Don’t laugh….OK you can laugh……I tried to make ground turkey balls taste like corned beef and I thought that would be great for a party in meatball sized cabbage balls. I used the spices that I guessed would be good for corned beef but my fatal errors were not using Prague powder (stuff that turns beef pink) and also maybe not using beef. ANYWAYS they came out fragrant and tasty but didn’t taste like corned beef. I made a spice blend and used 1/2 in the meatballs and 1/2 all over the cabbage to flavor it. This recipe takes two days to prepare so the cabbage can stay wrapped on the meatballs.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

1 cabbage

1 quart stock or soup base (vegetable, chicken, or beef)

1 lb ground turkey (I used 99% lean)

2 eggs – beaten

1/2 cup panko

1 Tablespoon (heaping) Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Soup Base reduced salt

1/2 cup already cooked peppers and onions chopped

4 garlic cloves – ground to paste

1/4 cup dark brown sugar – SPICE BLEND

1 + 1/2 teaspoons sea salt – SPICE BLEND

1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper – SPICE BLEND

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon – SPICE BLEND

1/2 teaspoon ground mustard – SPICE BLEND

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves – SPICE BLEND

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice – SPICE BLEND

6 juniper berries – ground to powder – SPICE BLEND

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger – SPICE BLEND

1/2 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning – SPICE BLEND

Directions

Day One – Either boil or roast the cabbage till soft. Let cool on a counter.

Mix up spice blend. (brown sugar, salt, pepper, cinnamon, mustard, cloves, allspice, juniper berries, ginger, and Old Bay Seasoning. Split this in half. Half of the spice blend goes in a large that you will mix the meatball mix in.

In a large mixing bowl with 1/2 the spice mix add the ground turkey, eggs, panko, garlic, pepper & onions, and mix well.

Assemble

When the cabbage is cool remove one leaf at a time from the core and remove only the very thick veins of the cabbage. Scoop a meatball into the cabbage leaf.

Place this on plastic wrap and twist it into a ball shape.

Repeat till done.

These NEED to sit on the refrigerator over night.

Next day

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Remove plastic wrap from meatballs.

Spread out the meatballs for cooking.

Sprinkle remaining spice blend all over.

Cook till well done about 20 minutes give or take.

ENJOY!!!