the great meatloaf experiment

I like meatloaf, my darling husband thinks he doesn't.  Since we have been together I have avoided making meatloaf, saving it as a "treat" for myself when we eat out.  Well, today the wait has ended.  There was a package of ground beef in the fridge that needed to be used today (the foodsaver ended up in the storage unit, buried) so I decided today was the day. Two servings later, Steve is a meatloaf convert.

I found this great recipe on Epicurious, it is originally from Gourmet (RIP)

• 1 cup fine crumbs (I used non-fresh bread crumbs and it worked out ok)
• 1/3 cup half and half (the original recipe called for milk, we didn't have any)
  
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped (I used a sweet onion)
  
• 3 garlic cloves, minced, plus one for luck
  
• 1 medium celery rib, finely chopped
• 1 medium carrot, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter or olive oil
  
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• dash of cinamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• salt and pepper to taste
  
• 5 slices of bacon
  
• 1/2 cup pitted prunes
• 1  pounds ground beef chuck
• 1 pound ground pork
• 2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350°F
Soak bread crumbs in milk in a large bowl.
I chopped the onion, garlic, celery, and carrot very finely with a food chopper.
Cook onion, garlic, celery, and carrot in butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Cover skillet and reduce heat to low, then cook until carrot is tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, spices, salt, and pepper. Add to bread-crumb mixture.

Finely chop bacon and prunes in a food processor, then add to onion mixture along with beef, pork, and eggs  and mix together with your hands.

Pack mixture into a 13- by 9-inch shallow baking dish or pan.

Bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into center of meatloaf registers 155°F, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.