Thursday, January 17, 2013

Barbecue Meatloaf

This evening I was in the mood to make Barbecue Meatloaf which is basically a meatloaf cooked with barbecue sauce on top.  Since most commercially prepared barbecue sauces contain sugar, high fructose corn syrup, etc., I tried making it by using Penzey's Spices "Barbecue of the Americas".  The directions say it can be used either as a dry rub or mixed with plain tomato sauce to make barbecue sauce...so that is what I did.  The ingredients in their barbecue spice mix are: salt, paprika, allspice, nutmeg, cayenne, black pepper, white pepper, cinnamon, thyme and ginger....WHEW, that's a lot of different spices!!!  My review of this barbecue sauce after tasting it is probably a 4 or 5 out of 10.  It wasn't awful but it wasn't the flavor I was hoping for and I just didn't care for that combination of spices.  Next time I will try making my own barbecue spice combo.  Most of Penzey's spice blends are really good -- this is the first one I haven't been crazy about.  Despite the "not so awesome" sauce...the meal turned out good.

My meatloaf turned out tender, juicy and good (after scraping the sauce off of it).  I made a small meatloaf using ground chicken breast.  I added lightly sauteed shallots and Poblano peppers, egg, a little shredded cheddar, splash of olive oil, tomato sauce and couple tablespoons of golden flaxmeal to help hold it together.  I served it along with Cheddar Cauliflower Mash and Roasted Asparagus that I added a squeeze of fresh Meyer Lemon juice to before serving to give it just a hint of sweet-tart citrusy flavor.  I love Meyer lemons -- and sadly their season is short.  For those that don't know what a Meyer lemon is, they're an orange colored lemon that is reportedly a cross between a lemon and mandarin orange. They are extremely fragrant too. I snapped a photo of our meal below. Enjoy!

BOOM!



6 comments:

Sami said...

Looks great.

Lola said...

I usually make a type of bbq sauce for the top of my meatloaf. I use ketchup (organit w/o HCFS) and add in some worchester sauce and some spicey seasonings.

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Lola -- I will definitely try that next time -- I think I didn't care for the combination of spices in the BBQ spice rub I used. I'm heading to Whole Foods to see what I can find and I'll look for organic ketchup like you suggested without the HCFS. Thanks!

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Thanks, Sami!

Cbaggett said...

How do we get the recipe when we view the picture of the meals that we like? For example, this one.

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Cbaggett! Usually I actually post an official "recipe" -- but on this one I only listed the ingredients I used instead (in the 2nd paragraph of the post). I wasn't happy with how the "BBQ Sauce tasted or turned out", therefore I didn't want anyone to repeat what I did. Until I find or create a better BBQ sauce, I would suggest using a commercical ketchup made without any high fructose corn syrup in it and spicing it up with possibly some chipolte chili powder or your favorite spices. The meatloaf had:
1 pound of ground chicken breast
1 shallot, finely diced and sauteed
1/2 Poblano pepper, finely diced and sauteed
1/4 cup tomato sauce (you could use the ketchup without HFCS)
1 egg
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 tablespoon shredded cheddar
2 tablespoons golden flax meal

I mixed all that together and shaped it into a small loaf in a shallow pan and baked for about 40 minutes at 350 until it was almost done. Then, remove from oven and brush on about 1/4 cup of BBQ sauce (or ketchup you have seasoned)and bake an additional 10 minutes or until done in the center.

I was trying to make a meatloaf that was like a "BBQ'd chicken meatloaf" -- unfortunately the sauce I made wasn't very good. I hope this helps! When I perfect the recipe, I will post it.