No, this is not supermodel pretty. It is meatloaf. And a little delicate because it is made with less liquid than most recipes: no milk. The usual way to make meatloaf “pretty” is to load it up with ketchup or other decorations.
But you don’t want to do that here. You don’t need to do that. This is the first meatloaf I ever made that required nothing extra. No ketchup. No Worcestershire sauce. No grilled onions. Even, no salt and pepper.
This meatloaf is, in a word, perfect in flavor. It’s from The Texas Cowboy Kitchen so there is definite Southwestern or Tex-Mex architecture to the dish. You can, of course, adjust the flavor to your preference: more hot sauce, pepper jack cheese instead of Monterey jack, a splash of diced jalapeno or green chiles.
This dish will be better if you can find an upgraded ground sirloin to use. If you can talk to your local butcher, ask him to grind his best.
This loaf is good out of the oven. And better the next day in that sandwich with mayo and pickles.
The name Gonzales Meatloaf? It’s the town closed to Nolan Ryan’s family ranch and this recipe was developed with beef from Nolan’s ranch.
Gonzales Meatloaf
Yield: serves 6
Ingredients:
2 pounds ground sirloin
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup dried bread crumbs
4 cloves garlic minced
1 red onion, chopped
2 tomatoes, seeded and diced
½ cup chopped cilantro
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ cups grated Monterey jack cheese
2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce [lots of potential for flavor modification here]
½ cup brown sugar
Kosher salt
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients, mixing well. Place the mixture in a greased loaf pan.
Bake for 45 minutes, then increase the heat to 425°F and cook for an additional 15 minutes, or until the meatloaf is firm to the touch.
Remove and serve warm.
Source: The Texas Cowboy Kitchen by Grady Spears and June Naylor [Andrews McMeel, 2007]