Amy and I used the random number generator to pick this week’s Recipe Roulette meal from one of Amy’s Paula Deen cookbooks. Incidentally, I’m pretty sure that I thought it was Dean — not Deen — and I’d be willing to bet there are more than a few Paula Dean references to be found here.

Anyway, the RNG was in the mood for meatloaf. We’ve been known to take down a meatloaf, but I wasn’t all that excited by Paula’s Aunt Peggy’s ingredient list. It’s a pretty basic meatloaf, and I like my meatloaf to be a little spicy. I have to say, though: It’s an outstanding basic meatloaf recipe. It was moist, and the glaze had a nice flavor that was just a skosh away from being cloyingly sweet. (In other words, it was my idea of a perfect glaze.)

The moral of the story is, I guess, don’t judge a meatloaf by its lack of chipotle peppers. Or something like that.

Aunt Peggy’s Old-Fashioned Meatloaf
1 pound ground beef
One 6-ounce can tomato paste
1/2 cup chopped Vidalia onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, tomato paste, onion, green pepper, oats, egg, salt and pepper. Shape the mixture into a loaf and place it in a 9×5 inch loaf pan.

In a small bowl, whisk together the ketchup, brown sugar and mustard. Slather the glaze on top of the meatloaf and bake for 1 hour or until the meatloaf is firm and cooked all the way through. Serve hot.