~Couture Unraveled~: Turkey meatballs and gravy

I LOVE me a good Turkey Dinner...and I LOVE me some meatballs!!

So anytime you can make a meatball that tastes like a Turkey dinner in a ball

I'm game!

~~~~~~~~~

Here's how it all began...

Once upon a time....

Just Kidding!

Seriously now...

My sister was on the Weight Watchers plan and one of the meats that is low in fat and calories is ground Turkey...so she experimented and made Turkey meatballs in a muffin tin...

although they were still good...they were a little dry.

So I took what she did and changed it up a bit

(I'm not on the Weight Watchers plan...so this recipe is a little less...OK...ALOT less"healthy" than hers was!) To make it more healthy...omit the frying part and JUST bake them...also omit the cream gravy part!)

Ingredients:

2~1.25lb packages ground turkey

1 box stuffing mix (we use stove top)

4T. mayonnaise (I actually did like 2 heaping T.'s)

2 eggs

salt and pepper to taste

Put all ingredients except stuffing mix into the bowl and mix it up a bit

(I used my hands and they FROZE! a spoon works OK too)

add the box of stuffing mix

(if you are halving this recipe...only use 1/2 the package or less)

and dare to get dirty!! Your hands!

Dig in and mix it all together...Yes!

ewww...

how could something that looks THIS gross turn into something so YUMMY?!

LOL!

Put enough oil to cover the bottom of your skillet and turn the burner onto medium to medium high heat.

Let it warm up a bit before adding any meatballs.

OK...now start making your meatballs...the size is totally up to you...I made mine by putting a glob into the palm of my curved hand! A cookie scoop would probably work good too!!

Now add them to the heated oil

let them cook for about 5 min. or so...on the one side than flip them over and let them brown on the other side

they should look something like this.

Keep flipping until pretty much all the sides are browned.

(they do not get cooked through at this point...we are just trying to brown them.)

Once you are done with the browning..put them into a baking dish *they don't have to be a single layer*

*IMPORTANT*

If you plan to make the gravy...do NOT scrape out the skillet...and just set it off to the side...mine had no "oil" left behind...if yours has quite a bit of oil left behind...go ahead and drain that...just don't scrape the pan all out or rinse it out..very bad...very very bad!hehe!

So...are you starting to drool yet?!

I know I am!

OK....next

add water to the bottom of the baking dish...about 1 inch of water

*Don't skip this part...we will be using the water later...and it adds steam while baking so it helps prevent drying out!*

cover the pan with tinfoil and place it into a preheated oven set at 350*

this will bake for 45 min.- 1 hour! Depends on how soon you ~~need~~ want to eat!

Once the meatballs have cooked for the about 40 min. - 50 min. start the gravy....

I like to make a cream gravy for this...but If you by chance have some turkey gravy that you love....you can definitely use that and skip this part!

Grab the skillet you fried the meatballs in....you know...the one I told you to put aside and NOT scrape out!!

Yep...that one!

Put it back on the burner cuz we're gonna make a roux!!YAHOO!

add about 4 T. of butter or margarine into the skillet and add 1/4C. flour to it melt them together over a medium heat...I so forgot to take a pic of this...sorry!

It should be a semi thick paste.

Next add some milk...my rule of thumb is this...you just dump milk into the skillet till you have your desired amount of "gravy"

Cook the milk and the roux together over a medium high heat until it starts to boil. At this point it will start to thicken. then turn the heat down to a medium heat.

add some salt and pepper and all the chicken bouillon cubes. Cook until bouillon cubes dissolve.

Now take out the meatballs and fold back one corner of the tinfoil and dump(or you can use a turkey baster)the juice into the gravy...THIS is most of your flavor! Uncover the meatballs turn your oven off and put your meatballs BACK into the oven...this gets rid of any "juice" left behind and keeps the meatballs warm while you finish up the gravy!

Now just mix it up! The rest is a matter of taste and add...

taste it...does it need anything?!

salt? pepper?

I have a couple gravy tricks to share with you:

1. if you "accidentally" over salt your gravy...add a little sugar...it counteracts the salt...

tried,tested & proven to be true! ;)

2. If you "accidentally" burn the gravy a little...add a teaspoon(at a time)of peanut butter until you no longer have the "burnt" taste!!

tried,tested & proven to be true

by yours truly!!LOL!

Now...serve yourself up a plate of Deliciousness....

Oh! MAN!!! YUM!!! YUM!!! YUM!!!!

and did I mention

YUM!!!!

I do hope you enjoy this meal! and if you EVER try it...PLEASE come back and tell me what you think of it!!

I will leave you all with a picture of My husbands plate:

(He made me do it!hehe)

First...I must tell you...the night I made these turkey balls...my Husband and my Dad were cooking up the pheasant my Husband hunted...My Mom and I are just.Not.That. Into pheasant...so WE ate the turkey balls...OK..here's the pic: