turkey demi-meatloaf

Ah, meatloaf. It isn't sexy or modern, but I do love it so. It's so laughably dowdy that I feel the urge to don a muumuu when I eat it. There's no family memory that informs my craving for this old standby from time-to-time, but rather a love for anything old-timey. My father has always joked that I was born in the wrong era, for I listen to the Rat Pack without irony, decorate my home with mid-century and other vintage furniture (long before it was 'it'), and will always reach for an Audrey-inspired frock instead of the latest 'on-trend' apparel. 

We all romanticize about bygone eras, whether we lived through them or not. There's something comforting about looking to the past - conveniently editing out the ugliness that invariably comes with it - and its sense of permanence and quality. I live in a city that has shown so little respect for history, endlessly tearing down many of the precious few old buildings we have left in favour of cheap, uninspired architecture. Progress is a word I love when on the topic of sociology, for we can always improve our interaction with one another as cultures, religions and human beings. But this unrelenting need for the new and so-called improved, almost always at the expense of quality and craftsmanship, is a runaway train of waste that makes me so sad sometimes. Which is where the meatloaf comes in. Simple, good food as therapy.

Why demi-meatloaf? Well, most meatloaf recipes call for between two and three pounds of meat, and I was trying to use up the one pound of ground turkey I had left over after making a batch of meatballs the day before.  I love the idea of a mini-meatloaf - and let's be honest, girls love pretty much anything mini - but I didn't think this hunk of meat fit the title. (I was, however, able to bake this in my mini oven, so that was swell.) When searching for a vessel that would suit the task, I lucked out when I spotted one of my old Pyrex glass storage containers in the shape of a loaf pan. And it has a lid for storing the leftovers! (I love any opportunity not to use plastic wrap.) 

When I'm setting about cooking something on the fly, I tend to look around the kitchen to see what I do have rather than what I don't. Unless you're roasting a chicken, cooking with poultry generally demands more help in the flavour department than when using beef, pork, etc. Luckily I had some fresh rosemary that didn't get used when I didn't make the rosemary-roasted potatoes for the barbecue I didn't have the previous weekend. Luckily having a well-stocked pantry, I dug up some dried porcini mushrooms (to impart a 'meaty' essence) and began soaking them as I hunted for more flavour. Fresh parsley, a shallot and garlic seemed to me a sufficient back-up band, plus an egg and fresh bread crumbs to help bind everything together. Oh, and salt and pepper, of course. 

I should point out that some of the dark ground turkey meat I buy tends to have a lot of moisture, so in this instance I didn't feel the need to add any liquid. Gauge it for yourself: if you find your meat a bit stiff, add a little bit of milk. This meatloaf isn't free-form so the mixture can be on the loose side. I think it's wise not to have too firm a mixture when working with poultry, otherwise you run the risk of it cooking up dense and dry. Also, I strongly recommend you use dark meat. I find the concept of cooking with ground white meat completely pointless. There's no flavour in there whatsoever, and it's almost always guaranteed to cook up into crumbly, sapless rubber. When I can't find ground dark meat, I'll purchase a bunch of boneless, skinless chicken thighs and, if I'm not in the mood to employ the ol' meat grinder, I'll pulse them in the food processor until they're broken down into bits about 1/8" large. By doing it this way is you'll end up with a nice, light and airy mass, since it hasn't been compacted under the weight of other packages of meat.

turkey demi-meatloaf

Makes approximately 4 servings

Note: When I was prepping the ingredients, I decided to just whiz the shallots, garlic, herbs and reconstituted mushrooms in a mini (there's that word again) cuisinart. Chopping can be a serious bore sometimes.

Ingredients for Meatloaf:

1 lb ground dark turkey or chicken

1 egg

1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms, soaked until soft & drained

1/4 cup fresh bread crumbs

1 tsp minced fresh rosemary, 

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 large or 2 small shallots, finely chopped

1 medium clove garlic, minced

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Ingredients for Glaze:

1/4 cup ketchup

2 tsp dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together all of the meatloaf ingredients in a medium bowl (be sure not to over-mix or the meatloaf will be tough). 

Coat a 4-cup dish with olive oil and scoop mixture into dish. Even out surface and place meatloaf in oven. 

Meanwhile, mix together the glaze ingredients. Bake for approximately 1 hour, basting twice with glaze. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes, then serve with mashed potatoes or, as I like to have it, cooled completely and stuffed into a bun or crusty bread that's been embellished with mayonnaise, salt and pepper.

Note: The cooking time will vary depending on the vessel you use (as it may be more shallow, deep, etc. than what I used). With that in mind, start checking the temperature with an instant-read thermometer after about 45 minutes. You're aiming for an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Full disclosure: I was checking the temperature religiously after about 30 minutes of cooking and then, in the final 15 minutes and with another 10 degrees to go, I dropped the ball and over-cooked it by about 15 degrees. That said, because of the moisture from the mushrooms and the meat itself, it was totally fine. So don't fret too much.

Print this post

Print this post