Koenigsberger Klopse (Prussian Meatballs)
Not typically made with ground turkey, but when doing a search for “ground turkey uses”, someone on one of the places I visited said how good ground turkey was in Koenigsberger Klopse, so I went for it. I did a quick Google search to see what they were talking about and found three recipes I liked the looks of… or I guess I should say I liked parts of all three. Combining them would allow for some of the ingredients I was missing, though I did have to substitute a few items anyway. And I'll probably still sub the oregano and basil for the parsley called for in the original recipes.
To see the recipes I looked at you can visit these sites.
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1826,14 ... 06,00.html
http://www.nibbledish.com/people/dosdne ... -meatballs
[URL="http://www.europeancuisines.com/Germany-German-Königsberger-Klopse-Piquant-Meatballs-in-Cream-Sauce-Königsberg-Style-Recipe"]http://www.europeancuisines.com/Germany-German-Königsberger-Klopse-Piquant-Meatballs-in-Cream-Sauce-Königsberg-Style-Recipe[/URL]
And this is what I did.
Ingredients
Meatballs
1 lb of ground turkey
1 roll sized piece of stale French bread, crushed into crumbs
4 TBS (approx) of milk
4 filets anchovies, diced
1 small onion, diced
1-1/2 TBS butter
2 strips bacon, diced
1 TBS of dry basil
1-1/2 TBS of fresh oregano, chopped
2 eggs
1 tsp lemon pepper
½ tsp salt
½ tsp nutmeg
Cooking Broth
8 cups water
1-1/4 cups chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1 small onion, peeled
2 cloves
10 peppercorns
Gravy
4 TBS butter
4 TBS flour
2 cups cooking broth, divided
2 TBS lemon juice
2 TBS sour cream
1-1/2 TBS capers
1 egg yolk
Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
Start boiling the cooking broth liquids and ingredients (pierce the onion with the cloves) in a stockpot
For the meatballs
Lightly sauté onion in butter
After soaking and mixing the bread crumbs in the milk, mix in other ingredients, including the onion and butter
Form into 2” balls (they were very moist) and add to cooking broth, keeping broth at a simmer
After poaching the meatballs for 20 minutes, check internal temp. They should all be floating. My temp read 190F
Reserve meatballs to a tightly covered dish. Covering prevents them from darkening
And the gravy
Make a light roux with the flour and butter
Add 1-3/4 cups cooking broth and thicken
Whisk the egg yolk with ¼ cup of cooking broth
Stir in lemon juice, capers, yolk mixture and simmer
Salt and pepper to taste
Stir in sour cream and add meatballs to warm back up
Very flavorful. And in spite of the meatballs reading 190, they were very moist. No doubt from the butter added with the sauted onions.
Not typically made with ground turkey, but when doing a search for “ground turkey uses”, someone on one of the places I visited said how good ground turkey was in Koenigsberger Klopse, so I went for it. I did a quick Google search to see what they were talking about and found three recipes I liked the looks of… or I guess I should say I liked parts of all three. Combining them would allow for some of the ingredients I was missing, though I did have to substitute a few items anyway. And I'll probably still sub the oregano and basil for the parsley called for in the original recipes.
To see the recipes I looked at you can visit these sites.
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1826,14 ... 06,00.html
http://www.nibbledish.com/people/dosdne ... -meatballs
[URL="http://www.europeancuisines.com/Germany-German-Königsberger-Klopse-Piquant-Meatballs-in-Cream-Sauce-Königsberg-Style-Recipe"]http://www.europeancuisines.com/Germany-German-Königsberger-Klopse-Piquant-Meatballs-in-Cream-Sauce-Königsberg-Style-Recipe[/URL]
And this is what I did.
Ingredients
Meatballs
1 lb of ground turkey
1 roll sized piece of stale French bread, crushed into crumbs
4 TBS (approx) of milk
4 filets anchovies, diced
1 small onion, diced
1-1/2 TBS butter
2 strips bacon, diced
1 TBS of dry basil
1-1/2 TBS of fresh oregano, chopped
2 eggs
1 tsp lemon pepper
½ tsp salt
½ tsp nutmeg
Cooking Broth
8 cups water
1-1/4 cups chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1 small onion, peeled
2 cloves
10 peppercorns
Gravy
4 TBS butter
4 TBS flour
2 cups cooking broth, divided
2 TBS lemon juice
2 TBS sour cream
1-1/2 TBS capers
1 egg yolk
Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
Start boiling the cooking broth liquids and ingredients (pierce the onion with the cloves) in a stockpot
For the meatballs
Lightly sauté onion in butter
After soaking and mixing the bread crumbs in the milk, mix in other ingredients, including the onion and butter
Form into 2” balls (they were very moist) and add to cooking broth, keeping broth at a simmer
After poaching the meatballs for 20 minutes, check internal temp. They should all be floating. My temp read 190F
Reserve meatballs to a tightly covered dish. Covering prevents them from darkening
And the gravy
Make a light roux with the flour and butter
Add 1-3/4 cups cooking broth and thicken
Whisk the egg yolk with ¼ cup of cooking broth
Stir in lemon juice, capers, yolk mixture and simmer
Salt and pepper to taste
Stir in sour cream and add meatballs to warm back up
Very flavorful. And in spite of the meatballs reading 190, they were very moist. No doubt from the butter added with the sauted onions.
