“Cincy” Chili

11 Comments February 20, 2022 terrie gura

Everything about this recipe is upside-down for me. It defies almost every cooking instinct I live by, except the most important one—it’s delicious! Cincinnati Chili is unlike any other chili you’ve tried. It does not have spicy Mexican or even smoky Tex-Mex flavors, and that’s because its roots are Mediterranean. The cooking begins not with browning meat and onions, but with water and a small amount of tomato juice in the pan. The spices come next, and they are not the ones you would ordinarily associate with chili—including cinnamon, cloves, allspice and bay leaf. The raw meat is simmered directly in the liquid, so it stays very fine-textured (much like my recipe for hot dog chili). And the most noticeable difference is in the presentation—this “chili” is served on a bed of spaghetti and buried under shredded cheddar cheese, and any “way” you like it. Honestly, it doesn’t seem like chili at all.

Top with any of the traditional ingredients. Make it “all the way” with heated kidney beans, onions and fine shredded cheddar cheese.

This tasty dish was born when two brothers settled in Cincinnati, Ohio from their native Greece and opened a restaurant. Their recipe for a hot dog chili topping was seasoned with all the flavors of the Mediterranean, and it was such a hit with the locals, they eventually began serving it as a signature entrée, and “Cincinnati chili” earned its title as the most iconic food of the city.

My first taste of Cincinnati chili did not happen in southwestern Ohio, but in Greensboro, N.C., in a hidden little downtown gem called Cincy’s. It’s a woman-owned business with bragging rights of being the city’s oldest downtown eatery. This out-of-the-way place is only open three hours a day for lunch, and it happens to be a short walk from the radio station where I used to work. Despite the limited hours, Cincy’s was usually jumping, and though it offers a wide variety of sandwiches, wraps and burgers, the restaurant is best known for its namesake, Cincinnati-style chili.

I looked at several “authentic” online recipes for this dish, and especially at the reviews, to see what natives of Cincy—the experts, if you will—had to say in feedback, and that became the basis for my version. This final composition is based on my taste buds’ memory of those downtown lunches from yesteryear.

What I have plated up here is every bit as good as I remember, though I’m sure I’ll have to visit Cincy’s again soon, just to be sure!

Ingredients

2 3/4 cups water

1 cup tomato sauce or strained puree (no chunks!)

1 lb. lean ground meat* (see ingredient notes)

4 cloves fresh garlic, minced

¼ cup red wine vinegar*

Dry Seasonings:

Is there anything from my spice cabinet that ISN’T in this so-called chili?

1 Tbsp. chili powder*

1 ½ tsp. cocoa powder

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. sweet Spanish paprika

1 tsp. smoked paprika*

½ tsp. ground cumin

½ tsp. dried oregano

¼ tsp. ground cloves

¼ tsp. ground allspice

1 tsp. kosher salt (or 3/4 tsp. regular table salt)

Several twists freshly ground black pepper

2 dried bay leaves

For serving:

½ lb. spaghetti (I used whole wheat)

1 can light red kidney beans, rinsed and warmed

½ cup finely minced onion

4 oz. finely shredded cheddar (I used medium sharpness)

Oyster crackers, if desired

*Notes

Any combination of lean (90%) ground beef or turkey works well in this recipe, but for a vegetarian version you could substitute with a combination of cooked lentils and cracked bulgur wheat, as they do at the restaurant where I first enjoyed this dish. Follow the package recommendations for cooking time of those products and add them to the pot at the appropriate time to avoid overcooking them.

Apple cider vinegar would probably work in this recipe as well, but given that the recipe has Mediterranean roots, I used red wine vinegar, which is typical in Greek cuisine.

Chili powder is one of those spice ingredients that is different from one brand to the next. Peek at the label to see whether your chili powder contains salt or any other ingredients you may want to adjust in the overall recipe.

My smoked paprika is a sweet (not hot) variety. The slight smokiness was nice in this dish, but if you don’t have this, you could simply double the amount of regular sweet paprika.

Instructions

My suggestion is to measure out the dry spice ingredients into a bowl before you begin with the rest of the recipe. Mmm, this mix smells amazing!
What a strange recipe, that it begins with the water and tomato sauce. But this is how it goes, and the meat cooks IN the water.
A splash of red wine vinegar (or cider vinegar) sets the tone.
I whisked in the garlic next, and it feels so strange to skip sauteing it.
Blending the dry spices together before adding them helps keep them from clumping when they hit the water.
This is almost exactly 1/4 cup total spices for my batch of chili. The flavor will be complex and delicious!
Whisk in the spices as the water begins to heat.
I had a small amount of ground turkey left over from another recipe, so I mixed it with enough ground beef to equal one pound. Whatever meat you choose, stick with at least 90% lean.
Ideally, the ground meat should be added while the water is still warming up, but I spent too much time taking pictures. I had to use a masher to blend this more quickly.
The meat should have a very fine texture as it cooks in the thin, spiced sauce.
Bay leaf adds lovely flavor to any kind of braise.
Finally, after about one hour, the liquid is reduced enough to allow me to see the meat.
When it reaches this “meat sauce” stage, adjust the salt to your liking.
I continued to simmer, which resulted in a drier sauce than I wanted.
No big deal; add a little more tomato sauce and water and heat it through.
Despite my rule to NEVER put oil on your pasta, for this recipe, I am recommending that you drizzle a dab of oil on your spaghetti. This will help prevent sticking.
Top with any of the traditional ingredients. Make it “all the way” with warmed kidney beans, onions and fine shredded cheddar cheese.
At Cincy’s in Greensboro, they serve their Cincinnati chili with oyster crackers. Call me sentimental! 🙂

Combine all the dry seasonings (except bay leaves) in a bowl and set aside.
Combine the water and tomato sauce in a large saucepot, over medium-low heat. Stir in the dry seasonings, garlic and red wine.
Crumble the raw ground meat into the pot and use a utensil or potato masher to break it up as much as possible into a fine texture. Add the bay leaves. Bring the mixture to a low boil, then reduce heat and cover the pot. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced, and sauce is thick but not dry. Give it at least an hour. Add a bit more tomato sauce and water, as needed, if the sauce has cooked down too much. It should be more meaty than “saucy.”
Cook spaghetti noodles to al dente stage, then drain and immediately toss with a bit of oil or butter to keep the noodles from sticking.
Plate spaghetti and top with meat sauce, plus any of the other toppings you like. Here’s how they break it down, Cincy style:

“2-way” = spaghetti with chili only

“3-way” = with chili and cheese

“4-way” = with chili, cheese and beans OR chili, cheese and onions

“5-way” = with chili, cheese, beans AND onions (the best)!

Cincy ChiliPrint it!

Turning Les’s Chili into “Kitchen-less” Chili

9 Comments October 25, 2021 les gura

The first dish I cooked from scratch happened in fall 1981, my first semester out of college, living in Southern California. It was sometime after the appearance of the annual TV Guide Season Preview edition. We all of a certain age remember those, right?

This thick edition featured previews of all the new shows, updates on returning shows and, seasoned amid all that, some unique features. The 1981 edition had a clip-out thing with the actor Vic Tayback, in all his “Alice” glory (rolled-up white hat, white t-shirt), sharing the recipe for Mel’s chili. Curious thing is that I didn’t watch “Alice.” Ever. But I wanted to make that chili, and it came out great. Of course, at the tender age of 22, saying something came out great means it was edible.

Vic Tayback as Mel Sharples. Gruff, but likable. And everyone loved his chili.

My chili has grown considerably in depth of ingredients and flavor over the years, and I no longer need to refer back to Mel’s recipe as I did for at least 10 years, but the baseline recipe still has some “Mel” in it. Namely, I still typically use some type of ground meat, onions, garlic, tomato paste and red kidney beans. I remember my very first modification, probably the second time I made the chili, was adding diced green peppers. Diced red pepper followed shortly after.

Soon enough, my chili became the regular main dish at the annual Gura household Super Bowl party, and I tried to do something different with it just about every year. So, among the additions (which sometimes also required deletions), were diced tomatoes (I now use Rotel hot diced tomatoes), roasted garlic, cocoa powder, various types of chili powders and seasonings rather than the packets of chili seasoning the recipe called for, canned green chiles, and diced jalapeno. A breakthrough ingredient some 15 years ago (I think I have to credit chef Steven Raichlen for this) was dark beer, as substitute for the water needed with the tomato paste. I’ve used ground bison. Used ground venison. Used smoked brisket (that might have been my best chili ever, Super Bowl party 2017).

Now comes a new challenge. Making chili without a kitchen, which became my mission one recent weekend while Terrie was taking a trip to West Virginia to buy colorful new Fiesta dishes for our soon-be-be completed kitchen. Fortunately, in our current state of kitchen-lessness, Terrie and I have two useful things for making chili. A multi-purpose slow cooker and a toaster oven; the former was the star of the day for the new batch.

I’m not going to bore you all with the details. Suffice to say, while I roasted a bulb of garlic in the toaster oven, I diced up peppers and onions and lined up the other key ingredients (Guinness Foreign Extra Stout was the beer). I browned the bison in the slow cooker and flavored it with a taco skillet sauce, then removed the bison to sauté the vegetables. Eventually, everything went back into the slow cooker and I left it on low for 2½ hours. With the jalapeno pepper flakes and ground chipotle that I added, this chili came out, to quote Jim Carrey in Masked, “ssssmokin!”

Ingredients (makes about 8 portions)

Counter space and lighting is even worse in the dining room than in the old kitchen, but I like to get “mise en place!” Everything ready, including a frosty beer for myself.

1 pound ground bison* (notes below)

1 medium onion, diced

1/2 each green and red peppers, diced

1 medium jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 bulb garlic

1 can Rotel diced tomatoes (I used the “hot” variety)*

2 small cans of chopped green chiles*

1 10-ounce can tomato paste

1 12-ounce beer*

1 packet Frontera brand taco skillet sauce (you will need less than half the packet)

2 cans red pinto beans (for this I used dark red; normally I mix dark and light red beans), drained

1-2 Tbsp. ground chipotle*

A pinch or two of dried jalapeno flakes

1 Tbsp. cocoa powder

Salt and pepper

Tools

Slow cooker and toaster oven for cooking*

Toppings/Extras

Shredded cheese*

Sour cream

Scallions

Tortilla chips

Notes

Bison can be substituted with ground beef, ground turkey or other favored protein; chili also works great with different kinds of stewed or smoked meats cut into small chunks.
Rotel makes three varieties of diced tomatoes; use whichever suits your heat preference.
I used Ortega’s fire-roasted, mild chopped green chiles for this batch, but any will do.
I like to use a dark beer; for this batch it was Guinness Foreign Extra Stout, which Terrie thought was too bold but it was the only bottle of dark beer in the “downstairs” fridge.
Ground chipotle can be substituted with other types of seasoning such as ancho chili powder or a seasoning packet mix or a combination of seasonings, all based on heat preference and desired flavor profile. And another thought on seasoning: add in whatever you like on a given day. Chili never comes out exactly the same, at least in our kitchen. And that’s OK.
If you don’t have a multipurpose slow cooker, you could brown the beef and sauté the vegetables in a fry pan, then add all other ingredients into a cast-iron pot.
Needless to say, garlic can be roasted in a regular oven. Unless you’re remodeling your kitchen.
I like to use a block of cheese rather than pre-shredded. Because this batch came out spicy, I used a Colby-jack blend. If your chili’s heat factor is low, Trader Joe’s makes a habanero pepper jack that works great and you can make your own bowl as spicy as you want.

Instructions

I browned the ground bison then tossed it in the taco skillet sauce before removing it from the cooker.

Pre-heat toaster oven to 400° F. Cut off head of garlic bulb, drizzle with olive oil and wrap in foil. Cook 1 to 1½ hours until the bulb is soft and golden brown.
Brown ground bison in multipurpose slow cooker on brown setting, adding in small batches to avoid steaming. After initial browning, add skillet sauce to coat bison, then remove from slow cooker.
Add olive oil and sauté the vegetables about 5 minutes until soft and translucent.
Change setting to slow cook on low, return ground bison to the slow cooker, and then add in Rotel diced tomatoes, beer and tomato paste. Add seasonings. Mix all ingredients well. If mixture appears too thin, gradually add more tomato paste; if too thick, add water.
After cooking about 90 minutes, add kidney beans and heat through.

Les’s Slow Cooker (Kitchen-less) ChiliPrint it!

In Terrie’s new Fiesta ware, the leftover chili looks like a party in a bowl.

Slow Cooker Elk Meatloaf

13 Comments October 18, 2021 terrie gura

First of all, our kitchen remodel is going well overall. We are beginning to realize our dreams as it relates to having more storage, counter space and lighting. The quartz countertop was installed successfully last week, though they rattled something loose on a couple of the drawers which will require adjustment. I am already excited about this five-foot long stretch of counter space, which will likely become my husband’s primary spot for prepping when we work together in the kitchen. Everything about our new plan is designed to give us more freedom to be in there at the same time, without bumping fannies or otherwise getting in each other’s way. We especially can’t wait for Thanksgiving in this new kitchen!

Our microwave will be housed in the open cabinet above this counter, and the base cabinet is a pull-out trash/recycling station.

There have been a few snags, of course, many of which I suspect could have been avoided, but what do I know? As I write this, an electrician is spending a second full day working to achieve our wishes for under-cabinet plug molds and lighting, a tricky proposition because some of the old outlets and junction boxes were capped off and covered by new cabinets before these guys had a chance to do their “rough-in.” While they have wrestled with that, I’ve been holed up in our home office with our nervous-about-noises dog, Nilla, listening to the soothing intonations of Melody Gardot. If you have never heard of her, it’s time you did. Click play on the video below and you will understand at once why I play her music during high-stress situations. Go ahead and subscribe to her YouTube channel while you’re at it—you can thank me later.

One of the hardest things for me to endure amid the ruckus of this remodel is not anxiety for the renovation itself—our general contractor has been very responsive to our concerns—but mainly for not having enough time to keep my usual schedule of posting here on Comfort du Jour. I had more than a dozen completed recipes in archive that I wanted to share with you during this time, but I haven’t had time to write them up, send them to Les (my talented copy editor/husband), edit and caption the photos, format the whole thing on WordPress and hit “publish.” Whew. A lot goes into maintaining my blog, and I love every second of it, though I have not had enough consecutive seconds lately to manage it all. Unexpectedly, I have appreciated these two days of electrical work for giving me a bit of time to catch up. And breathe.

When I originally sat down to contemplate how to cook without a kitchen, I expected we would make a lot of soup-and-sandwich meals, and that has been true to some degree. But I also wanted to stretch myself to explore other methods of cooking, and this recipe is one of the resulting meals. My shopping list recently included ground beef, as I wanted to try making meatloaf in the multi-purpose slow cooker, otherwise known as my new best friend. But then, right next to the packaged grass-fed beef I was reaching for, this caught my eye, and I thought, “why not?”

Elk is naturally lean, and similar in flavor to beef but richer. It is not a strong flavor, as venison or lamb.

A few years ago, I tasted elk for the first time in a restaurant burger, and I found it delicious—similar to beef but richer and more flavorful. Elk is a very lean meat (91%, as noted on the package I bought), but I had a few ideas in mind for keeping the meatloaf moist and they all worked together perfectly. First, I used a more generous glug of olive oil than usual to sauté my onions on the “browning” feature of the slow cooker. Some chunky sautéed mushrooms created pockets of moisture throughout the mixture. The egg I used as a binder also added moisture, thanks to the natural fats in the yolk. Finally, the glaze on top helped protect the surface from drying out during baking, which is true for an oven meatloaf as well.

I can’t say for sure that meatloaf would be successful in every kind of slow cooker, but I’ve seen some evidence on Pinterest to support that idea, and most of those recipes involve lining the cooker with foil and pressing a double batch of meatloaf mixture into the shape of the cooker insert. Our Cuisinart slow-cooker, which is quickly gaining major respect in my eyes, also has a “roast” feature that is said to function just like any oven, so I gave it a try. See for yourself how it turned out—looking so sexy on our fancy Chinet plates!

My elk meatloaf sliced beautifully, and we served it up with simple steamed green beans and homemade applesauce that Les had made a few days before…also in the slow cooker! 🙂

Ingredients

1 lb. lean ground elk (or any other ground meat with similar fat content)

1/3 cup panko crumbs

1/3 cup whole milk* (see notes)

4 Tbsp. olive or canola oil

1/2 large sweet or yellow onion, chopped

About 5 cremini mushrooms, cleaned and chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 tsp. fresh rosemary leaves, minced

1 large egg

Salt and pepper

1/2 cup bbq sauce, chili sauce or whatever you like as a meatloaf topper*

*Notes

I used whole milk to moisten the panko crumbs, but if you are dairy-sensitive, I have also had good luck using aquafaba, the liquid drained off a can of garbanzo beans. The purpose of the milk is to help convert the crumbs into a sticky binder to hold the meatloaf together, and the aquafaba is a fine stand-in.

My sauce for this meatloaf was left from the kielbasa bites I made from that crazy “Chopped” challenge. It was chili sauce mixed with grape jelly, so it had a tomato base with a bit of heat, onions and spices, plus the sweetness and stickiness of the jelly. I enjoyed the combination so much that I saved the sauce after we finished the kielbasa. And of course, now I want to re-create it, just not with three pounds of kielbasa.

Instructions

I kept the add-ins for my meatloaf simple, and chopped the mushrooms fairly large so they would hold moisture better.
The panko crumb and milk mixture is called a “panade” and it goes a long way toward binding a meatloaf mixture together.
I sauteed the onions first, then added the mushrooms and finally the garlic.
I cooked the onions and mushrooms until they were soft and golden in color.
OK, everyone into the pool! I mixed everything up with my hands, which explains why there is no picture for that step. 🙂
I always do this with meatloaf, and an hour in the fridge helps it keep its shape and structure during baking.
I used the plastic wrap to press a shallow “valley” in the surface of the meatloaf, to hold my glaze.
Cuisinart says the “roast” feature lets me use the cooker like an oven. This thing is winning me over!
Any kind of sauce can go on top, but I usually use a combination of tomato flavors with sweet, spicy and savory.
I “baked” the meatloaf for an hour, then the slow cooker switched to a warm setting, keeping it cozy until Les got home for dinner.

In a bowl large enough for combining the full meatloaf mixture, moisten the panko crumbs in the milk. I usually eyeball the amounts, but it is approximately 1/3 cup of each. Give the mixture (called a “panade”) enough time to hydrate, then push it to one side of the bowl.
Crumble the ground elk meat into the other side of the mixing bowl, so that blending with the other ingredients will not require a heavy hand.
Heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil over medium heat (this was 350° F on my slow cooker setting). Add onions and cook until softened. Add the rest of the oil, plus the mushrooms and garlic, and sauté until everything is golden and caramelized, but not so long that the mushrooms dry out. Turn off the slow cooker and transfer the mixture to a bowl to cool several minutes.
Add the onion mixture to the bowl with the meat and panade. Add the egg and chopped rosemary, and season with salt and pepper. Combine everything as evenly as you can without mixing too heavily. My method is to plunge both hands into the bowl, twisting away from each other as if adjusting faucets or stereo knobs. It seems to get the job done quickly and it’s also a good way to work out any aggression you may have over your kitchen remodel. When the meat mixture is sufficiently blended, shape it into a log on a large piece of plastic wrap and twist the ends up like a sausage chub. Tuck it into the fridge (or a lunchbox with some ice packs, if you can’t sneak past the electricians that are taking for-freaking-ever) and let it chill for about an hour. I do this for any meatloaf because it seems to improve the structure and texture during baking. Plus, it gives me time to clean up my workspace before the next steps.
Prepare your slow cooker if you’re using one, or preheat the oven to 350° F. The notes from Cuisinart suggested turning the insert rack upside down for roasting, and I laid down a piece of folded parchment paper to keep the meat from oozing through the mesh rack. Unwrap the meatloaf and place it on the parchment, tucking extra paper edges underneath.
Spoon the sauce topper over the meatloaf. Bake on roast setting for one hour, then reduce temperature to keep warm until you’re ready to serve.

Slow Cooker Elk MeatloafPrint it!

Sausage Stuffed Turkey Meatloaf (& “faboo” mushroom gravy)

Leave a comment November 20, 2020 terrie gura

Here I go again, twisting up a classic to put the best flavors of Thanksgiving on the table with minimal stress. If you’re looking for a way to simplify your homemade holiday dinner, but still have your favorite turkey, sausage stuffing and gravy combo, this might be the best thing you read all day.

My ground turkey meatloaf has a swirl of spinach and sausage stuffing, packing all the flavor of Thanksgiving into one easy but impressive main dish. As a bonus, I’m sharing one of our family’s favorite turkey day sides—a rich and tasty mushroom gravy, which happens to be vegan (but don’t let that stop you). You may wonder, “why offer a vegan gravy over turkey meatloaf?” I love having a single gravy on the table that makes everyone happy, whether or not they eat meat, and this one is the stuff. It is as good on any meatloaf with mashed potatoes as it is in the sauce of your favorite green bean casserole or as a savory accompaniment to nearly anything you serve at Thanksgiving.

If you enjoyed my darling husband’s recent guest post for spinach balls, now is the time to make a batch because the sausage stuffing swirl in this meatloaf makes use of leftover spinach balls. If you don’t have time to make the spinach balls in advance, you could create a similar blend with some herb stuffing mix and frozen spinach (I’ll offer suggestions).

This meatloaf exceeded my own expectation, which is really saying something, given that I have made many other “stuffed” versions of meatloaf in the past. We liked it so much it will find its way to our table again as a Sunday Supper later in the winter, you can bet on it. And we’ll serve it up with Les’s amazing garlic mashed potatoes, just like we did with this one. This is teamwork, friends, and it is delicious!

Served with Les’s incredible potatoes and the savory mushroom gravy. I’m in heaven!

Ingredients

1/2 cup dry herb stuffing mix (I used Pepperidge Farm brand)

1/4 cup whole milk

1 lb. all-natural ground turkey* (see notes)

About 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, diced (divided between layers)

A few shakes poultry seasoning

1 large egg

2 large leftover spinach balls,* cut into very small dice, measuring almost 1 cup

1 bulb roasted garlic

4 oz. ground breakfast sausage (uncooked)

1/4 cup plain panko or other bread crumbs

*Notes

For turkey meatloaf, I always choose regular ground turkey rather than turkey breast, which tends to be drier. If you choose ground turkey breast, consider adding an extra egg white or an extra tablespoon of olive oil to make up for the lost moisture.

The spinach ball recipe my hubby shared a couple weeks ago gets a lot of attention at our house, especially with Thanksgiving guests. If you don’t have time to make them in advance of this recipe, try this as a substitute:

3/4 cup dry herb stuffing mix
1/4 cup frozen dry spinach (thawed and squeezed dry)
2 Tbsp. parm-romano blend
Additional egg white + 2 Tbsp. chicken or vegetable broth

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and allow time for the dry mixture to absorb the liquid ingredients. It should still feel somewhat dry and rather firm; from there, proceed with the recipe.

Instructions

Follow along in my kitchen to see how I made this mouthwatering meatloaf. Written instructions are below, along with a downloadable PDF for your recipe files.

Smash the stuffing mix into the milk to break up large pieces. Give this mixture at least 20 minutes to become saturated and “paste”-like.
Any poultry seasoning will lend a savory touch that we all associate with Thanksgiving.
The stuffing “paste” will add soft texture and Thanksgiving flavor to the turkey meatloaf.
The spinach balls are easy to chop into fine dice when they are cold. I chopped enough to measure about one cup.
Add the remaining onions and roasted garlic. See my notes for substitution ideas for the spinach balls.
I added the sausage in small clumps so that the mixture could pulse together easier.
A few pulses gave me the texture I wanted. Not quite smooth, but fully incorporated and uniform.
Arrange small lumps of the stuffing as evenly as possible over the turkey layer, then go over the layer again to fill in gaps.
Layer the sausage stuffing a bit heavier on one short end of the rectangle, where you will begin the rolling. Leave an inch “naked” on the other end, where you’ll seal the roll. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least an hour before you try to roll it.
Use the short end of the parchment to assist with rolling the meatloaf. Begin with the end that is heavier on stuffing filling.
Keep tension on the parchment as you go, so the meatloaf will roll up tightly with no gaps.
Some of the mixture will stick to the parchment, but press on. Use a rubber spatula to scrape it from the paper and patch the meatloaf.
I pressed panko crumbs all over the top and sides of the meatloaf to add a “crust” texture during baking. Regular bread crumbs would work also.
Wrap your rolled up meatloaf tightly in plastic wrap, and twist the ends to keep it compact in the fridge overnight. This will help the meatloaf hold its perfect shape in the oven.
To get the crust I wanted on the meatloaf, I spritzed it all over with olive oil spray.
One final quick seasoning of salt, fresh black pepper and a few shakes of dried thyme leaves, then into the oven for an hour.
The only way to know if meatloaf is done is to check internal temperature for at least 165° F. This one is ready! Rest 15 minutes before slicing.
This is exactly how I imagined this would look. Crispy crusted edges, with tender turkey and stuffing.
What favorite vegetable would you add to the open spot on the plate? 🙂

Combine dry stuffing mix and milk in a small bowl and rest at least 20 minutes, allowing time for crumbs to be fully moistened.
Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Swirl in extra virgin olive oil and add the diced onion. Saute until onions are soft and translucent. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning.
In a medium bowl, combine the ground turkey, half of the sauteed onions, stuffing “paste” and egg. Season the mixture with salt and pepper, then set aside.
In the bowl of a food processor, combine spinach ball bits, remaining sauteed onions, roasted garlic and raw sausage (pulled apart into pieces). Pulse mixture several times until it is uniformly blended.
Line a small baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper. Scatter panko crumbs evenly over the paper. Using a rubber spatula, spread the ground turkey mixture evenly over the crumbs, shaping a rectangle approximately 9 x 13″.
Using your hands, grab up tablespoon-sized lumps of the sausage mixture and place them over the turkey layer. Don’t rush this step because it will be tough to separate the layers if you misjudge the amount as you go. I placed “dots” of the sausage mixture all over (keeping one short end bare for sealing the roll later), then filled in noticeable gaps with the remaining mixture until all was used. Press the sausage mixture firmly to seal it to the turkey layer. Lay a sheet of plastic film on top of the sausage layer and refrigerate the mixture for at least an hour. The chilling time will make it easier to roll up the meatloaf.
To roll up the meatloaf, begin by lifting the parchment and slightly fold the meatloaf onto itself. Continue this motion, keeping the roll tight as you go. Some of the turkey may stick to the parchment, but you can use a rubber scraper to remove it and patch the roll. Full disclosure: this step was pretty messy, but I pressed on to finish the shaping.
Press on any loose bits of panko crumbs, adding more if needed to lightly coat the shaped meatloaf. Wrap the rolled-up meatloaf as tightly as you can in a sheet of plastic film, twisting the ends as with a sausage chub. Tuck the twisted ends underneath, and chill the roll overnight.
Preheat oven to 400° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place the meat roll onto the lined sheet and lightly spray the entire meatloaf with olive oil spray.
Bake at 400° for 15 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 375° and bake 45 more minutes.
Test internal temperature to be sure it is at least 165° F. Cool 15 minutes before slicing.

Want to print this meatloaf recipe?

Sausage Stuffed Turkey MeatloafDownload & Print

But wait, there’s more!

BONUS RECIPE:

Put-it-on-Everything Mushroom Gravy

This all-purpose sauce is so delicious, and we use it in many ways at Thanksgiving, especially when Les’s vegan daughter has been able to join us. It’s fantastic on mashed potatoes and turkey, in casseroles with green beans or (I’m speculating) perhaps even straight from the pan by the spoonful.

Please don’t assume, if you’re a meat eater, that you’d feel cheated with a vegan gravy recipe. I’m not exaggerating to declare that everyone at our table chooses this gravy over standard turkey gravy, hands down. My friend, Linda, has a special word for it: “faboo!” 😀

I prefer to make this gravy ahead, so that I have it ready when the mood strikes me to add it to another recipe, but if you’re short on time, it can certainly be served immediately after preparing it.

Ingredients (makes about 2 cups)

4 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil* (see notes below)

1/2 medium onion, finely minced

About 6 large cremini mushrooms, cleaned and diced small

1 tsp. Umami seasoning*

1 bulb roasted garlic

2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth*

Salt and freshly cracked black pepper

*Notes

Any good quality olive oil will work here, but I’m somewhat addicted to this one (pictured below), which is infused with the flavors of wild mushroom and sage. You can find it at one of the specialty olive oil stores that have popped up all over the U.S. It’s terrific for roasting butternut squash, too!

The Umami seasoning is a Trader Joe’s item, and it contains mushroom powder, garlic powder, sea salt and red pepper flakes. If you cannot find it, just add a few of the red pepper flakes or a slight sprinkle of ground cayenne for a subtle touch of the same heat. The recipe already has plenty of mushroom and garlic.

Vegetable broth ingredients vary a great deal, and for most of my recipes, I recommend one that does not have tomato in it. I favor this low-sodium version from Costco, which contains carrot, onion, celery and mushroom, but not tomato, which changes the acidity of some recipes. If you are not concerned with the vegan aspect, you could also use chicken broth.

This oil is produced by a company called Veronica Foods, supplier to so many of the boutique olive oil and balsamic vinegar shops around the U.S.

I go through a bottle of this stuff during the holidays, especially when I'm creating a vegan dish. — This oil is produced by a company called Veronica Foods, supplier to so many of the boutique olive oil and balsamic vinegar shops around the U.S.

Instructions

Add the mushrooms in batches. If the pan is crowded, they will steam rather than brown. Add more oil as needed.
Does it seem excessive to use an entire bulb of roasted garlic in this gravy? Yes, and that’s exactly the point. 🙂
Cook the mixture until the flour is absorbed and it begins to bubble a bit on the edges. Don’t be concerned if it sticks to the pan at this point.
The broth will soften any bits stuck to the pan, and as the gravy simmers, it will thicken up.

Place a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Swirl in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and sauté the onions until soft and translucent.
Add another tablespoon of oil and half of the mushrooms. Sauté until moisture is reduced and mushrooms are soft, then repeat with remaining oil and mushrooms.
Season with salt, pepper and umami seasoning. Add roasted garlic and stir to blend it in.
Sprinkle flour over the mixture and cook one minute until the flour seems absorbed and mixture begins to bubble.
Add broth, a little at a time, and stir or whisk into a smooth and thickened sauce consistency. Simmer on low heat several minutes before serving.

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Sloppy “Dogs”

4 Comments October 30, 2020 terrie gura

Recently in my news feed wanderings, I spotted an article claiming to list the “7 Classic American Dishes No One Eats Anymore.” This type article always grabs my attention because I immediately assume I’m the exceptional person—the one who does actually still eat the foods that are supposedly yesterday’s news.

The list held a few surprises for me.

Chicken cordon bleu made a showing at #5, and I cannot get behind that. Soon, I’ll share my recipe for this classic dish and a story about the time I made chicken cordon bleu from memory at midnight—on a dare. Some of the other dishes listed in the article truly are better left in the past, such as turkey tetrazzini, which is just a hot mess of a dish that includes leftover turkey with spaghetti and canned peas (blech), and the dreaded creamed chipped beef on toast. Folks, there’s a reason everyone started calling that dish sh!t on a shingle. Let’s just leave it behind, shall we?

Today though, I’m showing due respect for the food item that ranked #1 on the list, the sloppy joe. What is the world coming to, if people are giving up on this fun and tasty handheld, with all its sweet, spicy, tangy sauce? Was it the SNL skit featuring Adam Sandler and the late Chris Farley? I thought that catchy tune was responsible for saving the sloppy joe, not burying it.

The only thing I can find to blame for sloppy joe’s ill-fated appearance on this list of “has-beens” is that people have grown bored with the mass-produced stuff that made sloppy joes so common in the first place, and that would be the canned sloppy joe sauce. Yep, good old Manwich. It exploded onto the convenience food scene in 1969, and everyone embraced this miracle in a can that turned a pound of ground meat into an easy, casual family dinner.

Fast forward 51 years. Palates have evolved (for better or worse), and at the same time, Manwich and other convenience foods went all in with the use of cheap, controversial ingredients—namely, high fructose corn syrup (boo, hiss). Despite mounting flak from savvy consumers, the fake sweetener is still listed as an ingredient on the Manwich label, so it won’t land in my grocery cart anytime soon. No matter, because it’s super easy to make sloppy joes at home without a pre-made commercial sauce. I’ll show you how to mix and match ingredients that are already in your refrigerator door to get the same fun, tangy flavor, but without weird additives (caramel color doesn’t add a thing to Manwich anyway). Use any kind of ground meat you like—I’m going to lighten mine up with ground turkey, and I’m also switching up the presentation by serving them on toasted hot dog buns. That makes them sloppy dogs! Who’s hungry?

Chunky, meaty, tangy, spicy.
Sloppy dogs, sloppy, sloppy dogs!

Ingredients

1 pound ground turkey

1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1 1/2 cups tomato sauce (most of a 15 oz. can)

2 Tbsp. tomato paste

2 Tbsp. distilled white vinegar

2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 Tbsp. molasses (or substitute brown sugar)

1 tsp. sweet smoked Spanish paprika

1 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)

Pinch of cinnamon

Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper

2 Tbsp. chopped pickle chips (sweet, spicy or whatever you like)

4 toasted hot dog (or burger) buns, for serving

Instructions

Saute the onions and peppers until soft, but don’t brown them.

Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil and saute onions and bell peppers until soft and translucent, but not browned.
Add ground meat in a large chunk, on top of the vegetables. Gradually break up the meat with a wooden spoon or spatula and aim to keep the meat chunky.
Combine tomato sauce, tomato paste, vinegar, mustard, molasses, Worcestershire and spices. Add to the meat mixture and stir gently to blend. If mixture looks is too thick, add a splash of water. If it’s too thin, add another spoon of tomato paste. It’s your kitchen, so take charge and don’t worry about my recipe. Let your taste buds tell you whether the mixture needs more salt, sweet or tang, and adjust accordingly.
Add the chopped pickles near the end of cooking time, for a zippy crunch.
Cover mixture and simmer a few minutes as needed to prepare the rest of your dinner.
Butter the cut insides of your dog (or burger) buns, and toast the buttered side on a griddle or hot skillet.
Pile the sloppy mixture onto the toasted buns and enjoy!

These sloppy dogs were delicious served up with my **Snakes in the Pumking Patch** beer cocktail.

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