Beef Meatloaf with Crumbs & Sauce

I was sooooo excited to cook this one because it's something I was very fond of when I was working in the sausage factory. PLUS it looked quite easy to make, mix everything and bake. I scoured the internet the whole day looking for the easiest recipe, variations and replacement items, etc.

The first one I found needed uncooked oatmeal which is troublesome for me to buy as I'm sure I won't be using it again. Soo happy when I found the recipe below. It's using breadcrumbs and with a sauce too!

This is the recipe I found at Allrecipes website

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 egg
1 onion, chopped
Mushrooms <-Own addition
1 cup milk
1 cup dried bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
1/3 cup ketchup

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Brown onion first <- Reviewer's tip
3. Make own breadcrumbs by toasting then blend <- Reviewer's tip
4. In a large bowl, combine the beef, egg, mushrooms, onion, milk and bread OR cracker crumbs. Season with salt and pepper to taste and place in a lightly greased 5x9 inch loaf pan, OR form into a loaf and place in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish.
5. In a separate small bowl, combine the brown sugar, mustard and ketchup. Mix well and pour over the meatloaf.
6. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour 15m.
7. Let the meat rest before slicing <-Reviewer's tip

I had to go buy Brown Sugar and mustard. I'm sooooooo glad I bought the brown sugar cos initially I asked mum if we have any and she said she said the RED sugar (gula merah?) and it should be the same. Somehow, I doubt that.

However, I got realllyyyy confused when buying the mustard. THERE WERE SO MANY KINDS ON THE SHELVES! Powdered, Original English, Medium hot, Dijon, Mayo. The recipe said PREPARED mustard. While I see a price label indicating that, I couldn't find the product. I went with my gut and bought Original English.

I read from some websites that we can make our own breadcrumbs. However, startcooking.com says that DRIED breadcrumbs and FRESH breadcrumbs are not interchangeable. It makes me a bit nervous but what the heck, i'm not gonna buy breadcrumbs if I won't be using it too often.

My own Breadcrumbs made from toasted wholemeal bread.

In the baking pan.

The sauce

With the sauce on top


1 hour later.

It's crumbly. I couldn't get a decent slice! I waited about 30min for it to cool. Not enough is it?

Hmmm quite burnt but Ayah loves it, I love it too.

I suspect the reason it got burnt was bcos I halved the proportion but still baked it in the same size pan (thinner spread?) and same duration. It could have helped if I took it out in the oven the minute the timer pinged and not let it sit inside while I try to release myself from Tufeil.

Hmmm You know what? I just realised when writing this post that I totally missed out on the milk!!! Could that have saved the crumbling part of the meatloaf?

Overall though, I think its edible and Tufeil will like it. The sauce is a total saviour! I dig it! Don't make meatloaf without it! This is something I will definitely make again. Maybe I should invest in a loaf pan.