Merry Christmas With Some Fancy & Festive Mini Turkey & Cranberry Meatloaves!

I was just thinking the other day how times change. Call it an end of year reflection but when I was little all I wanted to do was live in the Brady Bunch house and go out with Greg Brady. I wanted to eat meatloaf which was what Alice seemed to make a lot. I never had meatloaf and I was convinced that it must have been haute cuisine. Now, well the idea of dating Greg Brady just sounds so ludicrously unappealing that I chuckled at my former self-the one that used to go to bed hoping of dreaming of him. Now I dream of vampires and True Blood.

How times have also changed from the beginning of this blog. A few years ago, I was sent a legal letter from ACP asking me to take down my recipes that came from their cookbook. Now a few years later I was sent not only a copy of their Retro Cookbook but an invitation to the launch of the cookbook. Alas I was unable to attend as I was travelling but I thought how funny life seems sometimes when you are in the midst of something awful and thinking that you'll never get out of it. You do, of course, and then life surprises you with a 180 degree twist.

This recipe is from the Retro cookbook and fittingly reminded me of my retro self. I don't know if Alice would have approved of this fancy, festive version of meatloaf although she may have served it up on a special occasion. The recipe is ludicrously easy, uses low fat turkey mince and fancies it up with prosciutto on top. I made mini loaves so that people could help themselves to one or two although this makes a dozen of the little loaves. It's great for a Christmas or Thanksgiving buffet. More importantly, the flavour of the meatloaf is delicious, just the right amount of seasoning and sweetness from the sticky orange and cranberry glaze, the turkey still moist inside.

Even better is that these make a wonderful encore the next day as a sandwich filling. Just butter some bread, slice up the meatloaves and add a little more cranberry sauce to make a lunch fit for a king. And one that's ready to greet the new year with whatever it may bring!

In some wonderful news, I have to quickly update you that the auctions for autographed copies of Anthony Bourdain's Medium Raw made $319.70 which has been donated to Médecins Sans Frontières! Thank you to everyone that bid and the winners and of course Tony Bourdain and his publisher Bloomsbury who provided the copies of his book.

And of course I want to say a very heartfelt Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to each and every one of my dearest, darlingest readers and your families and friends! May your Christmas be full of heartfelt love, belly aching laughter and deliciously good food! :)

Lots of Love,

Lorraine

xxx

Fancy & Festive Mini Turkey & Cranberry Meatloaves

• 12 slices prosciutto

• 1 large onion, diced

• 2 green onions, sliced finely

• 2 cloves garlic, chopped finely

• 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley

• 80g/3ozs fresh breadcrumbs

• 1kg/2 pounds ground turkey mince

• 2 tablespoons tomato sauce/ketchup

• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

• 1 egg

• 1 fat pinch of salt and a generous grind of pepper

• 1/2 cup (160g) cranberry sauce

• 1/2 orange, juiced

• Dutch carrots and segmented onion to serve

• 2 tablespoons oil and salt for vegetables

• Dried cranberries and holly leaves to decorate (I made holly leaves out of kaffir lime leaves)

Step 1 - Preheat oven to 200C/400F and line a large baking tray with sides with baking parchment (the meatloaves do release juice so you want a tray with sides).

I should add that this mixture is in a clear bowl and not suspended over my bench and sink ;)

Step 2 - I blitzed the onions, garlic, parsley and bread together in a food processor to finely dice them or you can dice them with a knife. In a large bowl mix the onions, garlic, parsley, breadcrumbs, turkey mince, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, egg, salt and pepper. With gloved hands, mix until completely combined.

Step 3 - Shape into small loaves, you should get about a dozen and then wrap each of these in a piece of prosciutto. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Wash and dry the carrots and remove the tops and quarter the onion and toss both in oil and salt and place in oven on a parchment lined tray. While the meatloaves and vegetables are baking, mix the cranberry sauce and orange juice together to form a glaze.

Step 4 - Remove from oven and drain extra liquid away (save as a base for soups if you like). Brush generously with the cranberry orange glaze and return to the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and brush again with glaze and serve. Decorate with cranberries and holly leaves.