turkey/veal-pork-beef/whatever meatloaf

The advent of cable TV in the late 20th century created nationally known chef celebrities with all kinds of personalities. Jacques Pepin seems to be one of the more believable ones, and won points in bob's rating book for his series "Cooking With Claudette", his cute twenty something daughter at the time of the season, of which we caught maybe two episodes. [We impress easily.] He also has a cooking pedigree that dates back to Julia Child's first cookbook, in which he played some kind of consulting role that led to their lifelong friendship. More to the point ani had already picked up one of his healthy cooking cookbooks where we discovered his delicious solution to the post-Thanksgiving leftover turkey problem: turkey meatloaf.

Then we discovered that it easily converts to any kind of meat-based meatloaf and still remains delicious, taking us a great leap forward from the early days of bob's canned mushroom soup meatloaf. We like this a lot and actually make it quite often, probably since it is an addictive comfort food when accompanied by garlicky mashed potatoes and a little red wine.

ingredients

original recipe ani's version (can be halved) ani alternate version, yum
1 1/2 lb ground turkey breast 2 lb ground veal/pork/beef pack
or turkey or leftover turkey
1 1/2 lb ground beef, whatever
4 slices bread into 2 c breadcrumbs 2 c breadcrumbs 1 1/2 c whole wheat panko
8 scallions 2 scallions 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
2 -3 medium domestic mushrooms 4 medium domestic mushrooms 4 domestic plus 4 shitake mushrooms
1 small onion 1 large onion 1 leek, 1 shallot, finely chopped
1/2 c whole chicken stock or low salt canned chicken broth 1/2 cup no MSG veggie broth   1/2 c no MSG veggie broth
1 egg, 1 egg white 2 eggs 1 egg
2 - 3 cloves garlic 4 cloves garlic 4 cloves garlic
1 small piece fresh ginger 0 ginger (ani veto)  
1 t salt (adjust if canned broth) 1 t salt 1 t salt
1/4 t freshly ground black pepper 1/4 t freshly ground black pepper 1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
1/4 t cumin 1/4 t Middle Eastern allspice
    options: 2 T ketchup
    1/2 red, 1/2 green peppers, chopped  
    2 stalks celery, chopped  
    4 white mushrooms, chopped  

instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350�.
  2. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.
  3. Lightly coat an 8x4 inch loaf pan with veggie cooking spray. Press the meatloaf mixture firmly into the pan. Cover the surface with plastic wrap and press the surface level. Remove. Cover the pan loosely with aluminum foil.
  4. Bake for 1 1/2 hours, or until a meat thermometer inserted into the center reads 160�. Remove and let sit covered 20 to 30 minutes.

notes

  1. Seems easy, no? But we're not through. Even the original dr bob meatloaf recipe came with its own soupcan-based meatloaf sauce to top it off. This one has an upgraded sauce.

tomato-mushroom sauce

ingredients

4 large tomatoes (2 lb), cut into 1 inch pieces (or small can pelati about14oz)
1 T olive oil
1 small onion (2 -3 oz), peeled and thinly sliced
1 stalk celery (about 2 oz), washed, trimmed, chopped (1/2 c)
5 - 6 domestic mushrooms (about 3 oz), washed and thinly sliced (1 1/2 c)
2 - 3 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced (1 T)
1 t herbes de Provence or Italian seasoning (or allspice)
1 t sugar
3/4 t salt
1/4 t freshly ground black pepper

instructions

  1. While the meatloaf is baking, food process the tomatoes into a puree (not necessary with canned pelati).
  2. Saut� the onions and celery in the (already hot) oil over low heat for 3 minutes.
  3. Then add the tomato puree and the rest of the ingredients and simmer 5 minutes.
  4. Serve the sauce over each slice of meatloaf.

notes

  1. Often we are out of celery. No big deal.
  2. Herbes de Provence ... we never had any of this stuff until recently, but it sometimes has rosemary. Ours did and ani has this thing about rosemary, so she uses a mixture of thyme, marjoram, and oregano instead (or just allspice). Guess we better give away the herbes etc.
  3. We really love the meat 3-pack version of this meatloaf. But since we are only two, we end up freezing some precut double portions to use later. Usually much later since we tend to forget about the stuff in the freezer. Comes out just as good as it went in though.
  4. We made this with the meatloaf optional ingredients in 2010 and it was the best ever, substituting a small can of pelati for the tomatoes in the sauce. They did not require pureeing, just break them down with a wooden spoon if you are lazy.
  5. This is one of our most repeated recipes. Check out the illustrations, including a variation with a diced roasted red pepper and some 4 or 5 roasted garlic cloves, and some ready-to-eat Carlino's arrabbiata sauce heated in the microwave saving some effort along the way.
  6. Ani varied this a bit in 2012, leading to the third column since it was so delicious. Served it with half and half Yukon gold (2), sweet potato (1) smashed potatoes, with 2 cloves pressed garlic, some butter and gorgonzola cheese and yogurt additives. A beautiful partnership.
meatloaf.htm: 18-sep-2016 [what, ME cook? © 1984 dr bob enterprises]