Last Night's Reduction

Last night I made my first balsamic reduction. I have no idea why I've never made one before, but last night I lost my cherry.

I made a meat loaf for dinner. I don't usually make meat loaf. Meat loaf is the wife's territory. When I make meat loaf, which I don't usually, I usually top the meat loaf with diced tomatoes. Last night I was feeling frisky and I put the diced tomatoes into the meat loaf. But that little act of rebellion created chaos. What was I going to put on top of the meat loaf? Should I allow the meat to be presented naked? Nah, that's way too radical.

I have no idea why I decided on a balsamic reduction as a glaze for the meat loaf. Maybe I've been watching too many cooking shows, but it sounded like a good idea. I had no idea on how to make this so I just winged it.

I took one half cup of balsamic vinegar and put it in a pot and turned up the flame until the vinegar boiled. After it boiled and began to reduce I whisked in one tablespoon of butter. I reduced the heat and let the vinegar boil down until there was about 1/4 cup of liquid in the pot. This reduction was thick, sweet and luminous.

I then took this syrup and brushed it all over the meat loaf, which I had removed from the oven so that I could brush the loaf with abandon. Once said loaf was sufficiently covered in glaze, I put the meat loaf back in the oven and cooked it for about 5 more minutes.

That my friends was good eats.