Meatloaf Hand (the Liver Alternative)

INTRODUCTION:

This is a basic meatloaf presentation for Halloween night. I try to do something different every year so this was last year's dinner.

My Mother used to feed us liver and onions on Halloween. I believe this was her idea of a 'trick' prior to us receiving our treats for the night. I think I have improved on that scariness by providing something your kids (and you) might really eat!

Since there are now only two of us, I tried to keep it small, but due to unexpected company, I had to add more potatoes . . .

This is pretty ingenious because it has limited ingredients; took less than 20 minutes prep; and looks disgusting with ketchup!

Step 1: ​STEP ONE: Prepare the Pan

Prep the pan with vegetable spray for easy clean up. You'll be serving this in one dish so be prepared for that. Moving the cooked hand will not be easy! I used the same container that I baked everything in for mixing and just moved the mixture to the side when I put in the potatoes.

Step 2: ​STEP TWO: Prep Your Potatoes

Wash, peel and cut up as many potatoes that your family will eat in one night. You can make extra for the next day, if you want to get rid of that sick feeling from eating all that candy! I cut mine into french fry shapes, but you can use slices or chunks, if you wish.

Step 3: ​STEP THREE: Prep Your Meatloaf

You really will need about two pounds of ground beef to get a good looking, realistic hand shape. Everyone I have ever asked has their own meatloaf recipe so I won't bore you with the details. (If you don't have one, there are many fine recipes available online or from old cookbooks.) NOTE: If you really can't find a recipe that you like, just post, 'I need a good meatloaf recipe' on Facebook and I am sure people will respond to your request.

I will say, however, that I added an extra egg to make sure it stuck together well.

Step 4: ​STEP FOUR: Move and Mold

Move your meatloaf to one side in the pan and put in your potatoes. Move your meatloaf to the top and shape into a hand. I started with a square for the palm and shaped fingers by rolling the meatloaf into logs. Just use your own hand as a reference. I just and moved the mixture together until I thought it looked like a hand. I made the fingers kind of thick and carved them better after all this was cooked. Don't forget the wrist!

Step 5: ​STEP FIVE: Cover 'hand' With Slices of Cheese

I used regular single slice american cheese, but anything would be fine. I bet blue cheese chunks over this at the end would have been amazing! I didn't cover the 'fingernails with cheese as I opted for onion fingernails. I cut onion slices for fingernails, but they kept sliding off. I finally rectified the problem by adding some ketchup on the tips of the nails so they didn't slide.

Step 6: STEP SIX: Bake

Bake, uncovered for about an hour. I used a thermometer to ensure safety, but that's just me.

Step 7: ​STEP SEVEN: Adjust Things

Feel free to add things like ketchup for blood. There's no rule that says you can't add a drop of blue food coloring to the ketchup to it to make a worse effect! NOTE: I did have to 'carve the fingers a bit more to give a better, realistic look, but that didn't take much time at all. The last photo was prior to carving. I just removed the cut off pieces to the back of the dish and covered them with some of the potatoes.

Please remember that this dish will be hot so keep a bowl of ice water in the sink so that if you get a burn you can plunge your hand into it to stop the burning process.

Make a salad ahead of time so you can enjoy your creation in a healthy manner and perhaps have a good start to your Halloween adventure.

This dish is pretty gruesome, albeit, still not as gross as liver.