Game time treat!

            Occasionally a reader will send a recipe that sounds really good, and I almost always give it a try so I can share it with you.  A few months ago one of those readers, Mark Tygesson, sent one that sounded way too easy.  Of course I tried it at home. I served it first as a dinner entrée, with mashed potatoes and broccoli.

               We loved it, but I thought it would a great dish for a bigger group, served a little more casually. So last weekend when it was time to watch March Madness, I made it for the soon-to-be disappointed fans of various teams who watched some of the games with us.

                It was so popular that I’m pretty sure it will be on several other tables for the Final Four this weekend.  Perhaps you’d like to have it on yours too. It has the advantage of being extremely easy, extremely tasty, and adaptable to several ways of serving.

                Turkey wings are available in most local supermarkets, but are not always with the rest of the turkey parts. Ask at the butcher counter if you can’t find them. Turkey wings are REALLY big, so one will serve two generously, and maybe even three.  Just the drumette part of each one we’ve gotten was way bigger than a regular chicken drumstick.

                You can, of course, serve it as we did the first time, as a dinner main dish.  Last weekend we served the segments with broccoli cole slaw, chipotle baked beans and corn bread. The leftovers made a tasty pulled turkey sandwich the next day, and would be another very good way to serve first time around.

                I served the flavorful juices from the pan as a sort of au jus sauce, as well as with bottled BBQ sauce.  I mixed half each mustard BBQ and regular BBQ sauce and it was the perfect complement.  However you choose to present it, I’m pretty sure your friends will enjoy it as much as ours did.

 NOTE:  Since in Memphis pretty much our only chance for supermarket shopping is Kroger, and they don't stock nearly the variety of products that sadly departed Schnucks did, there seems to be a problem finding the Wham seasoning.  You can order it on the Willingham website if you can't find it in your local supermarket. Add on note: there was a comment added to this post that SuperLo has the Wham seasoning.

MARK'S WHAM TURKEY WINGS

3 or 4 turkey wings (or however many will fit into your crock pot)

Willingham’s Wham Seasoning

4 to 6 peeled garlic cloves per wing

                Rinse the turkey wings and sprinkle very generously on all sides with the Wham seasoning. Cover and refrigerate at least overnight.  When ready to cook, place in a crock pot and sprinkle the garlic cloves around them. No added liquid! Cook on low for six hours.  .

                They are delicious as they come out, but I like a little crisper skin, so I put them on a baking sheet. and run under the broiler for a few minutes. Cut each wing into three segments and serve with the garlic cloves and pan juices.

NOTES:  1) Mark emphasized that it must be the “real” Wham seasoning.  I used the mild variety, but there’s a  hot one too.  You may use that one if you’re into spicy food.   2) He adds a bag of frozen Italian beans about a half hour before the wings are done.  I haven’t tried that but it sounds good, so I will next time.

Curried Turkey Meatballs

 

I have a friend who is obliged for medical reasons to cut way down on fat intake. Trying to come up with something that would be very flavorful, but still low-fat, I happened across a curry recipe in the Sunday New York Times Magazine on April 15. The recipe as printed was for curried oysters, which didn’t ring my chimes, but the sauce sounded good and, even better, easy. I did make a few changes to suit my taste and what I had on hand.

I thought I might do it with chicken breasts, which I still think would be good, but at the meat department, right beside the chicken, was ground turkey. It comes in both white meat and mixed white and dark. I figured the white meat would be much lower in fat, so that’s what I used. I echoed some of the seasonings I used in the sauce to make turkey meatballs. To keep the fat low, I used only the white of the egg, and baked the meatballs instead of frying them.

We had it over steamed jasmine rice, with a green salad, and everyone went home happy!

Meatballs:

1 egg white, lightly beaten
1/2 cup green onion, with 2” of the tops, minced
1 tablespoon minced cilantro
1/2 cup soft breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 lb ground turkey breast

Sauce:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup onion, finely minced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 serrano pepper, seeded and minced (See note)
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and diced
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 pinch ground cloves
1 pinch ground cinnamon
1 bay leaf
1 can (14 oz) light coconut milk
1/2 to 1 cup chicken stock
Juice and zest of one lime
1/4 cup cilantro, minced

Make the meatballs: Preheat oven to 350 o. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Form into 12 meatballs. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and arrange the meatballs in it. Bake until done through, about 1/2 hour.

Make the sauce: In a Dutch oven, over medium heat, melt the butter. Sauté the onion, garlic and serrano pepper until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the apple cubes, curry powder, ginger, cloves, cinnamon and bay leaf and stir a few times. Add the coconut milk and 1/2 cup stock.

Bring to a simmer and add the meatballs. Simmer for about 10 minutes, adding more stock to bring the sauce to your desired thickness. Add the lime zest and juice and simmer briefly. Serve over rice, sprinkled with cilantro. Serves 4.

NOTE: Leaving the pepper seeds in makes for a hotter curry. If you like, you may omit the pepper completely; it will still be quite tasty.