Italian Style Turkey Meatballs

No joke. Really. I know what I wrote in my cookbook about being a meatball snob and liking regular beef meatballs and not those that are mixed with other stuff like pork and veal, etc.  That was then. This is now.  I'm developing a conscience about those long-lashed, four-legged friends. And this doesn't mean that I'm never going to eat a burger again. But more and more I am finding ways to contribute as only one individual can, to cut back on consuming so much red meat.  There, I've said it!!  So, here I've taken the basic recipe for meatballs and substituted good old tom turkey!  I dare you to make these, serve them to whoever, don't tell them it's turkey, and see what happens.  Only kudos my friends, only kudos.  Here's what I did...

Into a large mixing bowl place 1 lb. of ground turkey (not ground turkey breast), 1 egg, 1/4 cup of seasoned bread crumbs (such as Progresso), 1 tsp. dried basil, 1/2 tsp. dried oregano, 1 minced clove of garlic, 1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley, 1/3 cup of shredded (on the bigger hole of your grater) parmesan cheese, 1 tsp. salt, black pepper to taste, and  1/4 tsp. or more red pepper flakes.

Mix all of this together with your thoroughly cleansed hands.  Pour a small amount of breadcrumbs into a small bowl.  Shape the mixture into approximately 20 meatballs and roll each one in the breadcrumbs. Coat a mini muffin tin with cooking spray, and place each meatball into the mini muffin tin, like you see in the picture.  Pop the meatballs into a preheated 400 degree oven and bake for about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and using a spoon, give each meatball a little turn upside down.  Place back in the oven for 5 or 8 minutes more.  I got the tip on baking the meatballs rather than frying from quirky Alton Brown on the Food Network channel.  I have always heated the olive oil on the stove top and proceeded to make a greasy mess of the area before I was done.  This method is surprisingly simple and what a neat (no pun intended) idea.  They turn out delicious. Crispy from being rolled in the breadcrumbs, with the shredded (not finely grated) parmesan cheese kind of oozing out of them. Yeah, you want to make these.

Are these cute or what?

Baked, crispy, not greasy, delicious!

This is all you'll need:

• 1 lb. ground turkey
• Parmesan cheese
• Egg
• Bread crumbs
• Basil
• Oregano
• Crushed red pepper flakes
• Italian Parsley
• Fresh garlic 

This is what was in the cupboard!

Keepin' it real here, I did not labor over my sauce!!! I doctored up two jars of sauce that I had on hand, by sauteeing a small shredded onion, some freshly chopped garlic, and a bunch of chopped Italian parsley. When I shred onion in the biggest hole of my grater, it just disappears in the cooking but leaves all the flavor. Try that sometime.  Okay, I then added the sauce to the saute and washed each jar out with a quarter cup or so of the red wine that I had opened the night before ;-)   When the sauce is hot and the meatballs are done baking, I drop those into the sauce and let it all heat through.

This made 20 meatballs for me. The first night,  I served this with whole wheat spaghetti, but I was thinking the picture for that might be rather boring. My friend, Cathy, suggested I do meatball subs or sandwiches, and that's exactly what I did, as you can see below!!!  So good.  I buttered good bakery rolls rather than heavy sub rolls, and then grilled them. Topped with halved meatballs and sauce, sliced fresh mozzarella (not the hard type, but the fresh kind) and sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. Broil this until melted and delicious looking,  Now, tell me that doesn't have your name written all over it!  Give beef a break every so often and try this recipe.  You will be amazed at how you would never know the difference.  And for another recipe using turkey, check this one out here.

Turkey Meatball Sandwich with Melted Fresh Mozzarella!

Till next time... Click on "comments" below and let me know you stopped by. Thanks!

My Not-So-Famous Turkey Chili (Yet)

October, football, falling leaves, cooler weather. Only two of those things apply to me here in south Florida. Be that as it may, the weather this week did actually take a plunge into the 70s! (Is anybody laughing right now?) So I thought a cool weather recipe would be in order. My last blog entry, Mushroom Chowder, was kind of a cool weather recipe and a huge hit as well. With all the talk about it from my friend, Cathy, and how it came in second place in her church contest, I decided I had to make it this past week and remember what I did that made it so good.  You gotta try it.   And even though this will be another meal-in-a-bowl type of recipe, I'm doing it anyway because who doesn't need another chili recipe to consider?

The inspiration for the recipe that I use came from Alice's Restaurant Cookbook, which I purchased in 19...., well back a long time ago. Alice May Brock was a hippie, and I guess so was I.  I have to say here that I have never used anything but beef when making chili.  This time around I took a chance on turkey, and I have to tell you it is delicious! It isn't so much that turkey has that much less fat than, say, ground sirloin.  Ground turkey is still 90/10 ratio for fat. It's just that I was feeling a tad more conscious today about the beef thing.  Go ahead and use whatever your choice of meat is, but if you haven't given turkey chili a try, don't turn your nose up until you try it this way and tell me how great it is afterwards!

MY NOT-SO-FAMOUS TURKEY CHILI (YET)
2 Tbs. vegetable oil
2 large onions, chopped
2 large green peppers, chopped
1 to 2 jalapeno peppers, mostly seeded, and chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 lb. of ground turkey (not ground turkey breast)
2 28 oz. cans of whole tomatoes
1 small can of tomato paste
4 Tbs. of chili powder (or more to your liking)
1 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp. of salt (add more to taste)
Lots of freshly ground pepper
2 whole bay leaves
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. basil
2 tsp. or more of Worcestershire sauce
Cayenne pepper and Tabasco to taste
2 cans of dark red kidney beans, drained

Okay, this looks like a lot of ingredients. But you probably have most of the seasonings.  So let's go.

In a large skillet, saute the onions, peppers, jalapeno and garlic in the oil until soft. Meanwhile, in a large soup pot, brown the chopped meat. Drain the fat, and then add the sauteed vegetables to the meat in the large pot.  Add the two cans of tomatoes, juice and all, breaking up the tomatoes with the back of your spoon. Add the tomato paste and all the rest of the seasonings up to but excluding the kidney beans. Give it all a good stir, cover and simmer this for a good long time, a couple of hours at least, stirring occasionally and checking for seasonings.

Towards the end of the cooking session, add the kidney beans. I like to use the dark red beans, they show up nicer in the chili, and I definitely don't add them earlier on, they get mushy.

Remove the bay leaves before serving!

Serve this in big bowls and pass around all the favorite chili toppings such as sliced jalapenos, shredded cheddar, chopped raw onions, extra hot sauce - and don't forget to pass around a piece of cornbread. For those of you who own my book "Singingirl Cooks" check it out on page 99.  Now what channel is the game on???





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Alice May Brock would be proud of me!