim off the scum that rises to the top.  When there is no more scum, add the remaining ingredients and lower the heat. 

Barely simmer the broth, uncovered or partly covered, for 2 hours.  Strain the broth and either use it immediately or refrigerate it for later use.  When broth is well chilled, carefully lift off the congealed chicken fat and discard.

print this recipe here