Boring turkey meatloaf

[Andy M.]

I make three or four different meatloaf recipes. One is with lamb and beef with Near East spices, the other is a bacon cheeseburger meatloaf I found on DC and the third is an older more traditional recipe with beef that I whipped up.

I don't wrap any of these in bacon or top them with canned tomato soup.

 

[tenspeed]

quick oats instead of breadcrumbs.

I've made this recipe with old fashioned oats (Quaker doesn't care which one you use), 85% ground beef, and gravy made with Better Than Bouillon. I made it once with 90% ground beef, and it barely held together.

Classic Meatloaf - Recipe | QuakerOats.com

 

[RPCookin]

I've made this recipe with old fashioned oats (Quaker doesn't care which one you use), 85% ground beef, and gravy made with Better Than Bouillon. I made it once with 90% ground beef, and it barely held together.

Classic Meatloaf - Recipe | QuakerOats.com

I don't know what percent my ground beef is... we buy it on the hoof. It's generally somewhere around 90% lean. It's packed in 1.5 lb packages, and one package doesn't release more than 2 or 3 tablespoons of fat when browned in a frying pan. When I make a meat loaf, I don't have to pour off any grease like I would for the 83% grocery store hamburger. It hangs together nicely.

 

[di reston]

Meatloaf is one dish that they just absolutely love in Italy. And it's been adopted in the the USA. I have a very nice recipe book given to me by a very good friend in America. Their meatloaf is epic. So's the Chief's, only more so. I make the Chief's meatloaf now. It uses beef and pork. You'll find it in the D.C. archives, if you do a search. I'm sure you could make a 'white' meat version that would be very good.

di reston


Enough is never as good as a feast Oscar Wilde

 

[blissful]

I have never made a good turkey meatloaf or turkey meat balls. I have tried and then I tried, then tried again, God knows I tried and God was happy, DH wasn't that pleased. I'm going to stop trying to make a good one and it comes down to putting some spices into it, and DH doesn't like spicy, so there is no way for it to turn out good, to him.

 

[Cheryl J]

I have never made a good turkey meatloaf or turkey meat balls. I have tried and then I tried, then tried again, God knows I tried and God was happy, DH wasn't that pleased. I'm going to stop trying to make a good one and it comes down to putting some spices into it, and DH doesn't like spicy, so there is no way for it to turn out good, to him.

Same here, Blissful. I've tried several turkey meatloaf and meatball recipes over the years and was not happy with any of them. I ended up staying with the beef and pork combo and figured that I wasn't going to eat a mountain full of it every week, so what the heck.

 

[blissful]

Same here, Blissful. I've tried several turkey meatloaf and meatball recipes over the years and was not happy with any of them. I ended up staying with the beef and pork combo and figured that I wasn't going to eat a mountain full of it every week, so what the heck.

Oh Yeah, and you were born with the same sign on your forehead, "I will eat the food you deem inferior", yeah, I have that sign.

 

[Cheryl J]

Oh Yeah, and you were born with the same sign on your forehead, "I will eat the food you deem inferior", yeah, I have that sign.

Comes with having children and eating what they won't eat....back in the day.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Oh Yeah, and you were born with the same sign on your forehead, "I will eat the food you deem inferior", yeah, I have that sign.

Funny, I do that for my 72 year old.

 

[di reston]

I dug this out of my stash of recipes:

1. For all the meatloaves, the components are ground meat or other non-meat ingredients like salmon, and vegetarian.

Turkey or chicken meatloaf:

Ground chicken/turkey, minced and sausage.
black pepper
breadcrumbs
parmesan
parsley
nutmeg
chopped garlic - not too much
nutmeg
1 clove garlic
fresh parsley - the mix should look 'speckled'
thyme, garlic rosemary sage to taste

2. enough thin slices of either pork or veal

Mix together all the ingredients that go with the mince chicken/turkey. salt and pepper. Work well until you have a mass of minced meat that doesn't fall apart.

lay out the slices of veal so as to keep the shape of the meatloaf together. At this stage, you can wrap some thin bacon round it.

You can use you're imagination and experience to improve on this recipe. For example, you could put a filling of spinach, ricotta, parmesan, bound with an egg. It really is something you can experiment with and put you're own stamp on it.

When you do come to cook it, use butter, oil, or both, white wine, so you can baste the meat.

di reston


Enough is never as good as a feast



Tie with string before putting in the oven.

 

[salt and pepper]

Sounds fowl to me.........wheres the beef?... lol

 

[LPBeier]

Personally, I like a 50/50 mix of beef and pork for my meatloaf. I can get a premix from my butcher or just do a pound of each. TB loves meatloaf sandwiches for work so I always make a big one.

As for your turkey one, I would be interested in what seasonings were used. I used to make a chicken meatloaf and used poultry seasoning, tarragon, thyme, and garlic, plus salt and pepper of course. It was pretty tasty.

As for the mushroom sauce, if it isn't already called for, add a few splashes (not too much) of Worcestershire sauce and/or hot sauce to bring out the flavour. Also, with fresh mushrooms, it is important to saute them in a hot pan to get all the flavours out. I do mine in a little butter and really hot so they caramelize and don't just lose all their liquid. Anything left in the pan should go into the sauce!

Hope this helps.

 

[JustJoel]

Don't feel silly, good meatloaf is not as easy as people might think.

I typically use a 50/50 blend of ground beef and ground pork. For more flavor, you can mix ground beef and one of those chubs of breakfast sausage, or even Italian sausage.

I also smoke my meatloaf on my Weber Kettle. I put the coals on one side, and the meatloaf on the other. I like hickory chunks for the smoke. I form my loaf and put it in the fridge to firm up for a few hours. Then, it goes right on the grill grate, with a foil drip pan below.

Smoked meatloaf is really, really good.

CD

OMG, this sounds like something I could get on board with! I think this weekend would be a good time! It’s so beautiful here in Vegas, that it’s time to clean off the BBQ.

 

[JustJoel]

So, consensus is, turkey: blech

Thank you all for your input. I’m getting the idea that if you wanna make meatloaf, use meat. I think I’m gonna do the smoked meatloaf, with 50/50 pork and beef (I’d love to through in a bit of lamb, but Mark hates it). The weather’ss Perfect here for outdoor cooking.

 

[caseydog]

OMG, this sounds like something I could get on board with! I think this weekend would be a good time! It’s so beautiful here in Vegas, that it’s time to clean off the BBQ.

Do it! Everyone I have ever turned on to smoked meatloaf has loved it. Of course, it works best with meat that has some fat in it. But, if you don't put the meatloaf in a loaf pan, and let the fat render and go to a drip pan, your meatloaf is not "greasy," just moist.

If you have any questions, ask. I've done it enough times to get the hang of it.

CD

 

[Kayelle]

Personally, I like a 50/50 mix of beef and pork for my meatloaf. I can get a premix from my butcher or just do a pound of each. TB loves meatloaf sandwiches for work so I always make a big one.

As for your turkey one, I would be interested in what seasonings were used. I used to make a chicken meatloaf and used poultry seasoning, tarragon, thyme, and garlic, plus salt and pepper of course. It was pretty tasty.

As for the mushroom sauce, if it isn't already called for, add a few splashes (not too much) of Worcestershire sauce and/or hot sauce to bring out the flavour. Also, with fresh mushrooms, it is important to saute them in a hot pan to get all the flavours out. I do mine in a little butter and really hot so they caramelize and don't just lose all their liquid. Anything left in the pan should go into the sauce!

Hope this helps.

Just a bit more about getting mushrooms to perfectly caramelize. I only use unsalted butter and never add any salt until they are finished. I learned that ages ago from some cooking show.

Casey, would it be a waste of time for me to do a meatloaf on my gas grill?
Wait! I have a smoke box I can use.

 

[jennyema]

I add ketchup and beefy onion soup mix and it tastes pretty good.

 

[caseydog]

Just a bit more about getting mushrooms to perfectly caramelize. I only use unsalted butter and never add any salt until they are finished. I learned that ages ago from some cooking show.

Casey, would it be a waste of time for me to do a meatloaf on my gas grill?
Wait! I have a smoke box I can use.

If you have a smoke box that generates some decent smoke, that will work just fine. I have an Amazen Pellet Tube Smoker. It works great on my gasser.

https://www.amazon.com/Amazen-Pellet-Tube-Smoker-12/dp/B00CS6YFIC

CD

 

[JustJoel]

OMG, this sounds like something I could get on board with! I think this weekend would be a good time! It’s so beautiful here in Vegas, that it’s time to clean off the BBQ.

Quick question: Do you glaze the meatloaf? If you do, do you glaze it before you put it on the grill, halfway through cooking, or at the end of cooking? I cleaned my BBQ today, and meatloaf ingredients are on my shopping list! (Can you believe I’m gonna fire up the barbie in February? it’s beautiful here in the desert, uncharacteristically so. Today’s high was 71°!)

 

[caseydog]

Quick question: Do you glaze the meatloaf? If you do, do you glaze it before you put it on the grill, halfway through cooking, or at the end of cooking? I cleaned my BBQ today, and meatloaf ingredients are on my shopping list! (Can you believe I’m gonna fire up the barbie in February? it’s beautiful here in the desert, uncharacteristically so. Today’s high was 71°!)

I don't generally use any kind of mop or glaze on my smoked meatloaf. I have done it, but I can take it or leave it. If you use a glaze, like a sugary BBQ sauce, I would suggest you add that at the end of your cook, so it caramelizes but doesn't burn.

CD