Look how white this is! Apparently I never used pure turkey breast like this before. I was stunned pulling it out of the oven.
Time to stretch my culinary imagination. A long time ago I made turkey sausage a la Jacques Pepin (from a visit he made to Emerial Live). Then I recreated it in my own image. This time I’m going the sausage route but as a meatloaf.
In yesterday’s posting I discussed turkey milanesa which I made from slices of boneless, skinless turkey breast. They each were about 6 oz. The rest of the breast weighed 2 lbs!!! Thankfully my trusty Kitchen Aid mixer has a meat grinding attachment I use often.
The turkey had been brined for several hours and then, even though I rinsed it, it sat in the fridge for another 24 hours. A little sample, microwaved, proved to be on the salty side, but Peter agreed that by not adding additional salt the rest of the meatloaf ingredients would stretch it out and disperse the saltiness. Don’t get me wrong, I could have eaten it just as it was – but it was a bit over-salty. If I had planned to just make burgers, I would have soaked the pieces of turkey breast (before grinding) in cold water for an hour.
So here it is, thanks in part to Jacques, and in large measure to yours truly.
Turkey “sausage” meatloaf
2 lbs. ground turkey breast
½ cup minced onion
1 tsp ground fennel seed
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
1/3 cup parsley, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
½ tsp dried thyme
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp black pepper, or to taste
¼ cup breadcrumbs
¼ cup heavy cream
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 slices thick-cut bacon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Put a teaspoon or so of the mix into a small bowl and microwave it for 20 seconds. Taste and adjust seasonings to taste.
Lubricate a loaf pan with cooking spray. Put the turkey mixture into the loaf pan. Top with bacon slices (cut them as needed to cover turkey in one layer).
Bake until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees, about 1 hour. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
In yesterday’s posting I discussed turkey milanesa which I made from slices of boneless, skinless turkey breast. They each were about 6 oz. The rest of the breast weighed 2 lbs!!! Thankfully my trusty Kitchen Aid mixer has a meat grinding attachment I use often.
The turkey had been brined for several hours and then, even though I rinsed it, it sat in the fridge for another 24 hours. A little sample, microwaved, proved to be on the salty side, but Peter agreed that by not adding additional salt the rest of the meatloaf ingredients would stretch it out and disperse the saltiness. Don’t get me wrong, I could have eaten it just as it was – but it was a bit over-salty. If I had planned to just make burgers, I would have soaked the pieces of turkey breast (before grinding) in cold water for an hour.
So here it is, thanks in part to Jacques, and in large measure to yours truly.
Turkey “sausage” meatloaf
2 lbs. ground turkey breast
½ cup minced onion
1 tsp ground fennel seed
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
1/3 cup parsley, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
½ tsp dried thyme
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp black pepper, or to taste
¼ cup breadcrumbs
¼ cup heavy cream
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 slices thick-cut bacon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Put a teaspoon or so of the mix into a small bowl and microwave it for 20 seconds. Taste and adjust seasonings to taste.
Lubricate a loaf pan with cooking spray. Put the turkey mixture into the loaf pan. Top with bacon slices (cut them as needed to cover turkey in one layer).
Bake until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees, about 1 hour. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
The color definitely threw me a bit, but I would have devoured it anyway!! Sounds fantastic! So was it still salty once it was finished, or did it mellow out due to the other ingredients? I'm assuming it tasted great, but I'm just checking :)
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