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!