Mother's Bistro Meatloaf- or pretty close :)

Happy Sunday! Life has been busy yet again, and I am behind three recipes. Not to worry, I will post them this week, one per day, so you can enjoy them one at a time.

The first one is Mother's Bistro Meatloaf. Mother's is an amazing restaurant in Portland, OR, and they make homemade comfort food, elevating it to a gourmet level. Lisa Schroeder's cookbook Mother's Best has been one of the best buys I have made in years- her mac & cheese recipes are to die for.

I made meatloaf- which is not a dish I grew up with- and just loved the taste of it. Unfortunately, it does not photograph as well, but then again, this is not the point of this blog. I also used a few tweaks and substitutes to the original recipe. I used ground turkey, as opposed to ground beef for a healthier option. My friend Kelly was over for dinner and loved it. We had leftovers for the week, which we ate with bread. If you have a chance to visit Portland, Mother's is a great place to have a memorable meal, sometimes even better than what your mom used to make :)


Ingredients
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 medium green bell pepper
2 large eggs
2 lbs of lean ground turkey ( available at Costco)
2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 strips of bacon
Store-bought turkey gravy

Directions
Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. When hot, add butter and green peppers. Cook until the peppers start to brown, about 5 minutes. If needed, lower the heat and cook for another 15 minutes. Set aside and let it cool.
Heat oven to 350F. Grease two standard-size loaf pans. Whisk the eggs in a large bowl, add the peppers, ground turkey, thyme, oats, 1/4 cup of ketchup, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly. Press the mixture into the two loaf pans, distributing equally. Pound the pans a couple of times to get rid of air pockets. Place bacon strips on top of the pans, about 3 strips per pan. Bake for one hour.

After one hour, remove and place two loafs on a broiling pan, down side up, and bake for another 20 minutes. This part makes sure that the meat is cooked thoroughly, and the bottom part of the meat was in the pan and usually retains most of the juices released in the process.

Remove from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes. Serve with gravy and salad.