Chicken Loaf

Continuing the chicken theme since chicken breasts are on sale until May 9, part of the second batch of chicken breasts were turned into chicken loaf. There is one recipe in the archives. I took this chicken loaf in a slightly different direction.

Chicken loaf is an easy to make budget stretcher. When cooled and sliced thin, it is perfect for a homemade lunchmeat.

Chicken Loaf

4 large chicken breasts
2 eggs
1 carrot, shredded
1 med onion, chopped fine
1 stalk celery, shredded
3 tbsp Dianna Gourmet Rib & Chicken Sauce
1 tsp honey mustard
dash sea salt
dash fresh ground pepper
3 cups dried bread crumbs

Remove the skin and bone from the chicken breasts. Cut into strips. Grind using the Kitchen Aid® attachment or manual food grinder on fine grind. Whisk eggs and stir into meat. Mix in the vegetables, sauce and mustard, salt and pepper into the meat. Pour in the bread crumbs and mix well. Place mixture into silicone loaf pan. Bake at 350ºF until firm and golden brown on top. Allow to rest for 10 minutes if slicing hot. Cool entirely to slice for lunchmeat.

Chicken Loaf Sandwich

This picture is meant to wet your whistle and get your mouth watering. Chicken loaf is good served on a bed of leaf lettuce and swiss cheese. Top with sliced tomatoes, onions and honey mustard for a deletable sandwich! While this sandwich was made using store bought white bread, it lends itself nicely to homemade 12 grain or sourdough breads.

Sirloin Tip Meatloaf

Back by popular demand is my old template. I would like to spiff up the background and header so over the next few days you will see a few changes. So if you notice any weird things going on, it's just me playing with the template. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Ok, who the heck would make meatloaf using sirloin tip? Well, sometimes when you don't have much choice that's what you do. My husband picked up fresh, twice ground sirloin tip for kibby late the Thursday afternoon before Good Friday. He bought extra because the weekend was already slated for a lot of visitors and since one batch was going to a family gathering, he thought I would make one for those coming to the house. Along with all the Easter gatherings, our first grandbaby was baptized Easter Sunday. I would have ground the meat myself but with everything else going on (house sale), I was runny on empty.

We eat kibby raw so whatever is not consumed that day is baked then sliced for sandwiches. However, I found myself with about 2 lb of twice ground raw sirloin that need to be used and not a whole lot of energy to be creative. The problem is once frozen it can't be used for kibby and there was no way I was going to let this meat go to waste.

Sirloin Tip Meatloaf

We get the sirloin tip will as much fat as possible cut off because we eat it raw. Normally I mix in shredded vegetables for my regular meatloaf but I wanted this meatloaf to give firm slices when cooled. We seldom buy lunchmeat because I routinely slice meat and freeze it for making sandwiches later.

The following list of ingredients is just a guideline but close in amounts I used.

Sirloin Tip Meatloaf

2 lb twice ground sirloin tip
2 eggs
2 1/2 c dry bread crumbs
1 tbsp tomato powder
1 tbsp carrot powder
1 tbsp zucchini powder
1 tbsp mushroom powder
1/2 c Heinz 57
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tsp mustand
2 good splashes of Lea & Perrins Worchestershire sauce

Pre-heat oven to 350ºF. Mix the ingredients together then place in a loaf pan. Bake for approximately 40 minutes until centre is cooked through.


Sliced

This meatloaf gives firm slices when cooled. Of course we had some of it for dinner that night served with a tossed salad, baked potato and sauteed mushrooms. After dinner, I allowed the meatloaf to cool enough to put in the refrigerator. This is a bit of an aside. Up until recently I always had a fridge with metal racks. The new fridge has glass shelving so I'm a bit concerned over thermal shock at putting something too warm on them. So I set the pan on a folded tea towel just in case.

Once the remaining meatloaf was fully cooled, I sliced it thinly. It isn't as thin as what you would get at a deli but then the thickness is just right for a hearty sandwich. It has a wonderful flavour that will go just perfect with beefsteak tomatoes! I'm getting hungry just thinking of a slice of this meatloaf, a slice of beefsteak tomatoes, fresh garden greens, a couple rings of onions, a bit of mayo and mustard all sandwiched between fresh 12 grain bread.

Vacuum Sealed

Garden goodies are awhile away so beefsteak tomatoes are just a dream. From the looks of it, I will more than likely be planting in containers and move them but there is a chance of early possession which means the garden will continue as normal. I mentioned that I routinely make sandwich slices from whatever meat I cook.

I don't have a meat slicer but that may change in the new house if all goes well. What I do is cool the meat thoroughly. I find it best to let the meat cool overnight in the fridge. Then I cut into slices about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick depending on the meat. I like to vacuum seal the slices for freezing. With drier meats like most meatloaves, turkey, and chicken there is no need to flash freeze before vacuum sealing. For moister meats like ham, I place then in the vacuum sealer bag then into the freezer. Once semi-frozen, I vacuum seal them.