Thanksgiving Balls
Thanksgiving Balls
(Serves 4)


Frozen Center Mixture
4 pack 2 inch ice molds
4 oz cranberry sauce, for the first 4
4 oz turkey or beef gravy, for the second 4

Turkey Mixture
1 lb ground turkey
⅓ cup Italian Breadcrumbs
1 medium egg
¾ tsp thyme
1½ tsp salt
¼ tsp sage
¼ cayenne pepper
¼ white pepper

Stuffing Layer 1 box of Stove Top Stuffing (Turkey Flavor)
(Requires 4 tblsp butter and 1½ cups water)

Mashed Potatoes
2 russet potatoes, peeled, cut into even chunks
4 tblsp sweet butter
⅓ cup whole milk
2-3 tsp salt, to taste
¼ tsp white pepper

½ cup Italian breadcrumbs for coating the balls before frying


NOTES: These can be baked, after rolling them in the breadcrumbs, spritz with spray release or olive oil and bake for 12-15 miniutes at 400°F. And the frozen center, you can freeze the bottom half first of gravy, then after 2 hours open and fill the rest of the way with cranberry sauce, then you will have a split center! make an exact amount, you need aproximately &frac14 lb turkey for every extra ball you want. I suppose if you used the jelled cranberry sauce in a can you can simply cut out a 2x2 inch square and put that on top before rolling into a ball. Also the longer they remain in the refridgerator the more likely the bottom will get wet and the ball will leak a bit. So its best to time the dethawing of the center right before cooking. I had a few and let one sit a day and another sit two days, they both leaked but held together and ultimately fried perfectly.

 

Place the gravy, once it has cooled down into the mold, up to the fill line only! Place the top of the mold on and gently push the top into the mold, hopefully very little will leak out the top hole, which allows the mold to be full but not too full! Fill the other molds with gravy and then 2 of them with cranberry sauce. (or just do one or the other depending on your likes! Place in the freezer until solid, at least 2 hours depending on your freezer. It easiest to make these a day in advance and use them once you have all the layers cooked and cooled (except for the turkey of course).

Divide the turkey mixture into 4 balls. place a piece of plastic wrap down for each of the balls, or you can get one larger piece of plastic wrap and when its time to roll them, cut into four sections with a strait knife. Now for each of the turkey mixture balls get anothe top peice of plastice wrap a place on top of each ball, centering the balls between the plastic wrap, with a rolling pin, flatten the balls into a circle ¼ inch deep. Once all four are flattened remove and discard the top plastic wrap, leaving the bottom plastic wrap in place.

Turkey before rolling

Place a couple tablespoons of stuffing on top of each flat turkey patty right in the center and gingerly spreadit into a circle being careful not to flatten the already flattened turkey patty. make sure to leave some turkey showing on the edges of each patty.

Now do the same with the mashed potatoes, place 2 tablespoons worth on top of the stuffing and spread out but not to the edges.

pop the frozen gravy and/cranberry sauce out of their molds (remove the top and use a butter knife to pop it out). Place in the very center of each turkey patty into the mashed potatoes, press it in lightly.

Now using the plastic roll the edges as close together as you can and slip your whole hand under the turkey, we are now leaving the bottom plastic wrap behind as we finish cupping the ball in one hand and using our other hand to crimp together the turkey edges, once crimped together you can kind of roll the ball in your hands to some out and make round. But be sure the turkey has held together beacause once this goes in to cook the center will have gone from frozen to melted. So now they are held together and are round, you can roll them in the Italian breadcrumbs to get an even coat, then cover and put in the fridge to firm up the outside and let the center melt. I left mine in the fridge over night in tupperware. But leave in the fridge for 3-4 hours at least.

Turkey after rolling

I used a deep sauce pot to fry these in. Add ½ vegetable oil to a deep fry pan or sauce pan and put on medium low until it hits 350°F. Fry the giant turkey ball for a total of 8-10 minutes, let it fry for 1 minute at a time until all sections are golden brown, then keep the ball moving for the last three minutes to maintain an even brown coating

You can present these on a giant platter for a guest to grab or what I did was, add a dollap or 2 of cranberry sauce in the center of the plate and place the ball on top, I finished mine off with a sprinkle of basil. You can always swap out the dollap of cranberry with: gravy, mashed potaoes, rice, cheese sauce, what ever hits your fancy!