Turkey Stuffing Meatloaf with Herbed Mashed Potatoes

This was YUM. It was like the perfect Thanksgiving bite. Mashed potatoes, turkey, stuffing and gravy. We just had this last week and it's already on the menu again for this week. Super fast and delicious. And what's almost as good as the dinner? The leftover turkey meatloaf sandwiches. The original recipe (as written here) calls for a oil based gravy, which I didn't like. I also just used butter in the mashed potatoes. From now on, I'll be making my roux based gravy, or you can just use a packet of quick made gravy.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter

2 McIntosh apples, cored and chopped

3 to 4 small ribs celery, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 bay leaf

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 cup stuffing cubes (recommended: Pepperidge Farm) or stale cubed white bread

1 tablespoon poultry seasoning

4 cups chicken or turkey stock in a box

2 pounds ground turkey

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 large egg

1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus more for drizzling

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 pounds starchy potatoes, peeled

1 cup whole milk

1 (5-ounce) package soft herb cheese (recommended: Boursin)

1/4 cup chopped mixed fresh herbs (recommended: chives, dill, thyme)



Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat the butter to melt in a medium skillet over medium heat. Saute the apples, celery, and onions seasoned with a bay leaf, salt, and pepper, until very tender, 10 minutes. Add the stuffing cubes and moisten with 1 to 1/1 2 cups of stock; season with poultry seasoning. Cool completely, then combine in a bowl with ground turkey, salt, pepper, half the parsley, and egg. Form 4 oval-shaped loaves a couple of inches thick. Arrange on a rack over baking sheet or parchment-lined baking sheet and coat with a little oil to glisten. Roast until brown and firm, 45 minutes, depending on thickness.

Reheat the meatloaves in medium hot oven to warm through. Place them in a shallow baking dish and cover with foil. Cook's Note: To keep the loaves from drying out - add a splash of stock, this will keep the loaves super moist.

In a saucepan, whisk the oil and 1/4 cup flour over medium heat 10 to 15 minutes, until the color of peanut-butter. Add lots of coarse pepper to the roux, then whisk in a couple of cups of stock and thicken, season with salt to taste. Cool completely and store in the refrigerator. Reheat the mixture in a saucepan over medium flame.
While the meatloaves bake, boil the potatoes in enough water to cover. Drain, then return the potatoes to the hot pot and mash with milk, herb cheese, mixed herbs, remaining parsley, salt and pepper. Cool completely and store in the refrigerator.

Reheat the potatoes in a saucepan over medium-low heat, adding a little more milk as the potatoes warm to loosen them up a bit.

Serve the meatloaves, whole or sliced, with mashed potatoes and gravy.