Today was a snowy winter day in Northeast Ohio. I was working at home, and Brett’s flight was returning in time for supper for once. I decided it would be nice to greet him with a homemade dinner as opposed to his normal Wendy’s chili. I looked in the freezer this morning to see what struck me as a good choice. We had recently reorganized our freezer making items easier to find. I spotted a pile of ground turkey in freezer bags. I set it out to defrost as I worked through the day.

During the day I thought it would be nice to make something other than turkey chili or a turkey meatloaf, our typical use for ground turkey. Salisbury steak came to mind. I had the base of the  recipe set. During the holidays I saw a lot of pork recipes that called for apples and onions. Since then I have wanted to try other masts with this combination. They are some of our favorite tastes. Thus was born this recipe. I basically added in low fat and low calorie ingredients to make it a healthy dish.

The result was quite delicious. I served it with healthy garlic smashed potatoes. The recipe made a generous 6 serving main dish. I hate to use the oven for small dishes. A large recipe is just as much effort as a small recipe but yields many dinners. For us, this recipe made 3 dinners. It’s so much easier to microwave the leftovers for a quick dinner after work. This is truly Midwest wintertime comfort food for me.

Apple Gobbler Salisbury Steak

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tart apples, diced (about 1 ½ cups)
1 large onion, diced (about 1 ½ cups)
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 pounds ground turkey breast
1 teaspoon Montreal steak seasoning (for turkey patties)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons flour
1 ½ cups of cider or apple juice
1 ½ cups of low fat chicken broth (one can)
1 small can of mushrooms, drained
1 teaspoon Montreal steak seasoning (for gravy)

Preparation:

1. In a medium skillet, melt the butter and add the olive oil. Add the chopped onions and apples. Sauté the onions and apples until they are tender, stirring frequently. When the mixture is just about done, stir in the minced garlic and cook an additional minute or so to blend the flavors. Allow to cool slightly.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine the ground turkey, 2/3 of the sautéed onion apple mixture, 1 teaspoon of Montreal steak seasoning, and Worcestershire sauce. Shape into 6 oval patties about ½ inch thick.
3. Generously spray a large skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Place on medium high heat. Add the turkey patties. Fry for 4-5 minutes until the bottoms brown and form a crust. Turn and fry 4-5 minutes until the other side is brown and crusted.
4. Generously spray a 2 quart flat casserole with non-stick cooking spray. A 9”X 13” glass cake pan works wonderfully. Arrange the turkey patties in the casserole.
5. In a small bowl. stir the flour into the cider/apple juice. I use my Magic Bullet blender to do this. It makes a beautiful smooth mixture with ease.
6. Return the remaining apple and onion mixture to the burner in the medium skillet in which they were sautéed. On medium high heat, add the apple juice and chicken broth stirring to blend. Add the mushrooms and 1 teaspoon Montreal steak seasoning. Continue stirring until mixture bubbles, comes to a boil, and thickens. Allow it to simmer an additional minute. Remove from the heat and pour over the turkey patties.
7. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. Serve with garlic smashed potatoes.