Cooking with J: Jive Turkey Meatloaf

As if 7 weeks (and counting) of House Arrest isn’t bad enough, Greater Nippertown has basically been surrounded by cold, wet, depressing weather since the first day of Spring. If there was a better time for comfort food than right now, I can’t think of one. And for me, that’s Jive Turkey Meatloaf.

I started experimenting with turkey meatloaf a few years ago after one of my more frightening cholesterol reports. Sadly, when you take ground beef out of the equation, you take all the fantastic flavor that comes with all the fat that was bricking up my arteries. That means bringing your own flavors to the party, and finding the (literal) sweet spot between Too Bland, Too Hot, and Too Sweet has been one of my quests over the last couple of years.

After adapting a spice mix for my turkey chili recipe and adding a few things I picked up on Food Network, I came upon the recipe detailed below – and one of the reasons I’m detailing it is because of the requests for curbside pickup I received after I posted the accompanying picture on Instagram earlier this week. MAKE YOUR OWN, YOU ANIMALS:

JIVE TURKEY MEATLOAF
• 1lb. ground turkey
• 2 large shallots, diced
• 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs, unseasoned
• 1 cup shredded cheese
o (I prefer Price Chopper’s Mexican Blend, but Colby Jack and Jalapeno Monterey Jack works just as well)
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 sm. can tomato sauce
• 1 sm. can diced chiles
• 1 tspn chili powder
• 1 tspn cumin
• 1 tspn coriander
• 1 tspn cayenne powder
• 1 tspn cinnamon
• 1 tspn cilantro paste
o (Available in tube form at Market 32)
• 1 tblspn brown mustard
• 1 tblspn Zatarain’s creole mustard
• 1 tblspn Gochujang spicy ketchup

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Pour everything but the mustard and Gochujang into a large mixing bowl, saving the egg and the tomato sauce for last. Mix well.
Pour mixture into medium-sized baking dish and form it into a loaf shape. (Hence the name!)
Add the brown mustard, creole mustard, and Gochujang onto the top of the loaf.
Using a large fork, spread the mustard/Gochujang around until you have glazed all visible surfaces, making sure to mix the mustard and Gochujang up.
Place in oven and bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Let rest for a few minutes after taking it out of the oven.

Share and enjoy, campers! Keep staying safe!