Welcome Home Dinner: Mizner Meat Loaf and Roasted Herbed Two Potatoes

OK, husband coming back from business trip tonight. What is the perfect Comforting-Husband-Welcome-Home dish? Hmmmm. The Beef Tenderloin with Bleu Cheese Stuffing? Roast Prime Rib with Horseradish Crust? I mean, I like him and everything but it is a school night after all.
After much deliberation I decided on the Mizner Meat Loaf with Roasted Herbed Two Potatoes. I have heard rave reviews about the meat loaf over the years. I have also heard the recipe is from Max’s Grille in Boca Raton. I have never actually made meat loaf before so am looking forward to it. I also feel a little more comfortable about it with some help from one of Boca’s best restaurants!
Now, for the wine. Steve is a big, red wine fan and would consider it essential for a welcome home meal. He usually sticks to California Cabs but I decided to try something a little different tonight. I decided to go with a Garnacha, a 100% Grenache-based, Spanish red wine. It received at 93 point rating despite its $12 release price. Score! So we shall see – fingers crossed!

The Dishes:
Mizner Meat Loaf (pg. 146)
Roasted Herbed Two Potatoes (pg. 34)

The Drink:
2001 Las Rocas de San Alejandro Garnacha Vinas Viejas

I must admit, the meat loaf was easy enough to put together. The only ingredient swap was for the ground veal. My Publix barely keeps milk in stock no less ground veal and because I was pressed for time I opted for ground pork. I knew Steve would be just fine with that. I mixed the ingredients and shaped it into a loaf and put it in the pan. After 45 minutes I took it out and arranged the bacon over the top, lengthwise. Then I brushed the molasses, brown sugar, and catsup mixture over the bacon and meat loaf and put it back in the oven (the house was smelling reeeallly good at this point!) I didn’t use too much of the “glaze” because I didn’t want it to get too “saucy.” Also, you definitely want to hang on to the remainder of it because it will come in handy when you’re eating it! The meat loaf baked for another 45-50 minutes and when I pulled it out, voila! A beautiful, mahogany-hued meat loaf for the Hubs. Be sure to let the meat loaf cool a bit so all the juices redistribute back into the meat (it is very juicy) and slicing it a few times makes it easier to lift it out of the loaf pan.
For the Roasted Herbed Two Potatoes I just cranked the oven up to 450 degrees when I pulled the Meat Loaf out. I opted to microwave the red potatoes for 2 minutes (I halved the recipe for the two of us) and then added them to the sweet potatoes to roast. Be sure to stir them every 15 minutes to prevent the sweet potatoes from burning. When done, the potatoes just melt in your mouth! I loved the combination of the 2 kinds of potatoes – a very nice contrast and a great everyday dish as well.
The wine also paired very well with the meal. In addition, a younger, fruitier wine with some spice would also have complemented the meat loaf as well. The delicious glaze is rich and sweet and spicy so a Syrah or Zinfandel would also work very nicely.
Welcome Home Dinner: Mission Accomplished!