It has been a weird last few weeks, to say the least. Between trying to wrap my head around the idea of a pandemic and what that even means, to breaking my grocery store habits of reading the ingredient labels (which by the way was just now becoming a habit!), to coming to grips with how lonely this “social distancing” thing can be, all I can say is it has been a weird few weeks. I haven’t really even started to process what all this means, how it will potential impact my life or that of my family, friends and community in the next days, weeks, or months, and I don’t have any innovative ideas or inspiring thoughts to share with everyone. All I have to offer are simple things like this recipe.
One thing I do know is on the horizon is the Utah Wild Turkey season. It starts May 4th and runs through the end of the month. I already bought a tag and am hungrily anticipating opening day. In taking an optimistic view of the upcoming season, I decided I had better prepare my final turkey breast from last season in order to make room in the freezer for my new harvest (fingers crossed).
I am a huge fan of a wing night with friends. I like visiting my favorite local pub, gathering my best buddies after a long day of work on a Wednesday, ordering a few pitchers of my favorite craft beer and a couple rounds of buffalo wings, and just sharing and being! It is something that I have missed tremendously during this entire awkward time.
While I can’t stop in the pub and order wings right now, I can bring the experience to my own home. This Wild Turkey Buffalo Balls recipe is a twist on Buffalo Chicken Wings, and I have to say, it fits the bill perfectly. So, let’s get started!
Start with your wild turkey breast, cleaning off any large fibrous pieces that may be running through the breast, and cut it into large chunks. Run the pieces through a grinder (I like this simple meat grinder I bought from Cabelas) using a 7mm plate. One large tom provides between a pound to a pound and a half of meat.
Preheat the oven to 350 F and cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil. I like to use the foil for easy clean-up when the meal is finished, but you don’t have to do this step.
In a large bowl, add the ground wild turkey. To that add a quarter cup of some type of flour. You can go with whatever you have on hand in this situation, you are just looking for something to create some stability to your meatballs. I used almond flour this time around, and I really liked the texture it added. You could also use regular flour, coconut, panko, or bread crumbs. Start with a quarter of a cup. If your turkey meat is watery, you may need to add a bit more to firm the mixture up enough to roll into balls. Add additional flour a tablespoon at a time.
Also, to the bowl, add two ounces of cream cheese. I had never thought to do this before, but cream cheese really helps create a nice consistency of the meat mixture for these turkey meatballs. It also added a little bit of creamy tang to the finished product.
Finally, add a quarter cup of crumbled blue cheese (the stinkier the better!), 2-3 stalks of finely chopped celery, three tablespoons chopped green onion, salt and pepper, and one egg. Use your hands to really get in there and mix stuff up!
I like to use an ice cream scoop to make my meatballs. In order for all the meatballs to cook evenly, you want their size to be as uniform as possible. Using an ice cream scoop helps keep things consistent. This recipe should yield between 20-24 meatballs.
Cook in the oven for ten minutes.
While the meatballs are cooking, in a small sauce pan, heat a quarter cup of unsalted butter with a cup of hot wing sauce. I usually go with Frank’s Red Hot Buffalo Wing Sauce, but I also really like Texas Pete’s Wing Sauce.
Once the meatballs are finished baking, I like to brush some of the wing sauce and butter combination over the meatballs. I return them to the oven and let them cook under the broiler for three or four minutes. The wing sauce creates a sticky, tasty glaze over the meatballs!
To plate up your Wild Turkey Buffalo Balls, put them in a large bowl, pour all the wing sauce over the top, drizzle with blue cheese or ranch dressing, and garnish with extra crumbled blue cheese bites and green onion. Serve with a side of celery and carrots, wing style!
These Wild Turkey Buffalo Balls are great on their own, dunked in blue cheese dressing and served with a cold craft beer, but they also make an amazing sub sandwich! Serve the meatballs on a toasted hoagie bun with lettuce, tomatoes, extra dressing and blue cheese!
Happy Hunting!
Wild Turkey Buffalo Balls
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1/4 cup flour (almond, coconut, good old regular)
- 2 ounces cream cheese
- 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
- 2-3 stalks celery, chopped
- 3 tablespoons green onion, diced
- 1 egg
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup buffalo wing sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- In a large bowl, add pound of ground turkey.
- Add flour, cream cheese, and egg. Mix with your hands to make sure the consistency is correct. If too wet, add another tablespoon of flour. If too dry, add more cream cheese.
- Once consistency is where you like it, add diced celery, green onions, and blue cheese. Salt and pepper.
- Using an ice cream scoop, create tablespoon size meatballs and place on baking sheet. I like to line with aluminum foil for easy clean up.
- Bake in oven for 15 minutes.
- While meatballs are baking, in a sauce pan over medium heat melt the unsalted butter. Mix in the wing sauce.
- Once the meatballs are baked, pull from the oven and brush on the hot wing glaze. Place under the broiler for two to three minutes, just long enough for the glaze to get sticky!
- Dress with additional hot wing sauce and serve with a side of ranch dressing, carrot sticks, and celery!
- Enjoy
