Sometimes I get an idea of something to make and it naggs at me. This is one of those. I thought about making this for probably about 6 months before I actually made it. Then I waited another oh 6 months or so to post it so that I could post it when sweet potatoes were back in season and at their best. The really fantastic thing about this dish, is that I had been thinking about it forever and wondering if it would turn out, and well, the first time I made it, it was fantastic! I was thrilled! I'm pretty sure I jumped around a bit in our kitchen while my husband looked at me like I was crazy...you'd think by now he'd be used to me getting excited about food.
I made the version of the meatloaf after we first got married and I was having trouble making anything decent. We both absolutely loved it, Raymond told me he'd be very disappointed if I never made it again, and I may or may not have shed a tear. :-P Later I saw a meatloaf recipe in a magazine that was topped with scalloped potatoes. I thought that was a wonderful idea! Raymond isn't a big fan of eating russet/yukon potatoes for dinner, so I thought I would try a sweet potato scallop dish. Then I found a light version of a scalloped potato recipe in another magazine and thought that I could modify it a bit to work for the scalloped sweet potatoes. Then I obsessed over getting a new meatloaf pan for about two months because I knew I just had to have it, but I had a hard time convincing myself that I deserved yet another kitchen toy. I don't remember how I finally came to get my beloved meatloaf pan, Raymond probably got tired of hearing me debate about it and picked it up on his way home from work or something, but I got it!
The recipe probably has a bit more steps and requires a bit more time than most people are willing to spend making dinner on a week night, but this definitely should grace your dinner one weekend night when you have a bit of time to spend in the kitchen.
Ingredients:
Meatloaf:
1/3 cup barbecue sauce
2 canned chipotle chilies, seeded
1 tablespoon adobo sauce (from canned chilies)
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, finely minced
1 pounds lean ground beef
1 cup quick-cooking oats
3 Tbs barbecue sauce
Scalloped Sweet Potatoes:
1 1/4 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
3/4 cup 2% milk
1/2 Tbs unsalted butter
1/2 large onion, finely minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 Tbs cornstarch
1/2 Tbs all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp chipotle chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/4 cup gouda cheese, shredded
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 Tbs panco bread crumbs
Directions:
Meatloaf:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Spray a meatloaf pan with cooking spray.
Combine first seven ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until smooth.
In a large bowl combine mixture with garlic, onion, beef and oats.
Mix gently with your hands. You don't want to over mix and have a tough meatloaf.
Lightly pack the mixture into the pan.
Spread the remaining 3 Tbs barbecue sauce over the meatloaf.
Scalloped Potato Directions:
Coarsely chop 2 ounces of sweet potatoes and transfer to a bowl. Cover the bowl and microwave for 1 to 2 minutes until tender.
Add 1 1/2 Tbs milk to cooked potatoes and mash until smooth.
Melt butter in a sauce pan over medium heat.
Add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for another 2 minutes.
Create a slurry by whisking remaining milk, broth, mashed potatoes, cornstarch, flour, chipotle chili powder, salt and pepper together in a bowl.
Add to the pot and simmer over medium heat until thickened.
Remove pot from heat and stir in gouda and parmesan cheese and mix until smooth.
Layer 1/3 of the sliced potatoes on top of the meatloaf and pour one third of the cheese sauce over the potatoes. Repeat the layering until the potatoes and cheese sauce. Sprinkle with panko.
Bake for 40 minutes. Cover with foil and cook another 15-20 minutes until the meatloaf registers 160 degrees.
Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes and serve.
This is another reason the meatloaf pan was well worth the purchase. I would never have thought about serving meatloaf to company, but with the new pan I was able to remove it from the pan and transfer it to a serving platter. As an additional plus, it was a leaner meatloaf because the pan allowed the fat from the meatloaf to drip out.
*Meatloaf adapted from All Recipes, Scalloped Potatoes adapted from Cook's Country.
