Maple Meat Loaf

When we were at the Bayfield Apple Fest, my husband stopped by the Three Rivers Farm maple syrup booth to check out the gourmet syrups.  He picked out the bourbon maple syrup, which the owner said was great in meatloaf made with ground pork and ground ham.  We got a packet of recipes with the syrup, and wondered where someone could find ground ham.  It turns out, I was looking through the Zup's (our local grocery store) ad for the week a couple days later, and one of the meats on sale was a ground pork/ground ham mixture!  So I bought a couple pounds of the ground meat and tried this Maple Meat Loaf recipe from Three Rivers Farm.

2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup fine bread crumbs (I used panko bread crumbs)
1 pound ground ham
12 oz. ground pork
1/2 cup maple syrup (I used the bourbon maple syrup, of course)
2 T. water
2 T. cider vinegar (I used regular vinegar as it's all I had on hand)
1/2 tsp. dry mustard (I didn't have any dry mustard, so I just added a squirt of yellow mustard)
1/4 tsp. ground cloves

In a large bowl, mix eggs and milk; stir in bread crumbs.  Add ham and pork; mix well.  Lightly pat into an oblong 10 x a5 loaf shape in 11 x 7 1/2 inch baking dish.

For sauce:
In bowl, mix maple syrup, water, vinegar, mustard and cloves.  Pour half over meat, reserve remaining sauce. 

Bake uncovered in a 350 degree oven for one hour or until internal temperature registers 160 degrees on thermometer, basting frequently with remaingin sauce.  Remove meatloaf from oven.  Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.  Skim fat from sauce, and serve sauce with meat. 

Makes 6-8 servings.