Bacon and Swiss Meatloaves with Portebello Mushroom Gravy

Meatloaf in August?!!

Yes, meatloaf in August. This is one of my most requested meatloaf recipes by my personal chef clients. I have made them so many times that I think I could prepare them in my sleep. Well, not really because that would be kinda gross to make meatloaves in bed.


On this cookday, I made 6 Bacon and Swiss Meatloaves with Portebello Mushroom Gravy and paired them with Honey Glazed Baby Carrots. Here are the meatloaves I made all ready to be sealed and labeled. Wouldn't you love to come home to a refrigerator full of mini meatloaves. I know The Husband and My Oldest sure would. Maybe I could sign them up as clients.

The carrots are easy enough to make. Place one pound of baby carrots in a pot of boiling water. Cook for about 8 - 10 minutes or until just tender; you still want the carrots to have a little crunch. Drain and return to the pot. Add about 2 tablespoons of butter, a generous drizzle of honey, and salt and pepper to taste. I like my carrots with a little zip so I go heavy on the pepper.

As for the meatloaves, sauteed onions and celery are combined with seasonings, a couple eggs, breadcrumbs, and ground beef and pork. For one of my gluten-free clients, I make the meatloaves with rice flour breadcrumbs and they come out delicious ever time. A topping of additional Swiss cheese, crisp bacon, and rich portebello mushroom gravy completes the meatloaves.

If the weather is still too warm for you to enjoy this comfort food favorite, file this recipe away for the first chilly day. It will be here soon enough.

Bacon and Swiss Meatloaves with Portebello Mushroom Gravy
makes 6 mini meatloaves

2 tablespoons of butter
1 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced celery
3 cloves of diced garlic
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 and 1/3 pounds ground beef - I like 90%
1 and 1/3 pounds ground pork
2 eggs
1 cup plain bread crumbs
12 slices of bacon cut in half and cooked until just crisp
8 slices of Swiss cheese

for gravy-
2 tablespoons butter
2 portebello mushrooms, diced
2 tablespoons flour
1 to 1 and 1/2 cups beef stock
salt and pepper to taste

For the meatloaves, preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Over medium high heat, melt the butter in a large saute pan and add the onions and celery. Saute for about 10 - 12 minutes or until the onions begin to caramelize. Add the garlic and saute for and additional minute. Add the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and nutmeg and stir to combine. Remove from heat and let cool.

Meanwhile, place both meats, the eggs, and breadcrumbs in a large bowl. Dice half of the bacon and 5 slices of the cheese and add it to the bowl. Add the onion mixture and gently combine all the ingredients. Form into 6 mini meatloaves and place on a large rimmed baking sheet. Bake for about 30 - 40 minutes or until a thermometer registers about 160 - 165 degrees. Remove from oven and immediately top with the remaining cheese and 2 half slices of bacon.

While the meatloaves are baking, prepare the gravy. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium high heat. Add the mushrooms and saute for about 5 - 7 minutes or until the mushrooms just begin to get tender. Still in the flour and cook for about a minute. Gradually add the beef stock and stir to combine. Cook the gravy for about 3 - 4 minutes or until thickened. Add more stock depending on how thick or thin you like your gravy. Serve warm over meatloaves.

Note -- the meatloaves can be prepared ahead of time and reheated in the microwave on 70% power for 1 - 2 minutes. Continue heating at 30-second intervals until they are heated through. The meatloaves can also be frozen. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and heat according to the above directions.

Dinner #12 of the 12 Dinners of Christmas -- Turkey and Wild Mushroom Mini Meatloaves with Savory Mushroom Gravy

Whoo whoo whoo!! I am finally posting the last of my 12 Dinners of Christmas. Note to self - it will take you longer than you think to complete a project. Give yourself extra time around the holidays for any endeavour you undertake.

That being said, I present tonight's dinner -- Turkey and Wild Mushroom Mini Meatloaves with Savory Mushroom Gravy. This entree is everything one could want in a comfort food, but in a lightened up version. Traditional meatloaf is made with ground beef; this version is made with 93% fat free ground turkey. It is flavored with shiitake and portebello mushrooms, thyme, A-1 sauce, and Italian seasoned breadcrumbs. Topped with a peppery mushroom gravy, this made for a delicious entree. I also served oven blasted green beans and mashed turnips with Parmesan cheese. I'll be posting the turnip recipe soon. If you liked my Mashed Garlic Cauliflower, you'll absolutely love mashed turnips!

With temperatures in the low teens tonight, The Husband said, "This is excellent comfort food, and it is even nutritious. The whole meal has lots of flavor."

My Oldest commented, "This meal has lots of color and vegetables, and it is still good."

Then enters No Thank You Boy. He says, "What's for dinner? Meatloaf? Mashed turnips? Green Beans? Didn't I already eat 4 green beans last week? Ummmmm..... How about a ham and cheese sandwich melted in the microwave?"

I am all for not preparing separte meals for different family memebers. But tonight I decided this was one battle not worth fighting. He did eat 4 sugar snap peas - not green beans - last week. Add even one carrot a couple days ago.

I was overly happy with the result of our dinner. I made the meatloaves, gravy, and mashed turnips earlier in day and just reheated at dinner time. While the other parts of the meal were reheating, I blasted the olive oil coated green beans in the oven at 425 degrees for 12 - 14 minutes. They were seasoned with salt and pepper and dinner was ready.

A truly comforting meal that doesn't go straight to your waist.

Turkey and Wild Mushroom Mini Meatloaves with Savory Mushroom Gravy

Adapted from a Rachel Ray recipe

6 servings

olive oil
1 large portebello mushroom, chopped
6 shiitake mushrooms, chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 large garlic clove, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and pepper
1 1/3 pounds ground turkey, the average weight of 1 package
2 tablespoons A-1 Steak Sauce
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
3 tablespoons butter
3 large button mushrooms, chopped
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup low fat milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Heat a large saute pan over medium high heat. Add about 2 tablespoons of oil. Add chopped mushrooms and onions. Saute for 5 or 6 minutes until dark and tender. Add garlic and saute an additional minute. Stir in thyme and season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat. Transfer mushrooms to a bowl and set pan aside.

Add turkey to the mushroom mixture. Add A-1 sauce, breadcrumbs, and egg. Mix ingredients together. Divide meat loaf mixture into 6 equal parts and form 6 equal oval meatloaves. Heat the saute pan or a grill pan and coat with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil and arrange meatloaves in the pan. Sear each side of the meatloaves for about 2 minutes per side. Remove to a baking sheet and finish baking in oven for about 13 - 15 minutes or until cooked through. Transfer to a serving plate and cover with foil to keep warm.

Return pan to heat and add butter and mushrooms. Saute for about 3 - 4 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in stock and milk and season gravy with salt and pepper, to taste. Simmer gravy until it reaches desired thickness, and pour over patties, reserving a little to pass at the table.

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Barbecue Mini Meatloaves

I have found that many people make the same dishes for dinner over and over again. Spaghetti on Monday. Steak on Tuesday. Chicken on Wednesday. Pork Chops on Thursday. Pizza on Friday. Tacos on Saturday. Pot roast on Sunday. Then the menu starts all over again. No wonder many people dread the thought of making dinner. It is so boring.

Not anymore! From time to time I'll be updating and adding some variety to favorite family dishes. No more dried out pork chops, overcooked pot roast and cardboard takeout pizza. The first recipe was Carolina Pot Roast with Gingersnap Gravy. A variation on the typical crock pot pot roast that has a zippy gravy instead of the watered down beef broth found in many recipes.

Tonight I changed up the basic meatloaf. With the addition of some new ingredients and making them into individual mini meatloaves, my taste testers were in for a surprise. "Surprise! Barbecue Mini Meatloaves!"

My Middle One helped squish all the ingredients together and form the mini meatloaves. She was away with a friend for the weekend; she must have missed her Mom.

My Oldest and My Middle One liked the new mini meatloaves, but could have done without the slather of barbecue sauce on the top. I thoroughly enjoyed dinner. A plate of mashed potatoes, gravy, peas, and my new Barbecue Mini Meatloaf. Prefect for a winter night when the temperature was having a hard time getting out of the teens. No Thank You Boy was, well, No Thank Yo Boy tonight. He never has been a fan of meatloaf or even hamburgers so tough luck for him. He dug through the freezer and ate a couple frozen chicken spring rolls. We had a guest taste tester - one of No Thank You Boy's friends ate dinner with us. When asked if he liked meatloaf he said "No." But when dinnertime rolled around, he tried it and liked it along with 2 servings of mashed potatoes and proclaimed, "That was good." Sounds like a thumbs up from him.

Keep checking back for some new ways to change up your old favorites. Your family will thank you and then you can thank me.

Barbecue Mini Meatloaves

serves 5

about 1 1/2 pounds ground beef - 90% lean
2 eggs
3/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
3/4 cup crushed potato chips
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup barbecue sauce plus extra to slather on top
2 tablespoons mustard

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Form meat mixture into 5 mini loaves and place on baking sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes and then slather each mini loaf with barbecue sauce. Continue baking mini loaves an additional 10 - 15 minutes or until loaves are cooked through. Remove from oven and serve.

Grilled Mexican Chicken with Tomato Avocado Salsa

After picking up a new client and interviewing another potential client, my personal cheffing schedule has been filling up. My days are little easier to schedule during the summer months because I don't need to factor in getting the kids up and off to school, but those days will be here soon enough.

Today was a cook day for one of my clients. It started out about 7 a.m. with a big cup of coffee and a few scoops of kibble for the dogs. I packed my car with my cooking supplies and was off to the grocery store by 8:15. I cruised through the aisles of the store and along the way answered a couple inquisitive people's questions about my personal chef business. They spied my handy dandy clipboard with my computerized shopping list and commented on my organizational skills. I breezed through the checkout and with my groceries neatly packed in my eco-friendly shopping bags, I was off to my clients' kitchen. For 3 and 1/2 hours I prepared brie and caramelized onion stuffed chicken with roasted root vegetables, bacon, Swiss, and mushroom mini meatloaves with honeyed baby carrots, and chicken fajitas with Spanish rice. With the meals packaged and stacked in the refrigerator and the kitchen left spotless, I was on my way home to make dinner for my family.

I have been in a cooking slump lately. Nothing seems to sound utterly fantastic to cook for dinner. Time to adopt a new philosophy - just make good food. No need to reinvent the wheel I mean the meal every night.

On the menu tonight was Grilled Mexican Chicken with Tomato Avocado Salsa. My new favorite chicken part to cook (besides drumsticks) is the chicken tender. It grills up quickly and stays moist and juicy. Just over 2 pounds of chicken was marinated in a concoction of lime juice, cumin, cilantro, paprika, garlic, onion, Worchestershire sauce, olive oil, chili powder and brown sugar. 8 - 10 minutes on a hot grill and they are done. Topped with a fresh salsa of tomatoes, avocados, kirby cucumber, onion, and cilantro, and dinner is on the table in no time. A sprinkling of cojita cheese adds a salty Mexican twist.

This menu was well received all around. My Middle One will eat the salsa with tortilla chips at every chance she gets. I needed to hid the bowl from her before dinner so she did not devour it all. The Husband served his chicken and salsa in flour tortillas and was appreciative of the leftovers available for tomorrow. The meal was very satisfying, but not so overly filling to make me need to put on elastic-waisted shorts after dinner. The combination of flavors was very fresh tasting. The chicken is not overly spicy. Add more chili powder if you like your food with some heat.

A prefect summer meal.



Grilled Mexican Chicken with Tomato Avocado Salsa
serves 6
for chicken --
1/4 cup onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
juice of 2 limes
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons paprika
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
2 1/2 pounds chicken tenders

for salsa --
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1 cup kirby cucumber, chopped
2 1/2 cups tomato, chopped
juice of 1/2 of a lime
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
1 avocado, chopped and tossed with juice of 1/2 of a lime
salt and pepper to taste

cojita cheese, for sprinkling
tortillas
tortilla chips

In a small bowl combine the first 10 ingredients. Place the chicken tenders in a resealable bag and add the marinade. Seal and squish around the contents to mix well. Let chicken marinate for about an hour.

Heat a grill to medium high. While the grilling is heating, prepare the salsa. In a medium sized bowl, combine the salsa ingredients. Set aside.

Remove the chicken from the marinade and and grill for about 4 - 5 minutes per side or until the chicken is cooked through. Remove from grill and top with the salsa and the cojita cheese. Serve with tortillas and tortilla chips.