Meat George Jetson Loaf

We love us some good meat loaf. And around here it is turkey meatloaf all the way. Now, I know what you are thinking - the beef/pork/veal grind is tasty tradition, but these are modern times and healthy alternatives are the wave of the future. And so, meet my turkey meatloaf. I have "adapted" this recipe from Ina Garten (The Barefoot Contessa). When I say adapted, of course that means I have changed it to fit my needs and tastes. First off, she calls for the use of ground turkey breast, which I did use the first time I made it. But, from then on I started to use the dark meat turkey grind - I found it has more flavor, less likely to dry out, and a fraction of the per-pound price of the breast. Secondly, she sautes onions and mixes them in. While nice, I often omit this step due to time constraints, but have included it in the recipe. Any way you slice it, it goes great with any kind of starch, but I mostly serve it with garlic mashed potatoes. Also, as with any meatloaf worth its salt, leftovers as sandwiches are deelish.

The Jetsons (or Los Supersonicos for our Spanish friends), a space-age cartoon, made in 1962, but set in the future world of 2062. Each episode you would be invited to meet George Jetson, Jane his shopoholic wife, teenage daughter Judy and his boy Elroy. Rounding out the cast was Elroy's dog Astro (pronounced Rast-Ro) and robot maid Rosie. George worked at Spacely Sprockets where he was always on the wrong side of his boss, Cosmo Spacely who was constantly at odds with is business rival, Cogswell Cogs. Who knew sprockets and cogs would be so relevant in the future? Forget micro processors, they are going to be a thing of the past. And, how lucky was Jane Jetson? She had a maid and cutting-edge technology literally at her fingertips. A simple press of a button put dinner on the table and did her hair and make-up. Imagine if we lived in an era of such innovations - the time we would have on our hands to use other technologically advanced gadgets. And this is all set to happen only 50 years from now. I can hardly wait.

The Recipe:

2 large yellow onions, chopped
2 tblsp olive oil
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves ( or 1/2 tsp dried)
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce (I often use soy sauce)
3/4 cup chicken stock
1 1/2 tsp tomato paste
5 pounds ground turkey (you be the judge)
1 1/2 cups plain dry bread crumbs
3 eggs
1/4 cup ketchup

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees

In a medium saute pan, cook the onions, olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme over medium low heat fro 10-15 minutes. Add the Worcestershire sauce, chicken stock and tomato paste and mix well. Allow to cool to room temp. (If taking the short-cut as I do, mix the salt, pepper, thyme, Worcestershire, tomato paste and the stock together and proceed, no waiting).

Mix the turkey, bread crumbs, eggs and Worcestershire mix in a large bowl. Shape into a rectangular loaf on an ungreased, rimmed baking sheet (I use a jelly roll pan). Spread the ketchup on top. Bake for 1 1/2 hours or to an internal temp of 160.  Serves 8 to 10 (I often cut the recipe in half and it serves three with plenty for a sandwich the next day - it's the meatloaf that just keeps giving).