Lost Dishes: Layton's - Karen's Meatloaf

Layton's: Karen's Meatloaf

The Howard Johnson's at 7950 Clayton Road was opened in 1955 and purchased by Harry Giessow in 1959. In 1984, Giessow ended his franchise agreement with Howard Johnson's, redecorated the restaurant and renamed it Layton's.

Karen Stemmerman started at the restaurant's soda fountain in 1968, working her way up to manager, a position she held until Layton's closed in 2004. Her meatloaf recipe with its special red sauce was a menu favorite.


Karen's Meatloaf	Karen's Meatloaf

Karen's Meatloaf

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 8, 1997

Yield: 8 large servings

Ingredients

For special red sauce:

1 (8-oz) can tomato sauce
1 cup plus 1 Tbsp water
1 (12-oz) can tomato juice
1 (10 3/4-oz) can condensed tomato soup
1 Tbsp prepared yellow mustard
1/4 cup granulated sugar

For meatloaf:

3 lb ground beef
1 Tbsp garlic salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 Tbsp chopped onion
1/2 cup dry Italian-seasoned bread crumbs
2 eggs

Preparation

To prepare special sauce: Combine tomato sauce, water, tomato juice, tomato soup, mustard and sugar in a saucepan. Mix well. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from heat; set aside.

To prepare meatloaf: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using your hands, gently mix ground beef, garlic salt, pepper and onion. Add bread crumbs and eggs; mix well. Add 1/2 cup special sauce; mix well.

Shape meat into a loaf and place on a broiler pan. Bake for 40 minutes. Pour 1 cup sauce over loaf; bake 10 minutes longer.

Heat remaining sauce; pass at the table to top meatloaf or potatoes, or freeze for a future meatloaf.