Christmas Turkey Meatballs

Here's a great way to pack the best parts of a holiday feast into little Christmas bites...

Christmas Turkey Meatballs 

2lbs ground turkey breast
2 eggs
1cup minced white onion
1cup minced celery
2tbs vegetable oil
1cup plain bread crumbs (panko if possible)
salt & pepper
4oz fresh cranberries (half a bag)
zest from 2 large oranges
nutmeg
brown sugar
cranberry relish (recipe to follow; you will need the oranges left over from zesting, an apple, the rest of the bag of cranberries [4oz], and a 1/4cup of sugar)

Now, this recipe is for a two-in-one meal, so we'll start with the base for both dishes:

Preheat oven to 350*F

First, mince your chopped onion and chopped celery in a food processor.  If you don't have a food processor, you can also mince them by hand with a grater (although you better wear swimming goggles while you mince the onion).  Then heat up 2tbs of vegetable oil in a medium pan and saute the minced onion and celery just until softened and translucent.  Once cooked, let this mixture cool slightly.

While the onion-celery mixture is cooling, finely chop your cranberries in the food processor or by hand.  Zest both oranges.  Put the ground turkey in a large bowl.  Add your onion-celery mix, chopped cranberries, orange zest, two eggs, bread crumbs, 1/4tsp salt and 1/4tsp pepper and mix the whole lot until fully combined.  If the turkey feels dry, add a little water to the mixture.

Roll your turkey mix into medium meatballs, about the size of golf balls.  Space out evenly on a parchment-covered baking sheet (I didn't have parchment so I used spray vegetable oil, worked just fine).

Ok, here's where the recipe splits, but only if you want it to...  I made half of the meatballs with a nutmeg & brown sugar glaze, and the other half with a cranberry relish topping.  If you have an aversion to either of those ingredients, feel free to make them all one flavor.

For the nutmeg & brown sugar glaze, dust the meatballs with nutmeg and then roll them in brown sugar for a generous coating.

Now for the cranberry relish topping: if you can buy it fresh and pre-made, do it.  Trader Joe's has a great tasting option.  But if you're planning to serve it as a side as well, it's best to make your own.

Chop up the leftover oranges used for the zest and one cored apple.  Place the pieces in a blender or food processor with 1/4cup sugar and the rest of the cranberries (about 4oz).  Blend them into a relish (fully chopped and mixed, but not as thin as applesauce).  You may need to pulse-blend and scrape down the sides of the blender/processor several times to get the right consistency. 

Spoon the relish on to the remaining meatballs.  You can do this before baking or half-way through.  If you desire more of a glaze, add the relish before placing in the oven.  I wanted more of a jelly texture, so I spooned it on after 30min of baking.

Cook the meatballs in the oven at 350*F for a total of one hour, or until they start to brown and the inside is fully white when cut open.

If you desire a crispy brown exterior on your Christmas Turkey Meatballs, you can also pan fry the base mixture instead of baking.  Heat 2tbs of vegetable oil in a large pan and cook the meatballs thoroughly.

To create a glaze using this method, place the fully cooked meatballs on a baking sheet, add your topping, and heat in the oven under the broiler until the topping starts to melt.  If you use this method, make sure to keep an eye on your meatballs, broilers get very hot very fast.  I would start with the broiler on low and the baking sheet about 6 inches from the coils.

These are great straight out of the oven/pan, but also reheat really well with a quick zap in the microwave.  Enjoy!

TWINKIE WIENER SANDWICH!

You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.  Such is the case with this American icon - a bastion of baked goods - the perverted pastry - The Twinkie.

I'll be the first to admit that I had all but forgotten about this special sponge until recently, when it's parent company went tits-up.  All of a sudden, the memories came sugar-rushing back.  You mean to tell me the Twinkie - yellow cake that could survive a nuclear holocaust - couldn't survive union negotiations?! 

It was true... the Twinkie is gone (well, once the vast supply in the distribution centers is exhausted... and until a new company buys the brand and it's existing factories and resumes production... so, like, two weeks?).  But if you've managed to squirrel away any boxes of the baked good before they flew off store shelves, this Woodsie Bake post is for you.  Today we tackle what is arguably the best use of a Twinkie EVER.  That's right...

... it's the Twinkie Wiener Sandwich.

TWINKIE WIENER SANDWICH 

Ingredients: 
Twinkie
Wiener
Easy Cheese
cup of milk

Boil the hot dog until it is cooked through.

While the wiener is cooling, create your "bun".  Turn the Twinkie upside down.  Cut the Twinkie length-wise, but only half-way deep into the cake.

Place your hot dog in your bun.

Top with Easy Cheese.

That's it!  Now... if you really want to enjoy it EXACTLY the same way George Newman did in the movie "UHF", don't forget to dip the dog in a glass of warm milk.

Bon Appétit!

Breakfast Potato Bites

Here's an easy solution for how to feed a hungry breakfast bunch, although it's not very quick...

  Breakfast Potato Bites 

I used organic gold potatoes for this recipe, but any small potato (about the size of a tennis ball) will work. 

Set the oven to 450*F .  Wash the potatoes thoroughly under cool tap water and dry them off.  Lightly brush them with olive oil and sprinkle one side of each potato with sea salt.  Once the oven is preheated, place the potatoes directly on the rack.  This will help the skin to harden so they'll hold the filling after being baked.  Bake 30-40 minutes, flipping and rotating once half way through.  They're done when the skin turns a crispy brown and a knife easily pokes through to the center.

Some oil may drip off the potatoes and smoke up the oven slightly, so don't be alarmed if a little smoke wafts out when you open the door.

While the potatoes are baking, cook up your filling. You can chose any breakfast dish you think will taste good with potato.  I chose eggs scrambled with prosciutto and fresh sage.  I lightly fried the prosciutto in a little butter before adding the eggs and sage to make it a little crispy like bacon.

Leave the eggs in the pan to keep them warm.  Once the potatoes are done, let them cool until you can comfortably handle them with bare hands.  Cut each potato in half and scoop most of the inside out with a spoon.  Leave some potato attached to the skin to give the bites some structure.

Now just fill each potato bite with your breakfast dish, garnish with anything that sounds good (shredded cheese on the scrambled eggs), and you're done.  Eat 'em up before they get cold.

Chicken Pot Pie Stuffed Biscuits

Earlier this week I made Chicken and Biscuits in a Pot and wound up with plenty of leftover ingredients.  So I basically made it again, but turned it inside-out..

Chicken Pot Pie Stuffed Biscuits: 

Preheat oven to 425*F .

Make the filling and dough the same way you would for the Chicken and Biscuits in a Pot, except this time just cook up the chicken mixture in a pan.

Take half your dough and split it between 12 cups of a well-oiled cupcake pan.  Oil up your fingers and press the dough into bowl shapes.

Spoon your filling into each cup, just until it's even with the top of the dough.

Take the remaining half of your dough and roll it out on wax paper (oiled plastic wrap works fine, too). Use a cup or glass that's the same size as the cupcake cups and cut out tops for all 12 biscuits. Carefully place the tops on each biscuit, pushing down the edges slightly so they bond with the dough already in the cup. Cut a small hole in the top of each one to allow steam to release during baking.

Bake biscuits in the center of the oven at 425*F for 20-25 minutes.  Then turn the broiler on high for 1-2 minutes, just to brown up the tops of the biscuits. PAY VERY CLOSE ATTENTION WHILE BROILER IS ON, the difference between browned biscuits and blackened biscuits is less than a minute!

Allow to cool for about 5 minutes and serve. Filling will be very hot so tell your guests to be careful. Enjoy!