Chipotle Cheddar-Ale Meatloaf

I have been experimenting with meatloaf a lot lately because of the amount of ground beef in my freezer. This is a version that I made with chipotle peppers and beer...now how could that be bad???

For the Meatloaf

2 lbs of ground beef
1 onion (diced)
2 cloves garlic (fine dice)
1 stalk of celery (diced)
1/2 large red pepper (diced)
1/2 cup of beer (I used ale but I am sure a stout would work well also)
2 1/2 cups of roughly chopped french bread
1 cup milk
2 eggs (beaten)
1 Jalapeño (fine dice)
2 tablespoons line zest (grated)
2 Chipotle Chiles in Adobo (diced)
1 1/2 tsp of Adobo
1/2 cup cheddar cheese (grated)
1/4 cup of cilantro (chopped)
1 tsp Ancho Chili Powder

For the Glaze
1 Tablespoon Chipotle in Adobo (diced)
2 Tablespoons Ketchup

Method:
Take out a large mixing bowl and a sautee pan. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
Sautee the onion, garlic, celery, and red pepper in olive oil until translucent. (Approx 6-8 mins)
Pour in the beer and simmer it until the liquid has reduced by about 3/4. This will intensify the flavor of the beer. Remove from heat and set aside.

Cut the french bread into about 1/2 inch chunks and soak it in the milk in a shallow dish. Soak this for about 5 - 10 mins, turning a few times, until the bread has soaked up all of the milk. Once the milk is fully soaked into the bread, transfer the bread to a cutting board and chop the it up into a fine dice. Add the bread to the mixing bowl along with the cooled onions, garlic and red pepper.

Add in the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and mix. Make sure not to over mix the ingredients as this may make it too dense.

Form the meat into a rectangular block on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Mix the glaze in a small dish and spread it onto the top of the meatloaf using a spatula.

Place the loaf into the oven at 325 degrees for approximately 1 1/2 hours or until a thermometer reads 160 degrees. Take out to rest for at least 10 minutes and the cut into thick slices...enjoy!

Grilled Corn & Poblano Salad/Salsa

This is something that I just threw together tonight with some left over things in the fridge. It was very good and I think that it could be tweaked over and over.

2 Cobs of Sweet Corn
1 Poblano Chili
1 Handfull of Cilantro
1/2 Red Onion
1 Lime
Salt & Pepper

Slice the Red Onion into about 1/2 inch thick slices, cut lime in half. Start a BBQ and turn it to Med-high to high heat.

Put the poblano on the grill first over hot heat. The skin will char and that is fine. Once the skin has charred fully and the pepper gets soft, take it off and put it into a zip lock bag. This will steam off the skin and make it very easy to peel off.

Now it's time to put the corn, red onion, and lime on the grill. Add a few drops of olive oil and some salt & pepper to each side of the red onion slices. Grill the veggies until they get some color and start to soften. Don't overcook them.

Take the veg off the BBQ. Dice the onion and shave the corn from the cobs. Now remove the Poblano from the bag. Remove the charred skin, discard the seeds and dice the flesh. Also chop the cilantro. 

Put all of the veggies into a mixing bowl now and squeeze the grilled lime over the salad. Toss and serve with any grilled meats as a salsa or as a side salad.

I only had one cob of corn but I think that it could have used two and that is why I wrote two in the recipe.

Some variations come to mind that I will try later such as adding honey, cumin, or avocado. I wonder about grilling the avocado...hmm. Hope you enjoy this! I can tell that it will become a very played with, staple side dish...