(Toaster Oven) Meatloaf With Chili Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon brown sugar 
• 0.3 cup chili sauce for glaze
• 4 servings salt and pepper freshly ground
• 2 large eggs lightly beaten
• 1 cup parsley fresh chopped
• 6 cloves garlic minced
• 1.5 pounds ground pork 
• 1.5 pounds ground round 
• 0.3 cup catsup for glaze
• 0.5 cup milk 
• 2 small onion finely chopped
• 0.5 cup parmesan cheese grated
• 4 slices sandwich bread white

Equipment

• bowl
• frying pan
• oven
• knife
• mixing bowl
• loaf pan
• kitchen thermometer
• toaster
• chefs knife

Directions

1. Preheat toaster oven to 350°F, with rack at bottom. In a large bowl, pour milk over bread and let soak about 30 seconds.
2. Add ground round, pork, onion, garlic, 1/4 cup chili sauce, 1/4 cup ketchup, parsley, Parmesan, eggs, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Using your hands, mix until combined, but do not overmix or your meatloaf will become dense.
3. Divide mixture in half. Gently form each half into a log, placing one log in an 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch loaf pan. Do not press down or into corners. For other log, you may refrigerate (for up to 1 day) or freeze for later use.
4. Bake 50 minutes.
5. Mix together 1/8 cup of chili sauce and ketchup and the tablespoon of brown sugar.
6. Brush glaze onto top of loaf; continue cooking until juices run clear and an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part registers 160°F, about 10 minutes more.
7. Remove from oven; let rest 5 minutes. Turn loaf out of pan; slice into 3/4-inch-thick slices.
8. Repeat step 3 for second loaf.
9. Note: For even more crisp edge surface, you can form meat mixture into a loaf shape and bake directly drip pan.
10. I decided to make my National Meatloaf Day meatloaf at the office. I figured, why not? We have a toaster oven. We have a sink. We have more counter space there than I have at my place. Plus, there's a Whole Foods a mere 3 blocks away. So after a quick mid-morning trip to the store and a bit of prep work, I had some of my mis en place
11. The ingredients, more or less. Well, less. Less the chili sauce, white bread slices, salt and pepper, brown sugar, ketchup.
12. The ingredients, more or less. Well, less. Less the chili sauce, white bread slices, salt and pepper, brown sugar, ketchup.
13. I brought in my chef's knife and a loaf pan, but I forgot to bring in my really big mixing bowl. Actually, I left the house with it that morning, but I remembered that we had this *fairly* large bowl at the office. It wasn't big enough, though. I really should have brought in my big bowl. In this bowl are all the ingredients. Ready to be mixed by hand.
14. The recipe makes enough for two loaves. I only had on loaf pan, so I baked the one on the left and placed its less-fortunate, not-to-be-cooked "meathunk" in a Ziplock bag for cooking tomorrow.
15. The recipe says to mix by hand but not to overdo it. Overmixing yields a tough meatloaf. I don't think I overmixed it.
16. The recipe makes enough for two loaves. I only had on loaf pan, so I baked the one on the left and placed its less-fortunate, not-to-be-cooked "meathunk" in a Ziplock bag for cooking tomorrow.
17. One of the biggest struggles I have with meatloaf is keeping it from crumbling. Would mine hold together?
18. No! It crumbled. Dagnabbit! I don't think I mixed thoroughly enough to distribute the torn bread and eggs as binder. I also will use finer breadcrumbs in the future. What I used were closer to nibblets you'd feed birds. So this looked good as a *loaf* but disintegrated at the touch of the knife. My failed attempt at meatloaf reminded me of that *other* Meatloaf—the fat singin' dude. Has Weird Al done a parody song sung to the tune of "I Would Do Anything for Love"? ... "I would eat anything for lunch. Yes, I would eat anything for lunch. But I won't eat that" Hmm ... The truth is, I did eat the meatloaf, even crumbly....
19. My solution was to use "post-bake binding agents," aka two slices of bread. Which was fine, because I was able to move on to my favorite thing about meatloaf anyway—the Leftover-Meatloaf Sandwich. Bonus: This one was warm, right out of the oven. While this meatloaf made the office smell great, nobody except me seemed to really dig in. Silence told me all I needed to know. This meatloaf was most assuredly not serious eats.
20. Meatloaf II, Electric Toaster Oven Boogaloo
21. The following day, I decided to make the second loaf. I had dropped the second ball of meatloaf mixture into a large Ziploc bag and refrigerated it. So, about an hour and a half before lunchtime, I grabbed it, let it sit outside the fridge to warm up a bit and then, remembering the disastrous first attempt, I mixed this loaf a little more. With only half the meat, there was room in the bowl to mix it easily. Anyway. Here's a picture of the toaster oven I've been using. She's a beaut, ain't she?