Meatloaf, Mashed potatoes, and corn

A succulent meatloaf with a homemade glaze. Fluffy sage mashed potatoes, and sweet corn.

Ingredients

Meatloaf

• 2 pounds ground beef (ideally 85/15, if lower mix - pan must accommodate for the extra fat)

• 1 medium onion diced

• 4 garlic cloves minced

• 2 large eggs

• 1/3 cup whole milk

• 3/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs

• 4 tbsp Italian seasoning

• 1 tsp black pepper

• 2 tsp salt

• 1 tbsp red pepper flakes

Meatloaf Glaze

• 12 oz tomato paste

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 3 tbsp red wine vinegar

• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard

• 1/4 cup softened brown sugar

• 2 tbsp garlic powder

• 1 tbsp onion powered

• 2 tbsp pepper

• 1 tbsp salt

Mashed potatoes

• 2 pounds russet potatoes

• 1/2 cup heavy cream

• 1/2 cup whole milk

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 2 cloves minced garlic

• 1 bunch sage

• 1 tbsp salt

• 1 tbsp pepper

• 1 stick unsalted butter melted

• Additional salt and pepper to taste

Corn

• 3 cups frozen sweet corn

• Smoked paprika

• 1/2 cup parsley leaves finely chopped

Instructions

This order of preparation is encouraged to time things just right.

Mashed Potatoes

1. Wash and peel the potatoes. Place them in a pot and cover with water. Bring it to a boil (about 20-23 minutes, until the potatoes are fork tender.)

2. In a medium sauce pan combine: heavy cream, whole milk, olive oil, garlic, sage, salt and pepper. Simmer on low while potatoes cook. Stir occasionally

3. Once potatoes are cooked, drain and return to the pot. Use a masher in place or rice the potatoes into a large bowl. Pour the stick of melted butter on it and combine.

4. Strain the cream mixture onto the potatoes, one half at a time, and mix to combine. Salt and pepper to taste after all the sauce is combined into the potatoes
   

Tomato Glaze

1. In a medium bowl begin combine everything together until the sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper are combined

Meatloaf

1. Preheat oven to 400°F, you’ll need the center rack.

2. In a large bowl combine all the ingredients. Use your hands to mix everything together. Be sure to not over-mix, the texture should still be airy, not to dense.

3. In a 9”x 5” loaf or roast pan, pour in the meat mixture and form it into a loaf. Form the meatloaf to where there is space around the meat in the pan so the fat can render out. Also this lets you put the glaze on the top and sides

4. Use a rubber spatula to spread the glaze out on the exterior of the meatloaf

5. Cook in the oven for 40-45 minutes. Let it cool for 10 minutes before serving. Drain the juices out of the pan and reserve if desired.
   

Corn and Plating

1. Towards the end of the meatloaf cook time, put the corn into a medium pot and cover with water. Bring to a rolling simmer for about 5 minutes, drain and serve.

2. To plate, place a few meatloaf slices together and top with freshly chopped parsley. Pair with corn and top with smoked paprika. Last place some mashed potatoes on and pour on some of the juice from the meatloaf

About This dish

This is one of my absolute favorite comfort foods - meatloaf. My go-to trio is with mashed potatoes and corn. You can swap out the veggies, but I do think the mashed potatoes is non-negotiable with meatloaf! There are a few different styles to cooking the meatloaf itself. Some will add ketchup to the meat itself, cook it un-glazed, then pour the glaze on at the end, or put the meatloaf into a flat pan and glaze the top only. Whatever you prefer, the goal is to make sure it is cooked through. This isn’t like a burger; in the sense there are more ingredients inside that must be fully cooked to be sage.

I personally prefer to make the meatloaf tall in the baking pan so that the sides can also be glazed. When it comes to the glaze, the easiest is some nice ketchup. But if you want to control that taste more you can make your own glaze. In this recipe I go for a tangy but sweet sauce. It’s not as sweet as ketchup and has more complexity to it with the Dijon and vinegar.

Last are the mashed potatoes and corn. Corn is easy, but the mashed potatoes - I made from scratch. There is no shame in instant mashed potatoes, especially with a nice slice of butter melting on it. For these potatoes I used a potato ricer and poured melted butter and the cream mixture to give it all that flavor. Also never forget to salt and pepper it to taste before serving! When it comes to sides it is always nice to have it ready to go on seasoning .