Ham Loaf Dinner

I made an oldie but goodie recipe the other night for dinner, ham loaf. If you grew up in Iowa or Western PA you are more likely to be familiar with ham loaf. I had never heard of it before I married into a Western PA clan.

Ham loaf is basically meatloaf from pork and is delicious. Since my MIL shared her recipe many years ago I have made a few changes. The biggest is that I actually never make it into a loaf shape. I make the mixture into small ham balls and freeze them for ease of use.

To make the ham loaf you need a pound of ground pork and a pound of ground deli ham. Finding a deli that will actually grind ham for you is impossible in my experience. I usually buy a pound of high quality deli meat and chop it myself. Mix the meat with 2 eggs and a cup of bread crumbs. I add about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of milk to help the ingredients stay together.

Here is the batch I just made. After making them into little pork meatballs I flash freeze them. They are later placed into freezer bags.

When I want to cook them I defrost them in the fridge overnight and place into a baking pan. Set your oven for 350F.

These are delicious on their own but the sauce is what makes them extra special. Mix 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 water, 1/4 white vinegar and 2 teaspoons of dry mustard together (I use way less brown sugar in my recipe, but the ingredients for the sauce are from the original). Pour some of the mixture over the balls in the pan. Set a timer for about 25 minutes. Baste the meat with the remaining sauce and then place back in the oven for about another 30 minutes.

These 2 little ones are the leftovers from dinner after we inhaled the ones I baked tonight. If you want to make the mixture into a traditional loaf shape it will take about 90 minutes to bake.

They are a great addition as the main protein in a dinner. They pair well with corn on the cob and potatoes.