Ingredients

• 1/4 cup ketchup or chili sauce
• 2 tablespoons light or dark brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons cider or white vinegar
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black paper
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons Worchestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper sauce
• 1/2 up milk, buttermilk or low-fat plain yogurt
• 2 pounds meat-loaf mix (2 parts ground chuck, 1 part ground veal, 1 part ground pork)
• 2/3 cups crushed saltine crackers (about 16) or quick oatmeal or 1 1/3 cups fresh bread crumbs
• 1/3 cup minced parsley
• 6 ounces thin-sliced bacon

Instructions

1. Glaze
2. Mix all ingredients in a small bowl; set aside.
3. Meatloaf
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil in a medium skillet. Add onion and garlic, saute until softened, about 5 minutes; set aside to cool.
5. Mix eggs with thyme, salt, pepper, mustard, Worchestershire, pepper sauce, and milk or yogurt. Add egg mixture to meat in a large bowl, along with crackers, oatmeal or bread crumbs, parsley and cook onions and garlic; mix with a fork until evenly blended and meat mixture does not stick to bowl. (If mixture does stick, add additional milk, a couple tablespoons at a time, and continue stirring until mixture stops sticking.)
6. Turn meat mixture onto a work surface. With wet hands, pat mixture into a loaf approximately 9 by 5 inches.
7. Cover a wire rack with foil; prick foil in several places with a fork. Place a rack on a shallow roasting pan lined with foil for easy cleanup.
8. Set formed loaf on rack. Brush loaf with all of glaze, then arrange bacon slices, crosswise, over loaf, overlapping them slightly and tucking them under to prevent curling.
9. Bake loaf until bacon is crisp and loaf registers 160 degrees, about 1 hour. Cool for at least 20 minutes. Slice and serve