Turkey Meatloaf Kind of a Turkey
Posted by in Food
First: a programming note for all of you loyal followers. I had this post and the two below it all set up to automatically publish one each day over the weekend and they didn’t. No idea why. WordPress had some kind of hiccup I think because I doublechecked my saved settings before we left. So, if you’re a loyal follower, you’ll have lots to read today – keep scrolling to see everything that should have gone up over the weekend! Now back to your regularly scheduled programming!
I’m no stranger to turkey meatloaf. In fact, I use ground turkey almost exclusively in place of ground beef in many dishes. I have a turkey and rice meatloaf with a cheese sauce that is a family favorite. I wanted to try Martha’s Turkey Meatloaf with Fontina and Mushrooms from Martha Stewart Everyday Food September issue. You cook your mushrooms, then cook garlic and leaks. Mix it up with turkey, bread cubes, fontina, egg, sage (I didn’t have fresh, so I used dried), salt and pepper. I baked mine in a loaf pan instead of on parchment paper.
The meatloaf looked nice on the plate. However, I found it to be a bit bland. Fontina cheese has a very mild taste and even with the garlic and sage, it had little flavor. No one was too fond of this. However, the next day, I ate some cold for lunch and it was wonderful that way. The garlic flavor really came out and I loved it. I picked at for lunch for several days until it was gone. I don’t know if the flavors just need time to meld together or if this is not good hot. I wouldn’t make it for dinner again, but I enjoyed it for lunch.
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Thanks for the review! I’ve been eyeing this one for a couple of weeks. While I appreciate the simplicity of Everyday Food’s recipes, I feel like since they switched editors at the beginning of this year the recipes have been a little too simple. The roast chicken tacos you wrote about a few days ago are a great example. That hardly qualifies as a recipe. Is it just me?
I know what you mean. It’s hard to know who the audience is for this magazine sometimes. There have been some really great recipes in it, but then there are a lot of things that are duds or just very, very simple. I think a big part of their focus is recipes with fewer ingredients and things that are fast. Sometimes you sacrifice quality. This meatloaf, for example, sounded good (mushrooms and fontina are a good idea), but it just was too bland and needed a lot more flavor.
I made this last night and thought it was wonderful. I doubled the garlic and salted the veggies during cooking. I think it made a big difference.
I couldn’t get mine to look as ‘pretty’ as it did in the magazine, though!
That would definitely help.
I really love Martha’s mother’s recipe for meatloaf. It calls for beef, but I use turkey and it is amazing! It’s on her website under Mrs. Kostyra’s Meatloaf
Hum…toss up as to whether I should try this or not. You said it was good the next day, right? Was it worth the effort–and the expense, fontina cheese isn’t cheap. How did you serve it day two?
I ate it cold for lunch:) I would add more garlic, more herbs and maybe toss in a little ketchup and mustard.
I’ll definitely try it. Her mom’s recipes are usually quite good. I used one to make an anniversary cake for our 20th – Mrs. Kostyra’s spice cake and it was fab.
Don’t forget my childhood favorite — meatloaf sandwiches. Just love them still.
Never had one!
I’ve been looking for a good meatloaf recipe to try for my 5 year old, who is a picky eater. Good to know not to try this one. Thanks for testing it for me!
My money is on this one, http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/mrs-kostyras-meatloaf?autonomy_kw=mrs kostyras meatloaf, recommended earlier in this thread. I haven’t tried it, but Martha’s mother’s recipes are usually very good.
Honestly, I LOVE this meatloaf recipe. However, I don’t use fontina, I took her recommendation and use Gouda in place. It definitely made a difference imo. Everyone loved this and it’s a regular on our menu rotation now!
Glad it worked for you!
I made this recipe today with a few substitutions … I’m not a huge fan of Fontina, I had some leftover soft pesto cheese with sundried tomatoes (maybe 1/2 cup leftover from a party) which I mixed in with the wet ingredients. I also couldn’t find leeks so I used a shallot instead. Throw in some red pepper flakes for heat. I think it added some depth of flavor and the sundried tomatoes were a nice compliment to the mushrooms. Not bad!
Glad it worked for you! I’m thinking maybe the fontina was not a strong enough cheese give this any flavor. Pesto cheese w/ tomato sounds like it would really liven this up.
I made this recipe with a couple of changes as well. I subbed the fontina for 12 month aged gouda, used four cloves of garlic instead of two and sauteed the mushrooms in red wine instead of solo. I also only had rosemary olive oil bread, so I used that instead of white. It was delicious! The meatloaf came out moist and flavorful and I will definitely make it again!!
Hi there- I made this last week and subsitituted asaigo cheese for the fontina. It add a great flavor and we loved the meatloaf. It’s a new favorite. I would suggest using a more flavorful cheese than fontina; it really helped.
Thanks for sharing. That is a good idea. I will have to give it a try.
My loaf is in the oven. I’ve followed the recipe step-by-step and I’m a bit scared. I’m wondering if I should top off the loaf with a thin layer of ketchup. As mentioned in the earlier thread, I’m not certain how the prettiness of that loaf materialized. It appears glazed and has a hint of orange and red tinge to it, as if cranberries and tangerines were included.
I’m not a big fan of this recipe. If you search “meatloaf” on my blog you’ll turn up two meatloaf winners – Mrs. Kostyra’s and Emeril’s. Both are really, really good. Let me know how yours turns out.