Meatloaf Fit For Company 9/21/2014

Meatloaf fit for Company

21 Sep 2012

There was a time when the king claimed he would never eat meatloaf, so I never made it. It's a nice meat and potatoes meal. I broke down and made it one day, and it turns out he really loves it! (He just didn't know it, yet!)

Yummy, bubbling dinner! The Italian styled dish is for company, and the regular casserole is for the freezer. I love to cook ahead, it helps in the monthly meal plan, if I'm making a mess for one dinner, might as well make one mess for three meals.

I make it a varierty of ways, here's how I made it tonight.

Skillet:

2TB Olive Oil

8 oz chopped fresh mushrooms

1 TB Minced Garlic

1/2 a Green Bell Pepper (finely chopped)

1 C Chicken Stock

1TB Worcestershire Sauce

In a bowl:

1 large Vidalia Onion (finely chopped)

2 eggs beaten

1 cup Italian Breadcrumbs

1.3 lbs Ground Turkey

3 lbs Ground Beef

2 heads previously steamed broccoli

Ground turkey, ground beef, steamed broccoli, Italian breadcrumbs, 2 eggs all in a big bowl. The ratios aren't too important. I get in there with my hands, if it feels a little too wet, just add more breadcrumbs. 

Ingredients in the bowl

Time to get dirty- the only way to get the job done right, is to do it yourself! Take charge, Princess, you can do this!

Chopped fresh mushrooms, sweet onion, garlic, bell pepper, Olive oil,  in a skillet. 

Adding in the finely chopped bell pepper. 

Add in at least a cup of chicken stock and a TB of Worcestershire sauce, bring up to a boil, and let it cook off the liquid. The mushrooms absorb the flavor very nicely. 

Let the Skillet cool off, and then add them together, gently make into loaves, if you are too hard on it, it will toughen up. Pat it away from the edges of the pans.

 

In approximately 2 pound loaves, cover in a nice tomato sauce.

I used a chunky Italian sauce, backyard plum tomatoes, and a can of steamed tomatoes, with garlic, fresh basil, fresh oregano, and a little bit of sugar to cut the acid. 

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Pop into a 350 degrees oven for an hour. Out comes a marvelous meatloaf, dinner for now and later. 

A few other variations include, Parmesan cheese, bacon or turkey bacon, carrots, sausage or cauliflower, whatever you have on hand.  I like to hide veggies in my meatloaf, it helps the little prince to get his greens. You don't have to be as devious :)