Chicken and Stuffing Meatloaf with Cider Gravy

I would imagine my Canadian readers are wondering what the heck I'm doing cooking a meal like last night's Thanksgiving on a plate since they've likely spent the past week enjoying leftovers from the real thing but for the rest of us Thanksgiving's a little ways away. Who'da thunk that a mere meatloaf could take care of the holiday flavor crave.

A Rachel Ray creation, this is definitely one of the best combobulations that's ever come from JBug's Kitchen. While Rachel's version called for ground turkey, the state of the packages in our favorite grocery store convinced us to use ground chicken instead and other than adjusting some of the ingredients to take into account the purchase of less meat than called for, I pretty well followed her guidelines for the loaf as well as the cider gravy.

The result - a quick cure for turkey envy, a moist meatloaf with a tinge apple and crunch of celery that goes wonderfully well with cider gravy (not to mention mashed potatoes). I think it's pretty safe to say there's a cold meatloaf sandwich  in our future! 

Chicken and Stuffing Meatloaf with Cider Gravy (Adapted from rachelrayshow.com)

1-1/2 cups chicken stock

1-1/2 cups dry stuffing mix

1 Gala apple, peeled and finely diced

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 ribs celery, finely chopped

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon poultry seasoning

Salt and coarse ground black pepper

1 large egg, slightly beaten

1-1/2 pounds ground chicken

Preheat oven to 400. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside. In a small bowl, combine stuffing mix with chicken stock and set aside. In a large bowl mix together apple and lemon juice. Add celery, onion, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir in egg.  Add ground chicken and hydrated chicken stock and stuffing mix and mix together. Transfer to prepared loaf pan and pack it in, rounding the top. Place on a sheet pan lined with foil to collect any drips and bake for 1 hour or until browned and cooked through. Remove loaf from oven and place a board with a weight on top – I use the lid from a cast iron Dutch oven. Allow to rest for 15 minutes with the weight on top which will compress the loaf and hold it together. Before serving, remove weight and flip loaf out of pan. Slice and serve with cider gravy.

Cider Gravy:

4 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1-1/2 cups apple cider

1-1/2 cups chicken stock

Salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour and cook, stirring for 3 or 4 minutes until slightly golden in color. Slowly whisk in apple cider and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly and cook until desired thickness. Season with salt and pepper. Download Chicken and Stuffing Meatloaf with Cider Gravy

A year ago - Grilled Steak with Red Wine Mushroom Sauce

Comments

[Lea]

I love that you used chicken instead of the other fowl white meat - This looks good enough to eat for sure!

[Mary from Apron Strings & Wedding Rings]

What a GREAT Autumn meatloaf June staring at me with that wonderful picture! Might have to make leftovers for a gourmet sandwich! HUGS, Mary L.

[June]

Lea - I keep forgetting that you're not a turkey fan. Chicken works very well in this meatloaf ...in fact, it tastes like ...uh the other fowl. Just sayin'! LOL

Mary - you're right - a gourmet sandwich is coming my way in about an hour. YUM

[pam]

Mmmmm...cold meatloaf sandwiches!

[Lorraine]

The MIL and I have been avoiding ground turkey since the last food scare so this is a great dish to get those same flavors and the cider gravy looks like it would be good with a pork version as well.

[June]

Lorraine - you're right. The gravy would be wonderful with pork.