Practice Makes Perfect (Or A Slight Improvement). Plus Turkey Meatloaf!

I did learn something from my last couple of sessions about waiting until tides are right. Sunday was predicted to be a day just out of my comfort zone, surf wise, but I wanted to get out anyway and get some water time. But this time I paid close attention to the tides so I wouldn't be there at the high or low, but at mid-tide. It all looked pretty good when I got about to the beach, except for one thing: the waves were kind of on the big side. Again, not big by good surfer standards, but by my kook standards. Also, they were coming in one after another in between periods of calm, and that's something that also can be unnerving. The good news is with the mid-tide it was a good day to practice in the whitewash. You can catch whitewash waves, you know, and even sometimes pop up and get a little ride. So that's what I did. Me and these, like, five year olds with their mom! But since I consider any water time to be good time, I was happy with the day. Then, on the way home, I was thinking a lot about comfort zones, which lead to thoughts of comfort food and what to have for dinner. Meatloaf came up. Turkey Meatloaf, with mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy and peas. Here was dinner:

Doesn't get much more comforting than that, does it? We like to call this the Blue Plate Special because it looks so much like diner grub. If you're interested in a good Turkey Meatloaf recipe I'm going to give you one. This version, I promise, isn't dry like cardboard or tasteless like some turkey meatloaf dinners I bet you've had. Again, in the practice makes perfect department, I've worked on this recipe for quite some time to get it right, and quite frankly I think it's pretty good. Couple of things to note if you're going to make Turkey Meatloaf -- don't even think of using all white meat ground turkey. The results will be dry as sawdust. Also, it's important to find a good source for ground turkey. I don't recommend that pre-packaged kind you find in most supermarkets. Find a good butcher or a market like Whole Foods because places like that generally grind the meat on site and better source their turkeys. So here ya go:

Turkey Meatloaf With Mushroom Gravy
(Serves 4)

For meatloaf:
1 small or 1/2 large green pepper, diced
1 large white mushroom, diced
1 small or 1/2 large onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsps. olive oil
1 1/4 pounds ground dark meat turkey
1/4 cup, plus 2 tbsp. ketchup
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 tbsps. Worcestershire sauce, divided
1 tbsp. soy sauce
Couple of dashes Sriracha
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
3/4-1 cup dry bread crumbs
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
1 tbsp horseradish

1. Pre-heat oven to 375. Heat olive oil to medium hot in small skillet and toss in onion, peppers, mushroom and garlic. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and add 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce. Cook, stirring, until vegetables begin to brown and caramelize, about five to seven minutes. Set aside to cool
2. Place ground turkey in a large bowl, along with 1/4 cup ketchup, mustard, the other 1 tbsp Worcestershire, the soy sauce, Sriracha and salt and paper. Toss in 3/4 cups of the bread crumbs, the grated cheese and the egg. Add the cooked vegetables. Mix together -- it's best to use your hands to get it all well-incorporated, but if you must, use a wooden spoon. If mixture seems too wet, add the additional 1/4 cup bread crumbs.
3. Form mixture into a loaf and place in a skillet or baking dish lined with Parchment paper.
4. Mix remaining two tbsps. ketchup with the horseradish. Spread this mixture on top and along the sides of the meatloaf. Sprinkle more grated Parmesan on top.
5. Bake meatloaf about 1 hour, 15 minutes, or until 160 degrees on an instant read thermometer.  Let rest ten minutes before slicing.

For Mushroom Gravy:

3 large white mushrooms, diced

2 tbsps. minced onion

2 tbsps. butter
1 tsp. soy sauce

2 tbsps. flour

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

1. In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium high heat. When melted, toss in the mushrooms and onion. Sprinkle with salt and fresh ground pepper to taste, and add the soy sauce. Saute until the vegetables are brown and starting to caramelize, about five minutes.
2. Sprinkle flour over vegetables. Stir, letting four and vegetables brown in the pan for a few minutes.
3. Slowly whisk in a cup of chicken stock, whisking until smooth as gravy comes to a simmer.  Let simmer a few minutes, whisking occasionally. If gravy seems too thick, slowly whisk in the last 1/2 cup stock.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Here's a couple of shots of the process, starting with the diced vegetables, then everything in the bowl pre-mixing, formed in the pan and finally just out of the oven.

Of course you'll want to serve this as in the picture above, with mashed potatoes and peas, and of course if there's leftover meatloaf it makes excellent sandwiches. See, here was today's lunch! Would have tasted even better if it was eaten at the beach.

By the way, you can easily double this recipe if you want even more meatloaf. In fact it's encouraged.