Thanksgiving Salisbury Steak–inspired by Bitsy’s meatloaf recipe

My college friend Bitsy posted her family’s meatloaf recipe in the comments on the Mike’s meatloaf dinner post. It substitutes pepperidge farms stuffing mix for the typical bread crumbs. That got me thinking about how to make that tweak a full-on new recipe. Here we go:

1 lb. ground chicken

1 lb. ground pork

1/2 small onion

8 baby carrots

1 cup sliced celery, (about 1 stalk)

2 tbsp butter

1 cup Pepperidge Farms stuffing mix

1 tbsp garlic salt

1 tsp turmeric

1 tbsp poultry seasoning (I love Post Modern Poultry seasoning from Alchemy Spice in Chattanooga–they ship!)

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1 1/2 tbsp coarse ground mustard

Add vegetables to food processor and pulse until very fine.

Add butter to skillet and allow butter to melt. Add vegetables to skillet and cook until they begin to turn golden brown.

Remove from heat and pour into a large bowl. Allow to cool to room temperature. Add all the ingredients except for the meats and combine thoroughly

Add ground meats and combine thoroughly. Divide into 10 portions and form into desired shape and place on greased baking sheets.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes, or until brown around the edges. Arrange patties in a greased 13 x 9″ casserole dish.

The Gravy:

1/2 small onion finely minced

3 tbsp butter

2 tsp. poultry seasoning

3 tbsp flour

1 oz dried mushroom soaked in 1 cup water

1 quart turkey stock

3/4 cup heavy cream or sour cream

Saute the onion in the butter until translucent.

Add poultry seasoning and stir for about 30 seconds. Whisk in flour and cook for 30 seconds.

Slowly whisk in the turkey stock and turn heat to low.

In the meantime, strain the mushrooms (reserving the liquid), and chop finely.

Add chopped mushrooms to the gravy. Add the heavy cream and stir until thoroughly warmed through.

If the gravy is too thick, add a little of the mushroom liquid being careful not to pour any of the grit that the mushrooms may have released into the water. When the gravy is the right thickness, pour over the salisbury steaks and put in 375 degree oven for 30 minutes, or heated through.

My boys loved this! Mike loved the gravy and he is typically not the biggest fan of gravies. I got a gold star for my new recipe.

A word about turkey stock and chicken stock….

Any time I cook either turkey or chicken on the bone, I make a stock with the skin and bones. It is so much richer and more flavorful than anything that you can buy. I store it in the freezer to use later.