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Hi, this is Chef John from foodwishes.com and the Time Machine-style Turkey Roll That's right. We're going back to the future with this simple, moist, and delicious mid-century meatloaf that gets a spectacular cranberry-cayenne glaze. And yes, we use a baking pan to make it into a ring shape so that, like time, the roll has no beginning or end. And to start, we'll melt some butter over medium heat and add some diced onion along with a large pinch of salt. And we're going to cook , stirring, for about 5 minutes or so, or until the onions are softened, sweetened, and starting to turn a little golden. And once that happens, we'll add some minced garlic along with our poultry seasoning, which for me includes dried
rosemary, thyme, and sage. And we'll mix everything together and cook everything for about a minute, and then we'll just turn off the heat and leave the roll until we need it. And while we could add these dried herbs directly to the meat, I always find it's better if we awaken these flavors in the hot fat. That's all. Once this has set, we can move on to crushing a package of Ritz crackers, which we will use in place of the breadcrumbs that are almost always used to bind modern meatloaf together. But the Ritz was once the best choice. And besides a little sweetness, they'll also add a lovely buttery richness that pairs perfectly with our lean turkey. And speaking of lean turkey, we'll add a little mayonnaise, another classic mid-
century ingredient. And this will be one of the keys to the beautiful, luxurious texture we will get. And for this we will also add a little milk, as well as one large egg, and then a good spoonful of Dijon mustard or of course another mustard of your choice. And then we can't make meatloaf without Worcestershire sauce. After that, we'll season it with salt, freshly ground black pepper, and of course, a few dashes of cayenne pepper for our overall well-being. And then we'll finish by adding some freshly chopped Italian parsley, as well as our leftover garlic, onion, and herb mixture. And once we've translated it, we'll take a spoon and mix it thoroughly to form a moist paste, which in our business we call panada. I know it sounds better than wet
pasta. That's all. After pan-frying, we'll add a couple pounds of ground turkey, ideally turkey thighs as they will have more fat and flavor. So always look for the darkest option or ask your butcher. And then we'll take two forks and mix this thoroughly, which will be a lot slower than using our hands, but I think it's worth it because I think it will result in a more tender texture. But in any case, it's up to you, I mean, you're Marty McFly, what method to use. But in any case, if the panad is evenly mixed with the meat, everything will be fine. And once we're done chopping with a fork, just to be on the safe side, we'll take a spatula and make a few folds to make sure we don't have any unmixed meat, and then
we'll transfer this to a very generously greased baking dish. And if you don't like rings, you can just use a bread pan. And to help us distribute it perfectly, I like to spoon it out as evenly as possible before taking a spoon to press everything down and level it out. And we really want to press down hard to make sure we don't have any air gaps at the bottom. Okay, we want to make sure the meat is really pressed into the mold. And then we'll dip a spoon in the water and then smooth the top as evenly as possible. And when we are satisfied with the result, we will take a towel and make sure to do it in the old tradition of tapas- tapa to finally ensure that all the meat is pressed tightly to the bottom.
After that, the dish can be moved to the center of an oven preheated to 190° C for 30 minutes. And while that's baking, we're going to make our cranberry-cayenne glaze, which we're going to make with fresh cranberries, a little brown sugar, a little apple cider vinegar, cayenne pepper, and a pinch of allspice, then a little cold fresh water, and finally a pinch of salt. We're going to bring this to a boil over high heat and stir, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and let it cook for four to five minutes, or until the berries are softened and falling apart, then we're going to stir and continue to cook
uncovered for another six to seven minutes, or until our cranberries look like this and the liquid has evaporated and become syrupy. And once we get to that point, we can remove it from the heat and strain it through a sieve if we want a smooth glaze, which I do, or I just think it looks better that way, but this step is optional, and if you want your roll to be thick, feel free to continue. But anyway, we're going to put that aside and take our turkey roll out of the oven, which after 30 minutes will look like this, no, it won't be fully cooked, or it'll probably be between 135 and 140, and mine was 136, which is perfect because we're going to let it sit for
10 minutes, then we're going to take it out of the pan, put the glaze on, and then put it back in the oven to finish cooking. And to do this, we're going to take a baking sheet and a piece of parchment paper cut to size and put that on top, and after we make sure it's centered, we're going to take a couple of oven mitts and very carefully flip this over, and if everything goes according to plan, it's going to come out of the pan perfectly, so we want to generously grease this baking sheet and also make sure that we're using a non-stick baking pan. But as you can see, it turned out really well, and we're going to do our best to remove any excess grease with a paper towel, and then we're going to take the glaze and spread it all over the surface,
starting at the top, and then we're going to spread it on the sides as well. By the way, there are two approaches you can use for something like this. Okay, we can, if we want, finish baking this bread unglazed, and then once it comes out, we can just glaze it before serving. And the advantage of this method is that the surface browns a little more, but I don't think that's a big factor here . And I would much rather finish the cooking with a glaze on the meat, which I think would look better. And baking, in my opinion, will also concentrate the flavors a little more. That's what I do. And that's it. After glazing, we'll return
the meat to the oven for 15 minutes until it's fully cooked and hopefully looks like this. And we need an internal temperature of at least 155 degrees. And once we're sure it's ready, we'll let it sit for about 5 minutes before transferring it to a serving plate. And then I thought I could just trim the parchment paper and everything would be fine. But I didn't like the way it looked at all. So I just pulled this paper out from underneath, which I should have done from the beginning. And after cleaning, we'll drizzle fresh frosting over this baked frosting layer for an extra brilliant double-edged cranberry-cayenne flavor. And then, for a seasonal and festive finish, I made a beautiful bouquet of fresh green herbs in the middle, adding
rosemary, thyme, and parsley. That's all. My turkey roll, like in a time machine, was ready to be enjoyed. So I took a knife, cut a piece, and served it. And I could tell, just by touching this cut, that it would be incredibly tender, not at all rubbery like many modern turkey rolls. And not only was it beautiful, moist, and tender, but the taste was exactly what I had hoped for, right? Wonderfully spicy with a hint of garlic and herbs. And of course, it's no surprise that cranberry glaze would be perfect for this, especially with that little kiss of cayenne pepper. And the Ritz crackers and mayonnaise not only created a great texture, but also complemented the flavor perfectly. So this official tasting went very
well. And I started to properly lay out the roll on a pillow of mashed potatoes with turkey gravy, the recipes for which we have several. And as you can see, I'm enjoying this with a very time machine-appropriate green bean almond sauce, which is something of a forgotten side dish, but one worth remembering. But in any case, as delicious as this simple dish was, this portion was much better. And when I ate it, I knew it reminded me of something , and then I finally understood. It was very similar to eating Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes and gravy, and lingonberry jam So, if you like that kind of thing, you'll definitely like it. And whether you're making this
as a budget-friendly holiday main course or just on a weeknight when you're craving a world-class gourmet meal, I really loved everything about this meatloaf recipe, so I really hope you give it a try soon. So please follow the links below to find ingredient amounts, print the recipe, and more, as always. And, as always, enjoy.
