SippitySup

Lay two bread slices on a clean, dry work surface. Place two slices of Cheddar onto one slice of bread, then top with two slices bacon. On the other slice of bread lay two slices of room temperature meatloaf, then top with a dollop or two of the curry-tomato relish. Spread the relish evenly across the meatloaf. Carefully close the sandwich and repeat the process to make a second sandwich. The recipe can be made to this point a few hours in advance, wrap in plastic and refrigerate.

When ready to grill, use a pastry brush to generously brush both sides of each sandwich with melted butter. Cover the bread evenly, going all the way to the edges.

Heat a large non-stick or cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add the sandwiches to the skillet, cheese side down, and saute for 2 to 3 minutes, or until golden brown. Slide them around in the pan a few times during cooking to ensure even browning. Turn the sandwiches over and repeat. Do not crowd the pan, work in batches in necessary.

Slice on the diagonal and serve the sandwiches warm.

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan set over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook stirring often, until softened and just beginning to color. Add the sugar and curry and cook stirring often, until very fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add the vinegar to deglaze the pan, then add tomatoes, water, oregano, and a big pinch each salt and pepper. Continue to cook until the mixture is thick and chunky and most of the liquid has evaporated about 15 minutes. Check the seasoning and adjust to taste with salt, pepper and/or more vinegar. Use immediately or store, covered and refrigerated, up to one week.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove crusts from bread, and place slices in the bowl of a food processor. Process until fine crumbs form, about 10 seconds. Transfer breadcrumbs to a large mixing bowl. Do not substitute dried breadcrumbs in this step, as they will make your meatloaf rubbery.

Place carrot, celery, yellow onion, garlic, and parsley in the bowl of the food processor. Process until vegetables have been minced, about 30 seconds, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice. (Chopping vegetables this way saves time and ensures that vegetables will be small enough to cook through and not be crunchy). Transfer vegetables to bowl with the breadcrumbs.

Add ½ cup ketchup, 2 teaspoons dry mustard, pork, veal, beef, eggs, salt, pepper, Tabasco, and rosemary. Using your hands, knead the ingredients until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute. The texture should be wet, but tight enough to hold a free-form shape.

Set a wire baking rack into an 11-by-17-inch baking pan. Cut a 5‑by-11-inch piece of parchment paper, and place over center of rack to prevent meatloaf from falling through. Using your hands, form an elongated loaf covering the parchment.

Alternatively, you could put the meat into a loaf pan, but I like the crust that forms all over from this method.

Place the remaining 3 tablespoons ketchup, remaining 2 ½ teaspoons mustard, and brown sugar in a bowl. Mix until smooth. Using a pastry brush, generously brush the glaze over loaf. 

Add oil to a medium saucepan set over high heat. When oil is quite hot, but not yet smoking, add red onion. Cook, stirring occasionally until onion is soft and golden in places. Add 3 tablespoons water, and cook, stirring, until most of the water has evaporated. The onions should be jammy. Transfer them to a bowl to cool slightly, then sprinkle onion over the meatloaf (this step is optional).

Bake the meatloaf for 30 minutes, then sprinkle rosemary needles on top. Continue baking loaf until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the loaf registers 160 degrees; about 25 minutes more. Let meatloaf cool on rack, 15 minutes.