Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Bacon and Bleu Cheese Meatloaf

If you don't love bleu cheese.... well you should.  :)
Here's a low carb friendly comfort food. My husband is the meatloaf lover in the family. By taking out the bread crumbs (I detest soggy bread products) and adding bacon/bleu cheese, I think its much more palatable. Delicious even. Think bleu cheese burgers... in a loaf.
Serve this with some buttery mashed cauliflower and you're all set.

4 slices bacon
½ cup finely chopped yellow onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds ground beef
1 cup  blue cheese, crumbled
2 eggs
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 cups parmesan


-Sauce-

4 Tablespoons Butter
1 Yellow Onion cut into half rings (or whatever)
2oz cream cheese (about 4T)
1/2 cup Crumbled Blue Cheese

Preheat the oven to 350°.
In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, cook bacon until it almost crisp, about 3 to 4 minutes.

* I've actually taken to just wrapping the bacon around the loaf b/c otherwise it's hard to know if the meatloaf is done. The bacon makes it look pink even when it's done. *

Remove from skillet and coarsely chop. Place in a large mixing bowl.
In the same pan, using the remaining rendered fat, add the onion and garlic.
Saute until translucent, about 5 minutes, over medium heat.
Add to the bowl with the bacon.
To the mixing bowl, add the ground beef, blue cheese, eggs, and thyme.
Use your hands to combine, but don't over mix.
Add parmesan. Toss to combine.
Form the mixture into a loaf. You can freeze it at this point if you'd like.
Place loaf on a cooling rack that has been set on top of a jelly roll pan. (needs to have ridges to keep the fat from going everywhere.)
Bake until the loaf is firm and reaches an internal temperature of 160ºF, about 45-55 minutes.
Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes before slicing to serve.

While it's cooling... make your sauce.


Over high heat, saute your chopped yellow onion in 4 tablespoons of  butter. It's going to create some color as it caramelizes. You want them somewhat dark but not burnt. 5 to 7 minutes is a good estimate, but keep an eye on them. My middle burner is VERY hot so I use one of my less powerful ones. You may or may not have that choice.
Reduce heat to simmer and pour in softened cream cheese. (microwaved for 30 seconds)
Cook until melted fully. You may need to add a bit of white wine or chicken stock to thin it if you prefer a thinner sauce.
Stir in blue cheese until mostly melted.
The pour over the top of your meatloaf or spoon some onto your plate and place a slice of your cooled meatloaf on top of it. 

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