Thanksgiving Comfort Loaf

As a fan of meatloaf and an even bigger fan of combining foods into all-in-one packages, the Thanksgiving Comfort Loaf was a natural but spontaneous inspiration that hit me just today.

A lot of years I can't be home for the holidays, due to school or work. Sometimes I use that time to find comraderie with others in a similar position. One of my favorite things to do is to make home-cooked food for others, especially for the guards at my work who might have to stand outside in the snow and cold while others are enjoying the loving warmth of their family home.

So while contemplating a meal for the gate guards today, I thought about the meatloaf I made last year, and decided it would be great if I could make it into a more fitting Thanksgiving meal! So I decided to try a ground turkey meatloaf with mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce inside.

The first step is to start the mashed potatoes. We're only going to use half of an ordinary sized white potato, cut into ¾-inch to 1-inch chunks and barely covered with water. Place over medium heat.

Next is the cranberry sauce. Mix ½ cup orange juice with ½ cup sugar and 6 ½ ounces of fresh cranberries in a medium saucepan. Place on medium heat for about ten minutes, stirring regularly.

After the cranberries have cooked for 10-12 minutes, remove from heat and set aside.

After potatoes have boiled for 10-12 minutes, and they break apart easily with a fork, drain them. Add 1 Tbsp of minced garlic, 1 ½ Tbsp of butter, 1 ½ Tbsp of heavy cream. Add fresh parsley, Provençal herbs, and salt and pepper to taste. Mash thoroughly.

In a large mixing bowl, add 1 Lb of ground turkey, 1 cup of Panko bread crumbs, 2 beaten eggs, ½ cup ketchup, 1 Tbsp of garlic powder and 1 Tbsp of onion powder. Mix it together well with your hands.

Place the mixture into a lightly oiled loaf pan.

Spread the mixture evenly in the pan with a spoon, then push in a deep divot with high walls on the long sides, and pipe in the mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce.

Fold in the mixture over the potatoes and cranberry sauce and smooth it over. Lightly glaze the whole loaf with some cranberry sauce. Bake for 1 hour at 350° Fahrenheit.

Et voilà.