I have been writing this blog for a little over 4 years now and one of the first posts I did was for this
meatloaf. I have made this meatloaf several times since then and it really is a simple and delicious meal. So I figured why not do another post on it with a few updates. I was given about 50 pounds of ground venison this year and will be making some sausages and hot dogs with some of it but I also wanted to do a few other things with it. I made some meatballs a couple of weeks ago and I have been working on a couple of venison burgers as well.
Wild game can be tricky to use for recipes like this because it is so lean that it can dry out very quickly and then it won't stay together and becomes very crumbly. And nobody likes a crumbly meatloaf. My solution to this is to add a couple of things to bind the meat together. I add a couple of eggs and some breadcrumbs usually but this time I also added about 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan. I also always wrap my venison meatloaf in bacon. Not only does it add a great smokey flavor but it also adds some very necessary fat to the meat loaf and keeps it very moist.
Temperature is also very important when it comes to not drying out your meatloaf. you don't need to cook this much over 150 degrees. I took this out at 145 and let it rest for ten minutes and it got up past 150. I don't usually put any type of glaze on top of my meatloaf because The bacon is there and I don't want to cover up the bacon but if you wanted to you could put one on. This recipe really is very simple and delicious and if you have extra ground venison I would highly recommend it.
Venison Meatloaf
Preheat the oven to 400*
2 Lbs ground venison
2 eggs
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 medium onion, Diced
1 Green or Red pepper
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan
1 Tbls Kosher salt
2 tsp black pepper
3/4 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce or any other type of sauce, Barbecue, Hoisin, teriyaki, A1 it doesn't matter they are all great. For this loaf I used 3/4 cup Italian dressing.
1 Lbs. Bacon
1. Mix together the first 8 ingredients and set aside.
2. Line a meatloaf pan with bacon so that the bacon is hanging over all sides but still covering all the pan.
3. Press the meat mixture into the pan and cover with the bacon that is overlapping the pan.
4. place in the oven for 60-90 minutes or until the interior temperature reaches 150 degrees. Remove from pan and serve with whatever you would like.
I served this one with cheddar mashed potatoes and creamed peas. It was a perfect lunch for a cold day and will make some awesome meatloaf sandwiches tomorrow.
