Christmas Nibbles
I know, I know, I'm quite late with this post, aren't I Dear Readers?
Please accept my apologies, but you see, I was whipped away by my beautiful parents to a few days in the Hunter Valley. Poor me :)
We had such a lovely time hanging out, trying wines, and just relaxing, that the lack of good Internet connection wasn't really as big a deal as it would otherwise have been, so if I haven't been visiting your blogs lately, I haven't stopped loving you, I just couldn't get onto you.
I promise I'll make up for my tardy behaviour with a post on a great organic vineyard soon, OK?
Anyway....
I'm not too fond of raw onion. One of my shoulder-shudder meals is when I get offered rissoles/hamburgers with chunks of uncooked onion in them. The meat may be lovely and moist, light and delicious, but the raw acidity of the onion overpowers it all, and gives me indigestion for hours, Yuck!
This of course, could be overcome by cooking out the onion and garlic first, but most folks are in a hurry, and in a commercial kitchen time is of the essence as well.
This is the time of year of School Formals (Proms), Office Christmas Parties, Cocktail Parties and sometimes all in the one night. This is also when I break out my secret ingredient for adding flavour without risking horrible raw tasting bits, and shaving many precious minutes of prep time..... Powdered Herbs.
You don't need to tell me that fresh is best- I'm already there people, but just sometimes these can be a clever chefs best friend, and if they're good quality they taste really good too.
Being Christmas and all, I just had to make one of my favourite seasonal recipes using the classics of Turkey and Cranberries. A perfect match. Make these tiny and bite sized, add a cocktail stick, and you have perfect nibbles to have with drinks, or make them larger for a Christmas Burger beyond compare!
Turkey and Cranberry Meatballs
500g Turkey Mince
2/3 cup dried Cranberries
1/4 cup gluten free flour
1/3 cup chopped fresh Sage
1 egg
1 Tab. Cranberry Sauce
1 Tab. Onion Powder
1 Tab. Celery Salt
2 tsp. Garlic Powder
Cranberry Port Sauce
1/2 cup Cranberry Sauce
1/2 cup Red Wine
1/4 cup Port
Finely chop the sage, and roughly chop the cranberries
Combine all ingredients in a bowl, and mix thoroughly with your hands for the best result
Form into little balls with wet hands to stop the mix sticking all over you
Place on a lined baking tray and pop into a preheated 180* oven for just 15 minutes, but check after 10 minutes in case yours are smaller than mine
Meanwhile, bring all the sauce ingredients to the boil, stir and simmer for a few minutes until it is glossy and just slightly reduced
Serve the Turkey Cranberry Meatballs with Cranberry Port Sauce and cocktail sticks to avoid messy fingers. Yumm...
So Dear Readers, do you like raw onion, or do you prefer yours cooked?
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