Think "open sandwich" - and you'll be in the right area.
Hubby and I were pondering over what we had in the fridge that needed using and what we could do with these various things. Having been blogging for the last three or four years - yes, it's been THAT long - we've got quite good at doing this kind of thing. When hubby first suggested an open sandwich affair with the bacon, I pricked up my ears. I've not done too many open sandwiches - and certainly not dinner varieties.
We'd been discussing meatloaves, as I recently made some Forfar Bridies (similar to a Cornish Pasty, except with no vegetables) that failed miserably - but the filling of them would have stood up against a fair amount of competition, as a meatloaf. However, bacon meatloaf? Bacon and what, though? Not sausagemeat - too potentially salty and greasy. Pork mince was mooted first, but then I remembered some meatballs I'd made with turkey mince and how successful they were. Turkey mince has an inherent sweetness that would go nicely with the smoked bacon and it also has the ability to stick together, without encouragement such as egg.
I decided to do a little bit of research on what other people have put into their turkey meatloaves and decide from there what alternative ingredients to use.
So when hubby suggested we use the meatloaf on an open sandwich type affair, it sounded very interesting indeed. We discussed whether to use a cut loaf like soda bread for the bread part, but decided the open texture of a ciabatta would be better suited to the close texture of a meatloaf - and even better, had a sudden brainwave to use a Leerdammer cheese melted on top which would serve to bring the whole sandwich together. With something tasty under the meatloaf, it sounded like we were onto a winner.
Well, I made it this evening (actually, I started at about 3 o'clock this afternoon) and it was really good. No, really, really good.
The meatloaf ingredients were turkey mince, bacon (half minced finely, half chopped roughly), a small amount of breadcrumbs, a small amount of parmesan cheese, a red onion, a clove of garlic, some fresh parsley, some dried thyme, white pepper and four mushrooms. I didn't use any salt at all, as with the bacon and parmesan cheese, I reckoned (and I was right) that there was already enough salt in the mix.
I used the food processor to finely chop (almost down to a paste), the onion, garlic, parsley, tail end of the smoked bacon rashers, thyme, white pepper and mushrooms. This then got mixed with the breadcrumbs, roughly chopped bacon (for texture), turkey mince and parmesan cheese. Packed into a silver foil lined one pound loaf tin and cooked for an hour in a hot oven, it was smelling wonderful. I then drained the juice from the loaf tin and turned the loaf out into a roasting tin - upside down - and gave it another 20 minutes in the hot oven, just to give the outside edge some colour and dry the loaf out a little.
Hubby had some red onion marmalade on his toasted ciabatta, but son & heir and myself erred on the side of caution and went for a zig zag of tomato ketchup. With the meatloaf slices laid on top and the cheese melted over, it really was so good.
Hence, the next time you're thinking "meatloaf" and decide against it because it's boring. Think again and put it on some ciabatta toast with melted cheese. Awesome.
I served ours with some home made coleslaw and watercress salad. Beautiful.
The very best bit is that we've just under half the meatloaf left, for lunch tomorrow. Yum. The following recipe feeds three people, so remember to grill more ciabatta rolls and provide more Leerdammer cheese if you're making for more, or extra hungry people. The meatloaf itself would happily make eight open sandwiches.
TURKEY & BACON MEATLOAF OPEN CIABATTA SANDWICH
Ingredients :
1 red onion, cut into chunky pieces
1 clove garlic, chopped finely
1 small bunch fresh parsley (to make 2 tbsp)
400g smoked bacon rashers
1 tsp dried thyme
4 chestnut mushrooms, cut into quarters
half a tsp white pepper
2 large handfuls white breadcrumbs
20g finely grated parmesan cheese
500g minced turkey
2 ciabatta rolls, each cut into two equal halves
1 tsp red onion marmalade or tomato ketchup
4 slices of Leerdammer cheese.
Method :
1. Take the bacon and trim away the majority of the fat, which should be discarded. Separate the tail (streaky) end from the eye (lean) part and finely chop the tail end. Cut the eye part into three long slices, then chop into decent size squares so that they will provide some texture to the meatloaf.
2. Into a food processor, place the red onion pieces, chopped garlic, parsley (broken into a manageable size), thyme, the finely chopped tail end of the bacon rashers, mushroom pieces and pepper. Chop until the mixture begins to resemble a paste, but stop just as that happens.
3. Tip the paste into a bowl and add the breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese and turkey mince. Scrunch the ingredients together with your hands, until thoroughly mixed.
4. Decant into a one pound loaf tin, previously lined with tin foil to make removing the meatloaf much easier.
5. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200degC/400degF/Gas 6 for one hour.
6. Once the time is up, gently tip the meatloaf tin and pour off the liquid. Then gently remove the loaf from the tin - using the silver foil to lift it into a roasting tin. Flip the meatloaf onto its head and replace into the oven for a further 20 minutes, to brown the outside and dry the loaf out a little.
7. While the meatloaf is finishing cooking, grill the four halves of ciabatta roll and coat with your choice of either red onion marmalade or tomato ketchup.
8. Once the meatloaf is baked, slice and lay a slice (or more) onto each half of roll.
9. Cover the meatloaf with a slice of Leerdammer cheese, then place under the hot grill for 2-3 minutes, just enough to melt the cheese.
Serve with a watercress salad and coleslaw.
Printable version
Hubby will complain bitterly about broccoli appearing on the menu too often, but even he has been heard to exclaim that where tenderstem broccoli is concerned, "it is as nice as asparagus". With which I completely agree.
I remember when son & heir was a little chap being weaned onto veggies, we used to call broccoli "trees" and he was sufficiently intrigued to eat them. Since then, he's been accepting "trees" on his plate without too much complaint and has even been known to enjoy having "tall trees" (or tenderstem broccoli) for dinner.
For those who think that it is just a matter of difference in shape, rather than flavour, the tenderstem has a much sweeter flavour than "ordinary" broccoli, with less of a cabbage flavour than Purple Sprouting broccoli. It is true that it is more expensive than your ordinary broccoli, but for a meal that you want to be a little bit special, it makes the grade beautifully.
So, when I was asked whether I'd like to take part in the "Tenderstem in Ten" challenge (to create a recipe that can be on the table in ten minutes or less), it seemed like it could be fun!
I had my first go at the challenge yesterday and my recipe for a lunch time Tenderstem Rarebit had a few teething troubles - none of which involved the tenderstem itself, I hasten to add - which sent it over time. Add to that my inability to get around my kitchen with anything faster than a snail's pace - and you begin to realise that making anything edible within ten minutes is quite a feat!
For instance, is the time from when you set foot in the kitchen, or from when you start the cooking process? If it's the former, then I've had it for all the challenges - but if it's the latter, then I'm in with a shout.
I often find, when I'm cooking something that involves a number of different processes, that my disabilities get right in the way. Take the Tenderstem Rarebit, for instance. I needed to grill the Ciabatta rolls to toast them, whilst the tenderstem simmered and the rarebit cooked on the hob. Now, I forgot that I can't use the grill at the same time as the hob - it's one or the other, because I need to sit at the cooker. Our cooker has the grill immediately under the hob and with the grill door open, I can't reach the back burners on the hob! Anyway, I'm always scared I'll set my t-shirt on fire trying to see into the pans on the front burners. That'd be a bit of a distraction, if ever that happened!
So, for you, you'll be able to combine operations in a way that was impossible for me - and save at least seven minutes doing so! For me, I'll be grilling the cut rolls on a grillpan in future - at least then I can see what's going on without fear of combustion.
I can tell you that it is very worthwhile. Hoooo, yes! This Tenderstem Rarebit recipe is going to go on the list of "can we have it for lunch again soon" recipes.
I figured that as broccoli and cheese are natural partners, and cheese on toast is another natural partnership, that bringing them all together in this recipe might just work. It did. With bells on. As a control experiment, I made one Tenderstem Rarebit and one just with the Rarebit topping - and the Tenderstem Rarebit was far easier to eat as the flavour of the tenderstem allowed some relief from the enormous (and gorgeous) flavours of the rarebit. The sweetness of the tenderstem was a lovely foil for the big savoury flavours of the cheese, mustard and stout.
Son & heir thoroughly enjoyed his helping and munched his way stolidly through, murmuring in appreciation, uttering "gorgeous!" and "cor!" every so often - so I think he approved. Hubby and I were both agreed that it was a do-again recipe that was much nicer with the tenderstem than without - and one that could easily be a substantial snack on those days when one has missed lunch!
Hence, I leave it up to you to have a go and tell me whether you managed to create your Tenderstem Rarebit in ten minutes. I am quite sure it's do-able, so long as you do all your preparation (getting everything out, separating the eggs, grating the cheese, etc.) before you start the ten minute timer!
TENDERSTEM RAREBIT (serves 3)
Ingredients :
3 ciabatta rolls, cut in half lengthwise
12 stems of Tenderstem broccoli (or more if they are thin stems), cut to fit the ciabatta rolls
1½ tsp English mustard powder
4 tbsp stout
45g butter
1-2 tsp Worcestershire sauce, to taste
250g mature Cheddar cheese, grated
3 egg yolks
freshly ground black pepper.
Method :
1. Boil a kettle and pour enough boiling water into a saucepan to cook the tenderstem, and place on the heat.
2. Place the rolls, cut side up, under the grill or onto a grillpan and toast until lightly browned. Turn and toast the other side.
3. At the same time, add the tenderstem to the boiling water and set a timer for 3 minutes. When they are cooked (when a knife inserted into the stem goes through without complaint), drain and set to one side.
4. Place the mustard powder, stout and butter into a small saucepan and heat gently until the butter is melted. Add the worcestershire sauce and the cheese and stir until the cheese is all melted but take care not to let it boil. Set aside to cool for a moment, while you rescue your rolls that are threatening to burn.
5. If you've used a grill pan, now is the time to get your cooker's grill heating up.
6. Place the roll halves onto the grill pan and distribute the tenderstem broccoli across the roll halves.
7. Add the egg yolks to the cooled (and hopefully thickened) cheese mixture and beat them through until completely incorporated. Add a little black pepper.
8. Spoon the cheese mixture across the tenderstem and place under the grill until browned and bubbling.
Serve.
Printable version
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I decided to do a little bit of research on what other people have put into their turkey meatloaves and decide from there what alternative ingredients to use.
