Mike’s Favorite Meatloaf Dinner

My husband LOVES meatloaf. And when we have meatloaf, he always wants to have homemade garlic mashed potatoes, and peas (because we both like to mix our peas with our mashed potatoes.) So here we go.

Aunt Josefa’s Mashed Potatoes–My dad’s youngest sister who lived in Chicago

4 lbs baking potatoes peeled and quartered

1/2 stick of butter

8 oz cream cheese

Milk

Garlic Salt to taste

Add potatoes to a dutch oven and add enough water to cover. Boil until the potatoes are soft but not mushy.

Place the butter and cream cheese in the bowl of a large stand mixer. Drain the cooked potatoes and add them to the mixer bowl. Let stand for 4 or 5 minutes to melt the butter and cream cheese.

Beat potatoes on low speed until they start to come together. Add milk until they are smooth and the correct consistency. (If I am making them ahead–even 30 minutes–I make them a little runny so that they aren’t too dry when it’s time to eat.)

Add garlic salt to taste. You can also add pepper. Mike doesn’t like black pepper, so I usually omit it. Grease a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish and spread the potatoes evenly in the pan. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 375 degrees.

Variations:

You can:

–Sprinkle with paprika (the way Aunt Josefa used to make them)

–Sprinkle with french fried onions.

–Sprinkle with cheese

–Stir in sauteed onions or green onions

Lipton’s Souperior Meat Loaf

2 lbs ground beef (you can also substitute ground turkey for half of the meat)

3/4 cup plain dry breadcrumbs (I use panko)

1 envelope Lipton Onion Soup Mix

3/4 cup hot tap water

1/3 cup ketchup

2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Let the beef sit on the counter for about half an hour so it combines more evenly with the rest of the ingredients. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a large measuring cup to reconstitute the soup mix and moisten the bread crumbs.

Add the meat and the other ingredients to a large stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix until just combined.

Grease a 13 x 9 inch casserole and form the meat into a loaf. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Variation:

I used these same basic proportions for Italian meatballs and stromboli patties (a hamburger patty made from this mixture that we make into sandwiches–see below)

2 lbs hamburger or ground turkey

1 1/2 cups marinara sauce

3/4 cup Italian style dry breadcrumbs

2 eggs

2 tsp Italian seasoning

2 tbsp garlic salt

20 oz turkey Sweet Italian Sausage with casings removed

Follow instructions above. Instead of forming into a loaf, form into meatballs using a portioning scoop (best invention ever), or form into patties that will fit on the rolls you are using for the sandwiches. You will need to make the patties larger than the rolls because they will shrink when you bake them. Bake the meatballs or patties for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees, or until cooked through. These freeze well and keep for three months in the freezer.

For the sandwiches:

Marinara Sauce

Mayonnaise

Provolone (Our FAVORITE is Bel Gioso)

Crusty rolls (we prefer Ciabatta rolls)

Sliced onion

Sliced Tomato

Shredded lettuce

Split the rolls and toast them under the broiler until golden brown. Top one side with the mayonnaise and the cheese and top the other side with the marinara sauce. Broil until the cheese is melted. Top with stromboli patty, onion, tomato, and lettuce. Serve.

This is a sandwich that we used to get in college from Giovanni’s or Freddy’s in Danville, KY. And while I loved those, this sandwich is even better.

And just because, here’s a pretty picture.