Buffalo Bundt Meatloaf

I heard from a friend that yesterday was National Bundt Cake Day. I don't know if she invented that or if it is indeed a celebrated occasion. In either event, I celebrated a week earlier with my favorite bundt cake and this..the belle of the bundt ball. A buffalo bundt meatloaf, which is an excellent way to present meatloaf for a crowd.

I usually make my meatloaf with grass fed beef or turkey. This time I happened to use buffalo meat. How is it that I just happened to have several pounds of buffalo meat? Well that reminds me that I have been terribly remiss. I forgot to tell you that I was offered a share of a buffalo.

You see D. (my real food connection) became involved in purchasing a whole buffalo which would supposedly yield something like 600 pounds of buffalo meat. A share of that did seem daunting so I made sure to specify not more than 30 pounds. Even that seemed to be a bit much, considering I hadn't tried buffalo meat before. I'm not exactly sure what happened in the end but I think I only ended up with around 15 pounds, which now that I have tried it, might not be enough.

The meatloaf turned out wonderfully moist, despite the fact that buffalo is rather lean. I had hoped for leftovers but only had enough to give Izzy a portion in his lunchbox the next day. If you haven't been offered a buffalo share, grass-fed beef will do.

This recipe is adapted from this award winning meatloaf recipe I found year's ago in The New York Times.

Buffalo Bundt Meatloaf

Ingredients
1/2 cup honey
1 cup milk
1 cup rolled oats
3 medium onions, chopped fine
olive oil
Salt to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 eggs
2-3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
4 pounds ground buffalo meat or grass-fed beef
1/2 cup ketchup 1 tablespoon spicy mustard.

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Saute onions in a 4 tablespoons olive oil until soft and slightly browned.
3. In a bowl, combine the honey and milk. Add oats, onions, salt, pepper, thyme and eggs. Toss with a fork and set aside. In a separate bowl, combine the ground buffalo. Add the milk mixture.
4. Pat into oiled, 12-inch round bundt pan and bake 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove from oven and turn off the heat.
4. Turn the loaf out onto a baking sheet. Mix ketchup and mustard together and spread on top of the meat loaf with pastry brush. Return to the warm oven for an additional 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside for 5 minutes before serving.

Serves 10-12