Pat Nixon's Meatloaf

I don't even know what struck me about this meatloaf. But someone in a recent Post food chat suggested it and I have a bizarre love of meatloaf, so I figured I might as well try it.

From White House Family Cookbook

Difficulty: Easy
Eat Rating: Awesome. Pat Nixon sure knew her meatloaf.

2 tbsp butter (LN: I used olive oil)
1 cup onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 slices white bead (I used sourdough)
1 cup milk
2 lbs lean ground beef (I subbed some ground buffalo from Whole Foods to make this a little lighter)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp salt
Pepper, to taste
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (I didn't have any, so I omitted this)
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried marjoram
2 tbsp tomato puree
2 tbsp bread crumbs (I just used another piece of sourdough and stuck it in the food processor)

Grease a 9x13 glass or metal pan and set aside. Cut up slices of bread, place in bowl and pour milk on top. Allow to sit for at least 5 minutes. While bread is soaking, heat olive oil in a skillet and saute onions and garlic until translucent. Add garlic, onions and soaked bread to the meat and mix with your hands until consistent throughout. Add eggs, mix again, then add in the spices. Put meatloaf into the greased pan and shape into loaf. Spread tomato puree on the top and then cover with bread crumbs. Chill the meatloaf in the fridge for 1 hour to allow the flavors to mix.

A chilled loaf of meat

When ready to cook, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake meatloaf on lower rack for 45 minutes to 1 hour until completely cooked through. Pour off any accumulated fat (with the buffalo there wasn't really any) and let stand 5 minutes before serving.