- 8 minutes ago
Travel back in time with this mid-century meatloaf! In this video, Chef John teaches you how to make Time Machine turkey loaf with a striking cranberry cayenne glaze. Whether it’s for the holiday season or a unique weeknight dinner, this meatloaf recipe comes together with a savory mixture and ground turkey thighs. While it bakes, prepare your homemade cranberry glaze with a little kick of cayenne pepper to drizzle over the turkey loaf. Mashed potatoes and green beans almandine make for the perfect sides, but don't forget to finish it all off with a drizzle of turkey gravy. Enjoy!
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00:00Hello, this is Chef John from Foodwishes.com with Time Machine Turkey Loaf.
00:08That's right, we're going back to the future with this easy, moist and delicious mid-century meatloaf,
00:14which is going to get a striking cranberry cayenne glaze.
00:18And yes, we're using a bump pan to do this in a ring shape, so that like time, this will
00:23have no beginning or end.
00:25And to get started, we will melt some butter over medium heat, and we'll toss in some diced onion, along
00:31with a big pinch of salt.
00:32And we will cook that stirring for about 5 minutes or so, or until those onions soften and sweeten, and
00:37start to turn a little bit golden.
00:39And once they do, we'll toss in some minced garlic, along with our poultry seasoning, which for me includes dried
00:46rosemary, thyme, and sage.
00:48And we'll stir this together, and cook everything for about a minute, at which point we'll simply turn off the
00:53heat, and reserve it until needed.
00:55And while we could have added those dried herbs right to the meat, I always think it's better if we
01:00wake up those flavors in the hot fat.
01:02And that's it. Once that's set, we can move on to crushing up a sleeve of Ritz crackers, which we're
01:07going to be using instead of breadcrumbs,
01:09which is what's almost always used to buying modern meatloafs.
01:13But back in the day, Ritz was the way to go.
01:16And besides a little bit of sweetness, they've also added a beautiful buttery richness, which works perfectly with our lean
01:22turkey.
01:23And speaking of lean turkey, to this we're going to add some mayonnaise, another classic mid-century ingredient.
01:30And that's going to be one of the keys to the beautiful, luxurious texture we're going to get.
01:34And to that end, we'll also add some milk, as well as one large egg, followed by a nice spoon
01:40of Dijon, or of course another mustard of your choice.
01:44And then we can't make a meatloaf without some Worcestershire sauce, at which point we'll season this up with some
01:49salt,
01:50some freshly ground black pepper, and of course a few shakes of cayenne, for our general well-being.
01:56And then we'll finish up with some freshly chopped Italian parsley, as well as our reserved garlic-onion-herb mixture.
02:03And once that's been transferred in, we'll take a spoon, and we will mix this thoroughly to form a wet
02:08paste,
02:09which in the business we call a panade.
02:12I know, that does sound better than wet paste.
02:15And that's it. Once we've panaded, we'll transfer in a couple pounds of ground turkey.
02:20Which ideally is ground turkey thighs, since that's going to have more fat and flavor.
02:25So always look for the darkest option, or ask the butcher.
02:28And then what we'll do is take two forks, and mix this thoroughly.
02:32Which is going to be a lot slower than using our hand.
02:35But I think it's worth it, since I think it results in a more tender texture.
02:39But anyway, you decide.
02:41I mean, you are after all the Marty McFly.
02:44Of which method to apply?
02:46But either way, as long as that panade gets mixed evenly into the meat, you're going to be fine.
02:51And once we're done forking, to hedge our bets, we'll take a spatula,
02:54and give this a couple fulls, to make sure we don't have any unmixed-in meat.
02:58At which point, we'll take this, and transfer it into a very generously buttered bun pan.
03:03And if rings are not your thing, you can just use a loaf pan.
03:07And to help us get this perfectly distributed, I like to spoon it in as evenly as possible.
03:13Before we take a spoon to press everything down, and even everything out.
03:17And we really do want to use a good amount of downward pressure,
03:20to make sure we don't have any air gaps at the bottom.
03:23Alright, we want to make sure that meat is really pressed against the pan.
03:27And then what we'll do is dip our spoon into some water.
03:30And then we'll smooth out the top as evenly as we can.
03:33And once we're happy with how that's gone, we'll grab a towel,
03:36and we will definitely give this the old tappa-tappa,
03:40to provide one final guarantee, that all that meat is firmly pressed against the bottom.
03:45At which point, this is ready to transfer into the center of a 375 degree oven,
03:50for 30 minutes.
03:52And while that's baking, we'll make our cranberry cayenne glaze,
03:56which we'll do with fresh cranberries,
03:59some brown sugar,
04:00some cider vinegar,
04:02plus cayenne pepper to taste,
04:03as well as a pinch of allspice,
04:06followed by some cold fresh water,
04:08and then last but not least, a pinch of salt.
04:11And what we'll do is bring this up to a simmer on high,
04:13and give it a stir,
04:15and then reduce our heat to medium low.
04:17And then we'll cover this, and let it cook for 4 or 5 minutes,
04:20or until those berries soften up and collapse,
04:23at which point we'll give it a stir,
04:25and we'll continue to cook uncovered,
04:27for another 6 or 7 minutes,
04:29or until our cranberries look like this,
04:32and the liquids have reduced,
04:33and gotten kind of syrupy.
04:35And once we get to this point,
04:37we can pull it off the heat,
04:38and pass it through a strainer.
04:40If that is, we want a smooth glaze,
04:42which I do,
04:43or I just think it looks better.
04:45But this step is optional,
04:47and if you want to keep yours chunky,
04:49go ahead.
04:50But anyway, we'll set that aside,
04:52and we'll pull our turkey loaf out of the oven,
04:54which after 30 minutes is going to look like this,
04:57which no, is not going to be fully cooked,
05:00or it's probably going to be between 135 and 140,
05:02and mine was at 136,
05:05which is perfect,
05:06because what we'll do is let this rest for 10 minutes,
05:08at which point we'll unmold it,
05:10and then brush on our glaze,
05:12and then we'll pop it back in the oven to finish things off.
05:15And to do that,
05:16we'll take a pan,
05:17and a piece of parchment paper cut to size,
05:19and we'll place that on top.
05:21And after we make sure that's centered,
05:23we'll take a couple potholders,
05:25and we will very carefully flip this over.
05:28And if everything goes according to plan,
05:31that will unmold perfectly,
05:33which is why we want to butter that pan generously.
05:35And also make sure we're using a bump pan
05:37that's of the nonstick variety.
05:39But as you can see,
05:40that came out very nicely.
05:43And what we'll do is use a paper towel
05:44to remove some of that excess fat.
05:47And then we'll grab our glaze,
05:48and brush it all over,
05:50starting with the top,
05:52and then we'll apply it to the sides as well.
05:54And by the way,
05:55there are two approaches you can use for something like this.
05:58Okay, we could if we want to finish cooking this loaf unglazed,
06:02and then once it comes out,
06:03we could just glaze it before we serve it.
06:05And the advantage of that method
06:07is that you get a little more browning on the surface.
06:09But I really don't think that's a big factor here.
06:12And I'd much rather finish the cooking with that glaze on the meat,
06:15which I think is going to look better.
06:17And by baking it,
06:18I think it's also going to concentrate the flavors a little more.
06:21So that's what I'm going with.
06:23And that's it.
06:24Once glaze,
06:24we'll pop that back in the oven for 15 minutes
06:27until it's fully cooked,
06:28and hopefully looks like this.
06:30And we want an internal temp of at least 155.
06:34And once we're sure it's done,
06:35we'll let it rest for about five minutes
06:37before we slide it onto our serving platter.
06:39And then I thought I could just trim off the parchment paper,
06:42and it would be fine.
06:43But I did not like how that looked at all.
06:46So I ended up just pulling that paper out from underneath,
06:49which I should have just done to begin with.
06:52And after cleaning things up,
06:53we'll drizzle some fresh glaze
06:55over that layer of baked on glaze
06:57for an extra shiny one-two punch
06:59of that cranberry cayenne goodness.
07:02And then for a seasonal infestive finish,
07:04I did a nice fresh green herb bouquet in the middle,
07:07featuring rosemary, thyme, and parsley.
07:10And that's it.
07:11My thyme machine turkey loaf was ready to enjoy.
07:14So I grabbed a knife and cut out a piece
07:17and went ahead and served it up.
07:19And I could tell just by feeling how this cut,
07:22it was going to be beautifully tender
07:24and not at all rubbery,
07:25like so many modern turkey meatloafs are.
07:28And not only was this beautiful
07:30and moist and tender,
07:31but the flavor was everything I'd hoped for.
07:34Right?
07:35Wonderfully savory,
07:36with that hint of garlic and herb.
07:38And of course,
07:38it's no surprise that a cranberry glaze
07:40would be perfect for this,
07:42especially with that little kiss of cayenne.
07:45And not only did the Ritz crackers and mayonnaise
07:47make for a magnificent texture,
07:49but they were both great assets
07:50to the flavor as well.
07:52So this official taste test went very well.
07:55And I proceeded to plate some up properly
07:57on a bed of mashed potatoes
07:59with some turkey gravy,
08:01which we have several recipes for.
08:03And as you can see,
08:05I'm enjoying this next to some very
08:06thyme machine appropriate
08:07green beans almondine,
08:09which is sort of a forgotten side dish,
08:12but one that people should remember.
08:14But anyway,
08:14as good as that plain piece was,
08:16this portion was significantly better.
08:19And as I was eating this,
08:20I knew it reminded me of something.
08:22And then I finally figured it out.
08:24This was a very similar experience
08:26to eating Swedish meatballs,
08:28served with mashed potatoes and gravy,
08:30and that lingonberry jam on the side.
08:32So if you're into that kind of thing,
08:34you're going to absolutely love this.
08:36And whether you do this
08:37as a budget-friendly holiday main course,
08:40or just a random weeknight
08:41when you're craving
08:42some world-class comfort food,
08:44I really did love everything
08:46about this rollback meatloaf recipe,
08:47which is why I really do hope
08:49you give it a try soon.
08:51So please follow the links below
08:53for the ingredient amounts,
08:55a printable written recipe,
08:56and much more info as usual.
08:59And as always,
09:02enjoy.
09:04Enjoy.
09:04Enjoy.
09:06Enjoy.
09:09Enjoy.
09:13Enjoy.
09:15Enjoy.