Dine In Diner Style

While the dates and the details have yet to be worked out, this summer Hubby, Kiddo and I are taking a long, long road trip. Roughly 6,000 miles round trip through 10 or 11 states, depending upon how far south we head.

That’s a lot of miles, and a lot of diners to explore. One of our stops is El Reno, Oklahoma. It’s on Kiddo’s buck list for storm chasers. I’m excited too since it’s the home of the Oklahoma Onion Burger, although the diner along Route 66 is now long gone.

As many of you know, we’re talking about pulling up stakes and heading for the conservative hills of Tennessee once Hubby is ready to retire. We wanted to spend some time exploring the state we hope to call home and to experience a Southern Summer (humidity and summer tornados) before making any final decisions. While I know we could have flown into Nashville and struck out from there, focusing on all that Tennessee has to offer, we saw this trip as a chance to see parts of the country I’ve never been to, and really get a feel for this great country we are proud to call home.

As a salute to our trip and all those diners in our future, I thought I’d share with you one of those Diner Blue Plate Specials – Meatloaf Diner Style. Enjoy and have a blessed day.

Diner Style Meatloaf with Onion Gravy
Diner Style Meatloaf
1 lb Ground Beef
1 envelope Onion Soup Mix
5 slices White Brea
3/4 cup Water
1/3 cup Ketchup
2 Eggs
Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste
1 lb Jimmy Dean Regular Breakfast Sausage

Heat oven to 350-degrees.

Place the ground beef at the bottom of a large mixing bowl. Scatter dried soup mix over the meat. Tear the bread into bite-size pieces, scatter over the soup. Add water and ketchup. Lightly beat eggs, add to the bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Crumble breakfast sausage over the top of the meat mixture. With hands, work everything together to create a blend.

Transfer the meat mixture to a meatloaf pan (that’s a loaf pan with holes in the bottom inside another loaf pan. It allows the meat to drain rather than sit in its own grease), and bake for 1 hour or until cooked through.

Make the gravy for serving while the meatloaf is baking. When ready to serve, lift the meatloaf out of the pan, slide onto a serving platter. Drizzle with gravy, slice and serve with additional gravy to enjoy as desired.

Onion Soup Gravy
4 tablespoons Butter, divided
3 tablespoons Flour
1-1/2 cups Beef Stock
Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste
1 envelop Onion Soup Mix

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Once foaming, sprinkle flour over the butter. Lower heat, whisking constantly, create a light brown roux, cooking the flour mixture about 5 minutes or so.

Gradually whisk in the beef stock. Continue to cook, whisking, until the mixture begins to thicken. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Empty the envelop of dry soup mix into the gravy, whisk to blend. Lower heat and simmer for about 6 minutes.

Remove the skillet from heat, whisk in the remaining tablespoon of butter for a rich finish.

For that true Diner Experience serve with Buttery Whipped Potatoes and Green Beans.

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Not to us, O Lord, but to Your name give the glory