Adapting for a friend: this is yours, Ben

I have written in the past of my very smart, very sweet friend Ben, who just crosses the line of 30 and thus is not subject to the "don't trust anyone under" rule. We don't spend enough time chatting or together, but how many of you can say, honestly "I spend all the time I want with my friends and I don't want anymore?" It's kind of a commentary on how we live that we all seem to "miss" each other somewhat, all the time.

I crave the discussion with Ben about food taboos, and how we got to where we are, cooking and food wise. We both work. We both have lives outside of work, and moments are often "snatched" from something else. Gotta fix that.

So, with Ben on my mind lately, I have been playing with my meatball recipe, for a very simple reason: Ben can't eat my meatballs. They have pork in them, and Ben does not eat pork. And as I've said, a true friend respects that kind of proscription, and moves on.

BUT I WANT BEN TO TASTE MY MEATBALLS!!!! So, with that in mind, I have been playing with a modification, worthy of Ben, that I would be happy with.

Let me say at the start that the obvious, which is taking the pork out and making just beef meatballs, is not an option. I've done that. To me, the resulting meatballs are tough, too chewy, and just not good. The pork is really necessary there. And other combinations of meat add a strong flavor that one may like, and may not. Lamb, for example, makes an excellent meatball. Just ask Persians and Turks. But these are STRONG. So I turned to one of the items that has become a standby in homes across America, ground turkey.

I am not a real fan of ground turkey. To me, in and of itself, it is not that tasty, and because it is so lean, it's hard to cook it so that it's not rubbery, bland, and just plain YUCH. But hey, we're talking BEN here, so something has got to be done. And I did it.

Since the major issue for me with ground turkey is the lack of fat, and hence the lack of ability to carry flavor, I turned to that first. I always put eggs in my meatballs, and egg yolks are rich in fat. So, one more egg into the recipe. (More on fat below). Then, for flavor. Herbs come to mind right away. I use a strong "Italian blend" for my standard meatballs, but this just did not feel right with turkey. A bit of thought turned my mind to stuffings for turkey. Many of them use sage. And for reasons I can't explain, if I were to assign an herb to Ben, sage would be it.

I SAID I CAN'T EXPLAIN, SO DONT ASK. Fresh sage was at the market. So the meatballs were beginning to shape up: turkey, salt, 2 whole eggs , bread crumbs. Fresh sage.

Tomato sauce was out of the question. The inherent strength of the flavor of beef and pork can carry them in tomato sauces. Turkey doesn't have that. And you want to taste something REALLY nasty? Overcook sage in a tomato sauce.

BUT... remember the fat issue? Well, heavy cream comes to the rescue. And to add another layer of flavor, instead of poaching the meatballs in liquid, how about frying them?

FINALLY, at this point we're getting to a dish that is nutritionally atrocious, but has some great flavor. So, let's add some vegetables. Carrots and celery in cream sauce is a combination I've seen before. And there it was.

So, now it's time to construct the dish . Here's how I did it. I had 3 pounds of ground turkey, and I added a big tablespoon of salt to that, the two eggs, about a third of a cup of dry breadcrumbs, and a nice "shot" (about three tablespoons ) of olive oil (I know. YET MORE fat. Trust me. It needs it). Finally, seven or eight leaves of fresh sage got chopped up and tossed into the mix. Then I formed it all into balls. I got just over 60 from this mix, but remember, I make the meatballs small.

And like I said, I fried them. I filled a big skilled with olive oil to about 1/4 inch and when it was hot, I added the meatballs, 20 or so at a time. They browned up much faster than I thought they would, and in less than 5 minutes a batch, they were done. (As I took them out, I drained them on paper towels and replenished the oil). When all of the meatballs were finished, I drained off all but a couple of tablespoons of the oil, and added the vegetables, with a nice pinch of salt. Also two big sprigs of sage. The oil was so hot that the veggies cooked pretty quickly. Then I sprinkled the flour over them and stirred. Some stuck to the bottom of the pan, but that was okay. I wanted the browning.

Ok, brace yourselves, boys and girls. Now, in went the heavy cream. Three cups of it. Yup, you read right: 3 cups. It thickened more than a bit, but not to a viscous mess. When this was done, I dumped the sauce and the meatballs into a big pot (no skillet is big enough to hold 6o meatballs). I stirred gently, so that all of the meatballs were covered with sauce, and cooked for five minutes.

And there it is. This is very similar to other recipes I've seen, but I didn't consult any for this, so I'm treating it as mine. And Ben's. And I hope he likes them.