January 2014 - Turkey & avocado salad with cranberry dressing

Well not doing so well on the posting more resolution this month am I? Then again I haven't really been doing much creative cooking-wise either. I have been cooking a bit but quite a bit of it has been pre-prepared or pre-marinated stuff. I discovered that the marinated split chickens from Woolworths are very good done on the weber bbq. 

I made this salad a couple of nights ago. It was easy and tasty. I used some leftover chicken in place of the turkey. It was supposed to have sourdough croutons but I didn't have any bread so I didn't worry about it. I think it was filling enough without them. 

Turkey & avocado salad with cranberry dressing

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp red wine vinegar

2 tsp cranberry sauce

2 celery stalks, shaved

120g mixed baby salad leaves (I used cos lettuce and alfalfa spouts)

400 g cooked turkey meat, shredded 

1/4 c slivered almonds, toasted (I didn't have any so used some pepitas) 

1 avocado, sliced

Whisk oil, vinegar and cranberry sauce together. 

Mix all other ingredients together and drizzle dressing over. 

Camembert-stuffed turkey meatballs

This is a bit of a cheat as it is a throw back to the Camembert stuffed turkey meatloaf from back in 2011. I decided that I would do something similar so I made it into meatballs this time. Although I will say that the meatloaf was better at containing the Camembert as a lot of the meatballs had the cheese ooze out during cooking.

This time around I didn't put the quinoa, tomatoes or craisins in the mix. I did add some extra herbs and pepper. The sauce I made was pretty much the same except I used cranberry sauce in place of the redcurrant. It was a bit thick though, it would have been better if I thinned it down so that it was more of a sauce rather than a glaze. 

Over all, it was still just a wonderful as before and I will definitely make either the meatloaf or meatballs again. I served with roasted potato and sweet potato wedges and steamed broccoli and snow peas.

Camembert-stuffed Turkey Meatloaf with Cranberry, Mustard & Balsamic Glaze

I know that I have already posted a meatloaf recipe this week. I hadn't really intended on posting another one so soon but this is just so good that I have to share it. In fact it was posting about the lovely meatloaf with red quinoa that inspired me to try it out again. I was really keen to use some more of the lovely red quinoa and another meatloaf seemed like a good choice. 

This time however, I wanted to try out making a meatloaf with turkey mince. This was mainly because I had some in the freezer that needed to be used up. I decided that the logical topping for a turkey meatloaf is cranberry sauce. Although I pepped it up a bit using frozen cranberries, wholegrain mustard and balsamic vinegar. It was wonderfully tangy and was the perfect accompaniment for turkey. I decided to knock it up a notch further by putting some wonderfully rich and creamy camembert cheese in the middle of the meatloaf. There is a local cafe that does a turkey, cranberry and camembert grilled sandwich that I know is fabulous so I just knew that the camembert would pair perfectly with a turkey meatloaf. The whole combination was just fabulous and I will definitely be making this one again. I didn't write this recipe down as I was going, nor did I measure anything so I am hoping that my estimates are right.

Camembert-stuffed Turkey Meatloaf with Cranberry, Mustard & Balsamic Glaze

Ingredients:

• 500 g turkey mince
• 1/3 c quinoa (soaked for 30 minutes in water) (I used red quinoa)
• 1 onion, very finely diced 
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 - 2 tbsp dried mixed herb (I just put some in, then added a little bit more)
• 1 tsp (or so) dried ground sage 
• handful craisins 
• 1/4 can diced tomatoes (I get Annalisa which is quite thick, diced fresh tomato would probably be better)
• couple of dashes of Worcestershire sauce 
• 200 g camembert cheese (there are leftovers for snacking. )

Method:

• Mix all ingredients together very well. It will get a bit sticky.
• Spread half the mixture in a loaf tin. Top with thickly sliced pieces of camembert and then top with the remaining meat mixture. 
• Bake at 170 C for 40 minutes. Top with glaze and then bake for a further 10 minutes.

Cranberry, Mustard & Balsamic Glaze

Ingredients:

• Handful frozen cranberries (maybe about 100 g)
• 1/4 c redcurrant jelly (cranberry jelly would work best but I didn't have any)
• 1 - 2 tbsp wholegrain mustard (I used Maille) or to taste 
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (I have an aged one at the moment that is rather thick & syrupy)

Method:

• Put cranberries in saucepan over a medium heat, I did this while they were still frozen, stir then occasionally until they are squashable. 
• Add redcurrant jelly and stir until melted. Then stir in mustard and balsamic. 
• Cook over a medium heat until thickened slightly. (I cooked mine a bit long so had to add a bit of water)