It's Thursday and I have no idea what to cook. I normally don't cook on Friday's so if I'm going to feed me and my son, today seems like the day to do it but, what I asked? I checked the old freezer and all I see is ground turkey meat. I don't want spaghetti or tacos. So, what am I going to do with ground turkey meat?
Aha. Meatloaf. Meatloaf is a classic and since I'm using turkey it will take some extra love and care to make sure it stays juicy and doesn't dry out. Now you can use ground turkey breast which is much leaner but also if not done correctly will turn out like a brick or you can use the ground darker meat which comes from the thigh. What I'm using today happens to be the darker meat. I've got one of the rolls of ground turkey meat and usually the cut of meat they use for those is from the thigh. It's less expensive but, juicer. The recipe I used is the same for both.
You'll start out by making sure that you turkey is completely thawed if it was frozen. I season by taste, so you'll have to adjust this recipe to your taste and how much meat you're going to use. Since it's just me and my son I'm only using one roll of turkey which is one pound. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. I've got the turkey in a bowl while I chopped up half a small onion and one clove of garlic. I added olive oil and butter to a pan and added the onions and garlic until they were translucent and soft. Turn the fire off and let sit to cool while you season your meatloaf. Usually, I have a meatloaf seasoning packet or an onion soup packet but today I had neither. Time to regroup so, I grabbed my seasoning staples- garlic & onion powder, salt & pepper, and Lawry's seasoning salt (which I was going to add even if I would have had the packets). In addition, I also got Panko breadcrumbs, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, and liquid smoke. Added my sauteed onions and garlic. Once I added in all my ingredients, I grabbed a plastic glove and went to mixing. Two things to remember is not a lot of liquid smoke is needed and don't over mix your meat. Believe it or not it's just like dough in the sense of if you over work it will be tough. Place your turkey in a pan with parchment paper and shape to form like a loaf. Make sure it's level and even or you can just put it in a loaf pan that's already formed. Place in the oven no less than one hour. It really depends on how much meat you used.
I know you're thinking is that it? No glaze or gravy? Well of course there is. Since, I already have ketchup in my mix I'm going to make a ketchup glaze. You can totally leave out the ketchup if you want to do a gravy mix or leave it in. It shouldn't hurt the taste. Using the same sauté pan that I cooked the onions & garlic in I put in ketchup, brown sugar, and apple cider vinegar. Let simmer to it's all incorporated. About halfway through the cooking process pull out the meat loaf and cover with half the ketchup mix. (This can also be done before you place it in the oven). Make sure you get the sides if you free formed the loaf. Place back in the oven until done. Once done put the rest of the mixture on top.
As always, you can adjust this recipe anyway you like. You can use ground beef, ground beef & pork mix, or even vegan ground meat. My side dishes were brown rice and sauteed brussels sprouts and carrots. Delish! For those of you that cooking from the spirit is not quite your thing. I have listed a recipe below that is kind of close to what I did. Remember it's not rocket science just take out or add what you like.
Bon Appetit'
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