Fusion Meatloaf

*steps up and speaks into mic* "Hello is this thing on?" *tap, tap, tap*

A million changes have occurred in my life since I last posted a recipe. I'll spare you but suffice to say I'm 45 now and if you round that up you get MID-LIFE CRISIS!!!! Do I go out an buy some big red shiny symbol of my womanhood (which for me would be splurging on a tube of red Estee Lauder lipstick as opposed to a new car)? 

Noooooooooo. I go back to college to get more knowledge. I know, I'm a poet and didn't know it.

Anywhooo I digress. I've taken a leave from the classroom. I'm in grad school and working with a non-profit whose mission I believe in with my whole cholesterol laden heart. 

So I'm trying out some "clean the cupboard" recipes. This first one is a meatloaf. Of course it is no ordinary meatloaf. There are a few special ingredients one of which is crushed Maui Style Maui Onion potato chips. I bought them at Costco and while they were delicious, think Funyun/Kettle Chips hybrid, I could not eat all of the ginormous bag by myself. So crushed chips replaced the breading in this recipe.

Ingredients

2 pounds ground meat (buy what you like, can afford, or can eat and face your doctor while he reads your lab reports)

2 cups crushed chips (you can use any kind you have laying around)

2 eggs

1/2 cup ketchup

1/3 cup Sweet Chili Sauce

1 T soy sauce or Worchestershire (if you use soy adjust salt)

1T sriracha

1-2 teaspoons curry powder (You will need to adjust to your family's tastes. I use a special curry blend brought to me by my husband's friend Anu. It is her mother's blend brought to me from a trip home to India and I treasure it, doling it out like it is saffron.)

salt & pepper

For topping

1 cup ketchup

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup chili garlic sauce

1 teaspoon curry powder

I mixed all the ingredients gently and the let it sit covered in the fridge for 4 hours just to soften the chips. Then I shaped into a loaf and put in a 13x9 pan. Preheat the over to 375 degrees and bake for 45 minutes. Mix topping ingredients. Slather the top of the meatlof with the glaze and back for 15 minutes. Slather again and bake for 15 more minutes. Slather, bake, repeat until it is the doneness your family prefers. We like ours a little on the brown side. Enjoy!

Special treasure curry from Anu's mom

Left over chips & chili sauce

Ready to bake

After 45 minutes

Topping

Slather, Bake, Repeat

I hope that should you too find yourself at a crossroads, that you make choices that lead you to a life you are proud of living. Make your decisions based on love (even love for YOUR SELF) and not fear.  Those decisions are never wrong.