- Glazed Bison Meatloaf

Dear Fans of Hounds Who Cook,

It's been a good while since we posted a taste treat. We've been out chasing rabbits, of course, since it's spring and have had no time at all for our finer intellectual pursuits. I, Elias, am penning this now while Guthrie rests in the Forbidden Chair. If our Me sees him there will be a scuffle. She doesn't want his special scent on her recliner.

This is a recipe we've been eager to make again and houndify it. First of all, there's nothing better than a nicely seasoned meat loaf. But this has the thick flavorful tomato topping on it too. Almost too good to believe. We started with one of our favorite sources - Cook's Illustrative - and doctored it up for the hungry hound palate. (Note that Cook's offers secret tips and tricks for meatloaf that we do not use here. So it's in your best interest to check out their version too - especially if you use beef not bison.)

Eli's Glazed Loaf of Bison

For the Loaf:
3 ounces hard cheese , parmesan, romano, asiago or the like, freshly and finely grated
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 cup finely choped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped celery, including leaves
1 medium clove garlic , minced
2 teaspoons thyme
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2/3 cup bread crumbs or crushed saltines
2 teaspoons parsley
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 pounds ground bison

For the Glaze:
1 cup ketchup
2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 cup raw apple cider vinegar
6 tablespoons packed light brown sugar


1. Grate cheese, sprinkle on a plate, and place in the freezer until ready to use.

2. Heat butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until foaming; add onion and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Add garlic, thyme, paprika, and turmeric. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir to scrape up browned bits from pan, until thickened, about 1 minute. Transfer mixture to small bowl and set aside to cool.

3. Whisk broth and eggs in large bowl until combined. Stir in soy sauce, mustard, bread crumbs, parsley, salt, pepper, and onion mixture. Crumble frozen cheese over mixture. Add ground bison; mix gently with hands until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute.

4. Spray a loaf pan well with oil. Transfer meat to pan, rounding into a loaf shape (higher center, lower sides). Bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into center of loaf reads 135 to 140 degrees, 55 to 65 minutes. Don't overcook. Remove meat loaf from oven and turn on broiler.

5. While meat loaf cooks, combine ingredients for glaze in small saucepan; bring to simmer over medium heat and cook, stirring, until thick and syrupy, about 5 minutes. Set half of the glaze aside for serving on the side.

6. Spread half of the remaining glaze evenly over cooked meat loaf with rubber spatula; place under broiler and cook until glaze bubbles and begins to brown at edges, about 5 minutes. Remove meat loaf from oven and spread the other half of the remaining glaze; place back under broiler and cook until glaze is again bubbling and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes more. Let meat loaf cool about 20 minutes before slicing.

Notes from Elias: You can see that we used a wok to make the glaze, which worked wonderfully for thickening up the sauce around the edges. We also wanted to have a small meatloaf to freeze, so we put 2/3 of the meat mixture in our Grandma's loaf pan and 1/3 in a separate pan that we can simply cover and freeze. Since we used glass pans, we cooked it at 350 degrees. The picture here is after the loaves were already happily in the oven for 20 minutes.

We added turmeric because it seemed like it would do nicely in the array of spices, and the elder woman has been asking us to cook with more turmeric for its resounding health benefits (like preventing cancer, helping "retrain" damaged cells to heal, helping in weight loss...it's almost like we should develop a recipe for turmeric loaf...)

Notes from Guthrie: We are on a cooking rampage for Mother's Day, which is tomorrow and everyone is coming here to honor the family mothers, that's why I was resting. And I didn't think the Girl would mind me being on her chair since it was draped with a protective cover. I think I'll mix up a little Tuna Salad and add that recipe next.

Love,
Elias and The Gute,
Your faithful, handsome, hungry hounds