Ingredients:
8 slices of thick bacon
3 lbs ground chuck
2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
6 slices of a sharp cheddar cheese ( sandwich size slices)
1 cup chopped onions
4 tablespoons mayonnaise
4 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
4 teaspoons dry mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 eggs
1/2 cup ketchup or 1/2 cup chili sauce
Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium pan, cook bacon just until limp. Remove from pan and set aside. Remove most of the grease and saute the onions just until soft, cool, and set aside.
In a small bowl, mix the eggs, mayo, pickles, onions, dry mustard, salt, & pepper, just to combine. Place meat and bread crumbs in a large bowl, and mix in the egg mixture. Mix well. With your hand, score the meat into 3 equal sections, just eyeball it if you want. Take one section of the meat mixture and shape it into an oval about 1 inch thick. This is the bottom layer of the meat loaf. Place 3 slices of the cheese on top of this loaf making sure that they are not hanging over the edge of the meat loaf. You don’t want it to melt and run out. Take the next 1/3 section of meat, place it on top of the cheese layer and mold it to the same size as the bottom layer. Lay the last 3 slices of cheese on this layer contuning to keep the cheese away from the edges. Place the rest of the mixture on the top and shape to the rest of the meat loaf. Smooth the sides of the loaf with a little water on your fingers so that you can’t see that it was done in layers, and to make sure the cheese won’t ooze out when it melts. It may seem like alot of fuss, but it is WELL worth the little extra effort. Spread the ketcup or chili sauce over the top, then place the bacon strips across the meatloaf sideways instead of the length, covering the entire loaf. Bake for 1 hour, or until it reaches an internal temp of 160. Remove from oven and tent with foil for about 10 minutes to set. When you slice this, you will be able to see the 2 cheese layers. This sets up nicely and will be great for leftover sandwiches — .
Servings: 6-8
Time preparation: 20 min.
Time total: 80 min.