Today I thought I’d come up with another kind of Chicken Meatloaf. This one is basically doughnut shaped and filled with potatoes. To make the meatloaf I used Quinoa instead of bread crumbs for the meatloaf. and made it with ground chicken 96% 4%fat that seems so much lighter than beef.  Since I didn’t have any dairy in the house I used flavorful chicken fat (schmaltz) that I saved in my freezer and used it like butter for the potatoes. I sautéed finely chopped onions in the chicken fat till the onions were clear and then mashed them into the potatoes….WOW FORKING INSANELY AMAZING FLAVORFUL POTATOES! These potatoes came out so good you just might want to do these potatoes for Thanksgiving. If you chop the onions as fine as I did the onions just melt into the potatoes and come out smooth. It’s a possibility that the potatoes are even lighter than mashed potatoes because I added only chicken fat with the cooked onions……no butter, cream or dairy. Even the cooking water from the potatoes is so good you need to save some for the meatloaf but the rest you should use for other things. Either make a soup or sauce with it. Reheat meats or vegetables in it. If you make it exactly the way I suggest it will come out surprisingly great! The Chicken Meatloaf also comes out very flavorful and MOIST. Even re-heated this meatloaf still comes out moist. I think this meatloaf doesn’t really even need a sauce but you can embellish slightly if desired with a suggested thyme butter, thin chicken gravy or a small amount of a traditional kind of meatloaf sauce. This is so tasty that just a small forkful of the potatoes with the meatloaf is enough.

Ingredients for 6 servings

2 lb russet type of potatoes – peeled and cut in halves and in a pot of cold water

1 Tablespoon kosher salt (to add to pot of potatoes)

1/2 large sweet onion – peeled (to boil with potatoes- discard after potatoes are cooked)

1 hot banana pepper – cut longways in half – to boil and flavor potatoes – discard after potatoes are cooked)

1 garlic clove – to boil with potatoes – after potatoes are boiled smash the garlic and fine chop it into the onions that get sautéed and added to the potatoes

1 cup sweet onion – VERY finely chopped or grate (for potatoes)

3 ounces schmaltz (chicken fat) (for potatoes)

1 egg beaten (for Potatoes)

2 teaspoons course sea salt (for potatoes)

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper (for potatoes)

1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper (for potatoes)

1 lb ground chicken (I used 96 lean with 4% fat)

1 cup quinoa (already cooked)

2 L eggs – lightly beaten

1/4 onion – finely chopped

2 garlic cloves – grated

1/2 celery rib – finely chopped

1 carrot – peeled and finely shredded

1/4  cup – fresh parsley – finely chopped

1 teaspoon – fresh thyme

1  teaspoon ground black pepper

2 teaspoons chicken base – preferably reduced sodium Better Than Bouillon Brand (it’s like chicken flavored salt)

2 Tablespoons cooking water from potatoes

non stick cooking spray

Directions

Put the pot with water (water should cover the potatoes by between 1-2 inches) and the potatoes on to a medium boil with the kosher salt, 1/2 onion, garlic and banana pepper) You MUST purchase the banana peppers from Asiana Market…..They are too hot to eat but cooked with other things give off an amazing flavor. Cook the potatoes till they are soft (fork tender) about 15-20 minutes. DO NOT THROW OUT THE WATER! you need 2 Tablespoons for the meatloaf and you might want to save the rest for a soup or something else you might prepare. You can leave the potatoes in the water so they stay hot while you make the meatloaf mixture but take pot off the burner and place somewhere else on the stove. You can throw out the used banana pepper and the used 1/2 onion.

In a medium-large mixing bowl add the ground chicken, 2 eggs, quinoa, 1/4 c onion, 2 garlic, celery, carrot, parsley, thyme, black pepper, chicken base, 2 Tablespoons potato water and mix well and place to the side.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and spray baking sheet(s) with non stick spray.

In a fry pan sauce the cup of finely chopped onions with the chicken fat till the onions are clear and soft with that one clove of mashed and finely chopped garlic that you saved from the potato water. Add the onion mixture to your just drained potatoes and mash. Add the remaining course sea salt, black pepper, white pepper and one egg and mash very well till smooth.

Either pipe or scoop 6 piles of potatoes with lots of room around them on a sprayed baking sheet(s)

The meat gets piped around each mound of potatoes. (or you can spoon)

Put them in the oven and remove when done. (In my oven they took 25 minutes).

Then I hit it with a small amount of meatloaf sauce I made from slow cooked tomatoes, spiked with pickapeppa sauce.

Even when you re-heat leftovers the potatoes are creamy and flavorful. The chicken meatloaf is delicious, well seasoned and also stays moist.

These meatloaves would also be good with a splash of thyme butter,some thin chicken gravy or a small amount of a traditional type of meatloaf sauce.