Gina's Turkey Meatloaf

Shamelessly stolen and slightly modified from here.

ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil

1 package (8oz) of sliced mushrooms
1 large white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Pinch red pepper flakes or dash of cayenne powder
2 tbsp chicken stock
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 package (~6oz) crumbled blue cheese
2 lb ground turkey
1 8oz. can tomato sauce
salt and pepper to taste

hardware:
baking pan or dish
large mixing bowl
saute pan
chef's knife
chopping board

procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. Slice vegetables and saute in olive oil for about 5 minutes.
3. Add red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper and saute for another minute. Add chicken stock and Worcestershire sauce, stir and remove from heat and allow to cool.
4. In the mixing bowl, combine the egg, panko, blue cheese, and sauteed vegetables. Add the turkey and mix, but don't stir too much.
5. Shape into an oblong loaf on the baking pan/dish. Spread tomato sauce over the loaf with a spoon.
6. Bake for 1 hr and 10 minutes.

comments:
I have begun venturing into ground turkey territory. I am one of those people with a very slow metabolism, a sedentary job and mostly sedentary hobbies, so if I don't watch what I eat and exercise, I can quickly grow obese. I am fine with eating the same thing over and over, so I generally just eat chicken breasts and vegetables for dinner. Trevor doesn't like eating the same thing over and over, so I'm trying to change things up a bit.

I decided to buy ground turkey and had no clue what to do with it. I've never cooked with ground beef much, unless it was Hamburger Helper provided by food stamps when I was a little Catsass. I grew up intermittently poor and always neglected, but that's a story for a different sort of blog. I've also never made meatloaf, so I thought it would be a great time to try my hand at a few new things.

I adore the Neelys' cooking show on Food Network. It's Southern, but not Paula Deen Southern. Not hating on Paula at all, but she makes all the same stuff I grew up eating. Sometimes you need comfort food with a twist. I knew the Neelys would come through for me on this one.

Gina's Turkey Meatloaf is hands-down the most delicious meatloaf I've ever had. The blue cheese isn't at all obvious or overwhelming, and is the perfect touch. If you really hate blue cheese and can't stomach the thought of eating it, I'm sure feta would work fine in this recipe. Among my changes to this recipe are to use only about 2 tablespoons of the chicken stock, and 2 tablespoons of the Worcestershire sauce. Because ground turkey is already very moist, and sauteeing vegetables always results in extra liquid, adding an entire 1/4 cup of chicken stock resulted in my meatloaf being a bit too moist. I made it exactly as the recipe instructed, and mine didn't quite hold its shape. Ended up a blob with a mound in the middle. Tasted amazing, so that's no big deal.

I also ix-nayed on the shallots, because those are really just for decoration and ain't nobody got time fuh dat.

Crispy Ranch Baked Chicken

ingredients:
1 package of thinly-sliced boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cups seasoned panko breadcrumbs
2/3 cup of italian blend shredded cheese
1 cup of water
2 tbsp of ranch dip (sour cream and ranch powder packet)
1 tbsp olive oil
cooking oil spray

hardware:
baking rack that fits over a baking pan

procedure:

1. Preheat the oven to 400° and line your baking pan with foil to conduct heat.
2. Combine the breadcrumbs and cheese in a dish wide enough to put the chicken in. I just used a wide Tupperware bowl.
3. In another bowl, combine the water, dip, and olive oil and mix well, until no lumps of dip are visible.
4. Dip each chicken breast in the liquid mixture, then coat them with the breadcrumb mixure as much as possible. This may require a few flips and packing the crumbs on with a spoon.
5. Spray the baking rack with the cooking spray, then place it over the baking pan and put the chicken on it.
6. Bake for 30 minutes, flipping the chickens halfway through to properly brown them on both sides.

comments:
This isn't the healthiest, but I try to eat pretty low-calorie throughout the week so I buy large amounts of boneless skinless breasts. So anyway, I had some leftover ranch dip I had made when Trevor had friends over, from light sour cream and a packet of ranch powder. Then a bunch of chicken breasts, and some breadcrumbs left over from making meatloaf, so I whipped this up. I was pretty satisfied with the outcome, although they were a little bit soggy on one side so I decided baking them on a rack over a baking pan would make better sense.

You can always buy the regular boneless skinless chicken boobs and thinly slice them yourself. I used water and the dip instead of a milk/egg mixture to try to lower the calorie count a little bit. You can always use any thick sauce that you enjoy, honey mustard would be pretty good.

As a Southern woman I love few things more than fried chicken, and this is a very decent substitute.