RR's turkey meatloaf... oh my asiago gravy

First of all, I'm still getting over the shock of looking outside to see a coating of s-n-o-w all over our yard this morning... but my disappointment quickly turned to gratitude when I realized that for the first year in a long time, I wasn't going to be stuck in 2 hours of traffic during the first morning rush hour snowfall of the year! Joy! Instead, after Sara went down for her first nap, I curled up on the couch with my coffee to watch - gulp - Rachael Ray. Yes, I have been watching her lately... my co-workers will no doubt find this amusing, but really, she is surprisingly much more tolerable than Regis and Kelly at 9am.

Today she made a recipe that looks so good I have to share it, and it will be tried out in our house soon (without the tomatoes or quite as much garlic...) It's comfort food, it's healthy, and it fits our increasingly sad maternity leave budget!

Turkey Meatloaf With Creamy Asiago Gravy, Roasted Broccoli & Tomatoes

Ingredients

• 1 head of garlic left whole plus 2 cloves, grated
• Extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling
• 1 cup milk
• 1 slice (about 3 inches thick) of crusty bread or 6 slices of sandwich bread
• 2 pounds (1 package) ground lean turkey breast
• 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
• 4 tablespoons fresh sage, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, to taste
• 6 shallots, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 large head broccoli or 2 small heads
• 1 pint of cherry tomatoes
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 cup milk
• 2 1/2 cups (10 ounces) good quality, shredded Asiago cheese

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Yields: 5-6 servings

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Preparation

Serve the meatloaf with roasted garlic cheese gravy and the roasted broccoli and tomatoes alongside.

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Cut the top off the whole garlic bulb, drizzle with EVOO and rub into skin. Double wrap the garlic in foil and roast 20-25 minutes in the oven or toaster oven.

While the garlic is roasting, place the bread into medium size mixing bowl and pour the milk over it. Let it soak for 5-10 minutes.

In another medium-size mixing bowl, add the ground turkey. Make a deep well in the center by punching the meat with your fist and fill it with the 2 cloves of grated garlic, soaked bread, poultry seasoning, sage, nutmeg, shallots, Parmigiano-Reggiano and egg.

Mix the meatloaf ingredients together, form a long, thin, oval-shaped loaf and transfer it to a sheet pan. Drizzle the loaf liberally with EVOO, and roast for 45 minutes, until it reaches an internal temperature of 165ºF.

While the meatloaf is roasting, work on the broccoli and cherry tomatoes: Trim the very end off of the broccoli stems with a peeler or a paring knife, removing the thick fibrous outer layer of the broccoli stems. Cut the broccoli lengthwise into large spears that look like long, skinny trees and place them along with the cherry tomatoes onto a sheet pan. Drizzle everything with EVOO and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Transfer to the oven during the last 30 minutes that the meatloaf is cooking.

For the gravy, place a medium-size saucepot over medium heat with the butter. Mash the whole roasted garlic cloves until they are nice and smooth, and add to the butter. Once the butter melts, whisk in flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in the chicken stock, then the milk. Allow the mixture to thicken, about 2 minutes, then stir in the Asiago cheese. Once the cheese has melted, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

pancakes and cravings

I’m finally starting to feel better, and though yesterday I still had heartburn late in the day, for the time in nearly two weeks I was excited about food again! To celebrate, yesterday I had some cupcakes from The Cupcake Shoppe, leftover from a birthday dinner this weekend. These flavours are absolutely divine… "Eh?" (vanilla butter cake with maple buttercream) and "James Brown" (chocolate buttermilk cake with chocolate buttercream).

I’ve also been very vulnerable to the power of suggestion throughout my pregnancy… for instance, those annoying new Wendy’s radio commercials make me instantly want a baked potato smothered with broccoli and cheese. So, after reading about this Mushroom Noodle Soup, I waddled over to get my own for lunch yesterday. And today? It’s Pancake Tuesday, so of course now I’m planning to make us pancakes for dinner! I’m probably going with this recipe, but I think I’ll use chocolate chips in some… with maple syrup and my own blueberry sauce drizzled on top:

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen wild blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Zest of 1/2 a lemon
Combine in saucepan and simmer for about 5 minutes.

I may also treat myself to a new find from Starbucks… their Cinnamon Dolce latte. This concoction is sweet milky goodness with just the right amount of cinnamon and sprinkles… and brown sugar, no less… I skip the whipped cream and order it decaf of course!

cravings and cupcakes

Today was baby's first snow day as Southern Ontario got its first blast of winter in the form of freezing rain, ice pellets and snow. There was no way I was venturing out, and fortunately Ian didn't have to work until the afternoon.

As a fitting winter dinner, I'm having turkey chili tonight. People always ask what foods I've been craving, and whether the baby seems to like anything in particular. Here's the lowdown (in no particular order):

1. Peanuts. I've always had trouble restraining myself from dry roasted peanuts once I get my hands on a jar, but I've hit new limits during pregnancy.
2. Cottage cheese. This is a good thing, high amounts of both protein and calcium.
3. Chocolate cake. I went through a phase at the beginning of needing chocolate cake, in particular a La Rocca chocolate truffle cake that you can buy by the slice at our grocery store. So decadent, so good.
4. Chocolate milk. I can drink this until the cows come home (har har), but I usually mix it with half 1% regular milk to cut down on the sugar.
5. Scalloped potatoes. This craving has mostly gone away, but for a month or so I wanted them all the time.
5. Cereal. We have six different kinds sitting on top of our fridge.
6. Cupcakes. This is the latest. I've been mildly obsessed with cupcakes for the past few years, and now I want to make all kinds! Last week I made Barefoot Contessa's classic Coconut Cupcakes, pictured above.

As for food aversions, there's just one and it has stuck so far. Lettuce. Yes, that's right, lettuce (and any other kind of leafy green, actually). All I can eat is one piece hidden in a sandwich, or Dr. Oetker's Ristorante Spinach pizza.

So, no stereotypical cravings like pickles and ice cream (does anyone really crave that?). And, like me, the baby seems to like food in general... but I get extra kicks after anything with dairy!