turkey meatballs

notbob said:

I'm not a real big fan of ground turkey. I only bought some to make
chili. But, now I'm jonesing for meatballs. Anyone have any toughts
on how to doctor turkey meat to make a good meatball? I've got a few
ideas, but still welcome any suggestions.

nb

I do this turkey meat a lot with whole leaf sage, onion & garlic all
finely minced or pureed & added to the meat mix with a bit of bread
crumbs or oat bran, crackers or etc. salt & pepper, a raw egg if
desired, all thoroughly mixed together, form into small meat balls &
saute in butter, if you have a very good paprika i like to add a level
tsp. or so to a pound of ground turkey meat.

A bit of grated hard cheese and some oregano in the mix is also good.
---
JL

Joseph Littleshoes said:

I do this turkey meat a lot with whole leaf sage, onion & garlic all
finely minced or pureed & added to the meat mix with a bit of bread
crumbs or oat bran, crackers or etc. salt & pepper, a raw egg if

OK, thanks JL.

About this binder thing. I'm admittedly ignorant of meatballs, but
remember the requirement of a binder from watching mom make meatloaf
(another food I've only recently learned to enjoy. Go figure). I can
whip up some breadcrumbs, but have no eggs. Seems I recall milk as a
binder. Would cream work just as well?

nb

notbob said:

Joseph Littleshoes said:

I do this turkey meat a lot with whole leaf sage, onion & garlic all
finely minced or pureed & added to the meat mix with a bit of bread
crumbs or oat bran, crackers or etc. salt & pepper, a raw egg if

OK, thanks JL.

About this binder thing. I'm admittedly ignorant of meatballs, but
remember the requirement of a binder from watching mom make meatloaf
(another food I've only recently learned to enjoy. Go figure). I can
whip up some breadcrumbs, but have no eggs. Seems I recall milk as a
binder. Would cream work just as well?

nb

I don't think yule need a binder with ground turkey. I think the turkey
juice in it will bind it just fine. Tear up some stale bread (not
crumbs), dunk it in beef bouillon, and squeeze it out. Mix into the
turkey with a little pepper and nutmeg and maybe some finely minced
onion and chopped parsley. Or something like that.

Bob

"zxcvbob" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

notbob said:

On 2006-01-11, Joseph Littleshoes <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

I don't think yule need a binder with ground turkey. I think the turkey
juice in it will bind it just fine. Tear up some stale bread (not
crumbs), dunk it in beef bouillon, and squeeze it out. Mix into the
turkey with a little pepper and nutmeg and maybe some finely minced
onion and chopped parsley. Or something like that.

Bob

Also, you can bake the meatballs in the oven or even cook them in broth/soup
if you are concerned about them falling apart. I pretty much always bake my
meatballs now, not because I'm anti-frying but because I"m anti-frying
meatballs. :-P

enjoy

notbob said:

Joseph Littleshoes said:

I do this turkey meat a lot with whole leaf sage, onion & garlic all
finely minced or pureed & added to the meat mix with a bit of bread
crumbs or oat bran, crackers or etc. salt & pepper, a raw egg if

OK, thanks JL.

About this binder thing. I'm admittedly ignorant of meatballs, but
remember the requirement of a binder from watching mom make meatloaf
(another food I've only recently learned to enjoy. Go figure). I can
whip up some breadcrumbs, but have no eggs. Seems I recall milk as a
binder. Would cream work just as well?

nb

Yes you don't need to put the egg in if you are careful to make a dry
meat ball, i prefer a moist meat loaf and will add a cup of stock to a
couple of pounds of meat loaf, but the loaf is baked in a pan, the meat
balls have to be a little drier & firmer to hold their shape while you
pan fry them, wine, soy sauce, stock to moisten and flavour all
according to taste.

Probably no more than a few tablespoons of cream, you can even soak your
bead crumbs in cream or milk or other liquid and squeeze most of the
liquid out and add, or use just enough oat bran, crackers, bread crumbs
or whatever for flavour rather than to extend the meat which is why the
recipes call for them.

Often times meat balls are made with out any extender at all merely
flavoured.

I just happen to like the taste a bit of oats or seasoned bread crumbs
add to the taste.

The simplest way would be to just lightly season the turkey meat balls
and pan fry them. Served as meatballs it would probably be good to try
to get a bit of browning of the outside of the meat ball, crisp it up a
bit, not only will improve flavour but appearance also.

Due to my fondness for the Rodale cook book i often make turkey meat
balls and serve with a yoghurt cucumber dipping sauce.
---
JL

rox formerly rmg said:

"zxcvbob" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

notbob said:

On 2006-01-11, Joseph Littleshoes <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

I don't think yule need a binder with ground turkey. I think the turkey
juice in it will bind it just fine. Tear up some stale bread (not
crumbs), dunk it in beef bouillon, and squeeze it out. Mix into the
turkey with a little pepper and nutmeg and maybe some finely minced
onion and chopped parsley. Or something like that.

Bob

Also, you can bake the meatballs in the oven or even cook them in broth/soup
if you are concerned about them falling apart. I pretty much always bake my
meatballs now, not because I'm anti-frying but because I"m anti-frying
meatballs. :-P

enjoy

I make my meatballs in the oven too. It's completely worry free for me, I bake
them on wire racks and they never fall apart

--
..:Heather:.
www.velvet-c.com
Step off, beyotches, I'm the roflpimp!

rox formerly rmg said:

"zxcvbob" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

notbob said:

On 2006-01-11, Joseph Littleshoes <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

I don't think yule need a binder with ground turkey. I think the turkey
juice in it will bind it just fine. Tear up some stale bread (not
crumbs), dunk it in beef bouillon, and squeeze it out. Mix into the
turkey with a little pepper and nutmeg and maybe some finely minced
onion and chopped parsley. Or something like that.

Bob

Also, you can bake the meatballs in the oven or even cook them in broth/soup
if you are concerned about them falling apart. I pretty much always bake my
meatballs now, not because I'm anti-frying but because I"m anti-frying
meatballs. :-P

I haven't made any meatballs in about a year, but I always bake them in
a really hot oven until they look done on the outside but I know they're
only half-cooked at best on the inside. Then I freeze them. I finish
cooking them later in whatever sauce I'm gonna serve them in.

One could also brown them in the oven while you were preparing the sauce
and then transfer the hot meatballs to the sauce to finish cooking.

Best regards,
Bob