While I love fusion flavours, Thai food and sushi, sometimes there’s nothing better than a meal that harkens back to those rose-coloured 1950’s that never really existed except in advertisements for eggshell blue refrigerators. I’m talking about meatloaf. It’s a pretty contested meal with vocal camps on either end of the meatloaf debate. You either love it because it reminds you of your mother’s cooking or you venemously hate it for the exact same reason. Me, I’m a meatloaf lover and I guess that’s because my mom never turned out a bad meatloaf recipe.
So when I found myself with almost a pound of ground chicken, a meatloaf sounded like a pretty reasonable dinner. But I should warn you, ground chicken is quite different from the traditional ground beef. Let’s face it, the raw texture is pretty icky stuff. It’s mushy and sticky and did I mention mushy and sticky? It’s bad enough raw (which is why I use a spoon to mix all the super-sticky ingredients rather than my bare hands) and even when cooked, the texture is much softer than beef, which for some can be a bit off-putting. A chicken loaf also has to be strongly flavoured because a bland meatloaf is a bad meatloaf that will leave you stranded along with all the other meatloaf-haters. But warnings aside, this meatloaf is wonderful. It’s nicely flavoured with lots of fresh garlic and the grated zucchini and oats work as a binder to really improve things texture-wise.
This meatloaf is pretty darn yummy. Next time I make this recipe, I’m totally doubling the sauce used for the topping. The amount listed is perfect for topping the meat while it cooks, but I ran out of ketchup and would have loved more sauce heated up and served alongside for dipping purposes.
Serving this kicked-up retro feast totally put me in the mood for afternoon heels and a pretty apron. Now if only I could weasel myself matching teal kitchen appliances….
garlic & zucchini chicken meatloaf
1 lb ground chicken
1/2 grated zucchini
1 egg
1/2 c quick oats
salt & pepper
8 cloves of garlic, minced
2 T worchestershire sauce
1 T ketchuptopping:
2 T ketchup
2 T mango chutney1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend all everything but the topping ingredients into a large bowl and mix everything well with a rubber spatula. Pat into a loaf pan and bake for about 10 minutes.
2. Stir up the topping ingredients in a small bowl or measuring cup. Remove meatlof from the oven and spread the chutney mixture overtop. Put back in the oven to bake for another 45 minutes or so until meat is done. Slice and serve.
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Ahhhh. Meatloaf! Yum!
Comfort food.
Memories of my mom’s cooking.
Being 8 years old and picking the hard-boiled egg out from the centre of the loaf.
I no longer eat beef but a ground chicken/turkey loaf or pork loaf sounds just fine to me!
And ‘said’ robin’s eggshell blue retro kitchen appliances…50’s nostalgia at it’s finest.
That, and Edith Bunker running to greet Archie at the door wearing her heels and wiping her hands on her apron…*sigh*…memories ;D
What is that in that retro oven? It looks like an angry levitating bowling ball…
I do love me some meatloaf. Whenever I make a recipe with breadcrumbs, it comes out perfectly. Whenever I try one with oatmeal, it comes out awful. So I’m afraid of this recipe.
ha! It does look like a bowling ball!
Maybe “June Cleaver” is hiding her husband’s bowling ball in the oven so he can’t go out with his bowling buddies tonight…*insert snicker*
awesome!
i have always wanted to try meatloaf!
i think we had it once as kids-
🙂
yum
i have a fantastic turkey meatloaf recipe that i’ve already made like, 3 times in the past couple of months. it’s uber easy and involves several household condiments so you know it’s gotta be good. let me know if you want the recipe, it’s perfect for when you can’t be arsed doing much more than mixing and pouring. ok, you have to chop up mushrooms but that’s it, i promise!!
Aaahh meatloaf!! Been ages since i had one, this one looks delish!
This sounds great! I have some ground turkey in the freezer and now I know exactly what to do with it! Also, LOVE the retro kitchen!
joanne, i don’t think i could get behind a boiled egg in my meatloaf. now that is just torture!
haha, kathyr! it’s totally a roasted bowling ball!! heehee.
tania, you’ve got to be kidding me! no meatloaf ever? get yourself to a diner now!!
amanda, i’m all for any new recipes! condiments are never a bad thing in my book.
meena, meatloaf is a funny thing! total childhood memories.
yup, nicole, i love that kitchen to death! let me know how the loaf turns out!
can you try this meatloaf with ground pork? i dont know where to buy ground chicken except the chain grocery stores possibly. should i add more spices if using ground pork? thanks!
-Janet
Janet, I rarely cook with ground pork (if ever!), so I can’t say for sure, but I think it should work fine. This is a very flavourful meatloaf with all that garlic, so I’m sure the pork (or any meat) will benefit! Let me know how it turns out!