There at the check stand, I found a little book with several Halloween recipes in it, and the following recipe (with my alterations) gets made at our home every year in time for Halloween. While truly, it looks kind of nasty (the whole toenails thing - gag!), taste-wise, this rivals my grandmothers meatloaf, yet it is much easier than grandma's!
Finally, I figured I'd better post this because my sister asks me for this recipe EVERY year, and then I have to go hunt it down.
Really, it's about the toenails....
2 ½ pounds ground beef or meat loaf mixture
1 t. minced garlic
½ cup breadcrumbs or oatmeal
½ cup milk or water
1 egg
1 envelope (1 ounce) onion soup mix
8 Brazil nuts or almonds
2 Tablespoons barbecue sauce or ketchup
Preheat oven to 350*. Mix ground beef, minced garlic, breadcrumbs, milk, egg and onion soup mix in large bowl until blended. Remove and set aside 1 cup of the mixture.
Dived remaining mixture in half and shape each half into an oval about 7 x 4 inches. Place oval shapes side – by – side on a rimmed baking sheet. Divide reserved mixture into 8 balls and place 4 balls at end of each oval to form toes. Press 1 Brazil nut into each toe to form toenails. Brush meat loaf with barbecue sauce and bake 1 ½ hours.
Notes: Instead of breadcrumbs, I whatever flavor of croûtons I have on hand - crushed. I also use the cheap generic BBQ sauce – go figure. If you make this as one combined whole instead of the feet/stumps, it does take longer to cook – (my other recipes call for 2 ½ - 3 hours).
(8 – 10 Servings)
