Capered Meat Loaf with Bacon, Cheddar, and Brussels Sprouts

Note: do read the "What would I do differently?" section.  This meat loaf looks darn good, but the taste was...um...somewhat lacking: recipe needs lots of work.

• grass-fed beef, ground, 3 lbs?
• capers, chopped, 1 small jar
• caramelized Brussels sprouts, chopped, ~1 cup
• garlic, chopped, 8 cloves
• garlic powder, 1 T
• goat cheddar, sliced, 2 sq inches
• thyme, dry, 1 T
• bacon, 1 pkg
• grass-fed butter, 2 T

How

1. Rehydrate thyme and garlic powder in liquid of choice.  I used the liquid from the capers. This was an ERROR...too salty.
2. Saute garlic cloves, Brussels sprouts, and capers in butter over very low heat. When slightly brown, remove from heat and allow to cool.
3. While those are sauteing, mix the re-hydrated garlic powder into the ground beef.
4. When the sauteed vegetables are cool, you are ready to assemble.
5. Line a loaf pan with bacon strips.  Feel free to be creative. Reserve a few strips for the top. I used 3 decoratively, but wish I'd used more: the top dried out a bit and this may have helped.
6. Layer the re-hydrated thyme on the bottom.
7. Place 1/3 of the ground beef on thyme layer, pressing flat and to the edges.
8. Layer the sliced cheddar next.
9. Place the second 1/3 of the ground beef on top of the cheddar, pressing flat and to the edges.
10. Layer the sauteed veges.
11. Place the third 1/3 of the ground beef on top of the cheddar, pressing flat and to the edges.
12. Place a final layer of bacon on top of the loaf.
13. Bake at 350 F until an internal temperature of 170 F.
14. Remove from oven and allow to rest before you slice.

What I would do differently

• Nix the caper juice: wow! on the salt.
• Cover the meatloaf with bacon all 'round and maybe bake covered at the beginning.
• Add something to the ground beef to retain fat: the texture is a bit dry.
• Add more garlic.
• Maybe mix fresh herbs in the meat??

By the way, in case you're wondering about the name, while bacon is prominent on the outside, the flavor is definitely dominated by capers. Now you know.
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