You will need to call in the neighbors when you cook today’s dish.
The recipe is from a man who likes to cook and collects cookbooks.
Tom Brown is a member of First Baptist Church, West Columbia, where Lonnie Shull is pastor. Tom was formerly a member of Lake Wateree Baptist Church.
Cooking is not Tom’s only interest. He hunts and fishes and has four dogs and two cats who share his home. Tom, a former president of a hunting club, enjoys going to gun shows and has recently started a gun collection.
Retired as yard conductor for the Seaboard Railroad in Columbia, where he worked for 35 years, Tom has two daughters. Deborah and her husband, Michael Drake, live in the Sandy Run community and have three children: David, Josh and Sheri. His other daughter, Lisa Brown Thomas, has two children, Kyle and Kaleb.
There is another spin-off from Tom’s interest in cooking. He is a certified judge with the South Carolina Barbecue Association and travels the state judging barbecue competitions.
Tom Brown
Tom, a former Marine, has collected cookbooks for 40 years or more and has “three hundred or so.” He likes reading cookbooks, as do many of us, and says he can “mentally taste while he reads” to know if the ingredients will combine to make a good dish.
Although there is a meatloaf recipe in almost every cookbook ever published, Tom says he got this one from a friend and made two or three changes in it to his taste. He also worked out the vegetable additions and says they can be cooked in a separate container on the oven’s bottom shelf.
When I tried this recipe, I put them in the same dish and it was full. The recipe says that it serves 8-10, but it will serve more than that. After the dish rests and before you serve it, use a knife and make cuts about halfway through the meatloaf to indicate the serving slices.
You can bake this in the morning before church, keep it warm in the oven or reheat it for a healthy, satisfying, and bountiful dish for … Sunday Dinner.
Meatloaf and Veggies
Step 1: Meatloaf
2½ pounds ground beef
1 cup quick or old-fashioned oatmeal, uncooked
1 cup finely chopped onions
¾ cup chili sauce
2 eggs
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 or 4 cloves garlic, minced (or to taste)
1½-2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon pepper
¾ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
Step 2: Vegetables
2 pounds medium potatoes, thickly sliced or quartered
2 pounds carrots, cut in 1-inch lengths
1 large onion, sliced or quartered
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the first 10 ingredients in large bowl and mix well. Shape into a loaf and place lengthwise in the center of a 10x12x3-inch bake-and-serve dish.
Put prepared vegetables in a large bowl. Combine the olive oil, garlic and thyme and pour over the vegetables, mixing to coat them well. Place vegetables around the meatloaf in the baking dish and pour over them any of the olive oil mix left in the bowl.
Bake on middle rack of the oven 55-60 minutes, or until juices of the meat are no longer pink and the vegetables are tender. Remove dish from oven and let the food rest about 10 minutes before serving. Serves 8-10.