We just finished dinner and I thought it would be best to just type a quick note. Tonight was one of those recipes I could not wait to make for Terry. Again this week, he came in from outside and was immediately raving about the aroma. I have to agree the house smelled like a BBQ joint. This recipe has 1 cup of BBQ sauce and it was evident. Without truly knowing the ingredients, Terry said “I love me some BBQ.” I knew when making it, BBQ sauce plus brown sugar would equal a great rating from Terry. This recipe comes from Terry’s brother, Chris. Of course, it does. It is made with venison. (Thanks to Brooke and Grant for gifting me a package from Grant’s exploits this past winter.)
Terry had no idea it was venison. After he gave his thoughts and the rating, he looked over this recipe more than any other to date. He loved it. Chris told me that he adds sausage to his venison burger so it is not dry, but truly this was moist. I think the three slices of bacon on top helped with that aspect. Terry did say he is not a big fan of bacon that is not cooked extra crispy but he still ate it. This was only a 1 lb. meatloaf and Terry loved it so much he ate half of it. I figured out the WW points just to annoy him and it was 29 for what he ate. Wow! If you track that sort of thing, then it was 7 for 1/8. One piece was both very filling and fairly healthy with the lean meat.
The only new ingredients this week, were the venison and it called for dry sage. I has used ground sage before in two recipes. I bought what was called rubbed sage and hope that is the same as dry. It was the first recipe that I cooked the sauce on the stovetop and poured it over the meatloaf after cooking. Chris was right, this was a very good recipe. The very first sentence cracked me up as it said, “The venison meatloaf in bacon is great the next day between two slices of buttered bread.” Isn’t the part about buttered bread funny? Many have told us about frying meatloaf the next day for a sandwich; however, Terry is not home to do that and he eats the leftovers for his school lunch on Tuesday. This summer we will have to try that meatloaf sandwich trick. Now, there is a thought I had not had yet…. Terry and I home all day, everyday all summer together. What does that look like? Lazy coffee mornings reading and long bike rides? Or a ‘honey do’ list a mile long that I now get to help with since I will be home all summer? Likely the latter. I hope there is some former.
Savory Venison Meatloaf
Ingredients
1 lb. ground venison
1/2 yellow onion
1 cup barbeque sauce (I used Famous Dave’s as Terry likes that one very much.)
1 large egg
1 (4 oz) sleeve of saltine crackers, finely crushed
4 T. brown sugar, divided
3 T. Worcestershire sauce, divided
1/2 t. dried sage
1/2 t. steak seasoning (I used Lawry’s Seasoned Salt)
3 slices of bacon
Directions
Step 1: Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Step 2: Mix together venison, onion, 1/4 cup of barbeque sauce, egg, crushed crackers, 2 T. brown sugar, 2 T. Worcestershire sauce, sage and steak seasoning in a large bowl with your hands until evenly combined. Pack into 3×7 loaf pan. Lay bacon over the top.
Step 3: Bake in a preheated oven for 35 minutes or until center of the meatloaf is 160 degrees and bacon is crispy. (For me the temperature was right, but the bacon was not crispy. It was cooked though.)
Step 4: While the meatloaf is baking, combine the remaining 3/4 cup barbeque sauce, 2 T. brown sugar and 1 T. of Worcestershire sauce in small saucepan over medium heat. Simmer for 5 minutes, whisking constantly. Sauce should be heated through and will slightly thicken.
Step 5: Pour sauce over cooked meatloaf and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Terry gave this meatloaf a very respectable 8.8. And again, a score he has never given. Tonight was the night I chose to ask how he is remembering all these scores. He got defensive and said he is not trying to give different scores and he doesn’t remember them. He told me, “If they were all 7’s I would say that, but each has gotten the score I believed was accurate and I am not tracking in my head or on paper.” It certainly is not something I imagined happening. Through Week #19, no meatloaf has gotten the same rating. At 8.8, this recipe is the 7th highest score. That is pretty darn good!
The real story has been buried in the lead. I am not a meatloaf fan, but I am even less a ground venison fan. It is not the taste, as I have never tried it. Except that one time the same brother-in-law named above, put it in chili and did not tell me. It is just the idea of Bambi. However, I do eat Terry’s venison summer sausage. So tonight was the night. Almost 58 years old and I put a small piece on my plate. It was not bad. I did eat one small piece. I eat a little each Monday to maybe understand why he rates as he does. I will not eat it again though. This one was a one hit wonder!
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