Sesame Crusted Turkey Meatballs

I recently attended a baby shower where the theme was 'ready to pop' and by pop I mean popcorn! The table was laden with bowl upon bowl of different flavoured popcorn while every other dish was sized down to resemble some form of a pop.

When I first learned of the theme I was so excited by the possibilities, but it soon had me racking my brain trying to come up with a dish that was 1) relatively healthy 2) savory in nature and 3) looked like popcorn. Eventually I hit upon the idea of coating mini turkey meatballs in a sesame seed crust to resemble little popcorn balls. Bloody brilliant was what I thought. That was until I realised no such recipe existed on the internet, at least none that I could find. After a little improvising and trial and error I believe I've finally perfected a recipe that was good enough to serve up at a party and more importantly, good enough to share on this blog. So here you have it- mini thai style turkey meatballs in a sesame seed crust. Enjoy!

 

 

Sesame-crusted Turkey Meatballs

1-1/2lb turkey mince
1/4 cup panko
1 egg
1tbsp ginger minced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 small shallot minced
3 scallions finely chopped
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp chinese cooking wine (optional)
2 cups roasted sesame seeds to coat
Peanut oil for frying
Sweet chili sauce to serve

1. Combine turkey, egg, panko, ginger, garlic, shallot, scallions, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt and cooking wine in a large bowl.
2. Mix with hands till well combined. Microwave a spoonful of mixture to check if more seasoning is required.
3. Shape 1tsp of meat mixture into a ball and place on tray. Repeat.
4. Once you have a full tray of meatballs, generously coat with sesame seeds. Shake tray to coat underside of meatballs.
5. Heat up enough peanut oil in a pan so meatballs are half immersed.
6. Fry meatballs on medium heat for 2 minutes on either side to crisp the sesame seeds.
7. Transfer back to tray and finish cooking in oven at 350F degrees for 5 minutes depending on size of meatballs.
8. Serve with ample sweet chili sauce or another condiment of choice.

*recipe yields roughly 30 mini meatballs

A Very Glittery First Birthday

It's monday and I have the post-party blues. This past weekend my baby girl had her very first birthday party. There was an abundance of pink, glitter, and red balloons. It was everything that a first birthday should be.

When it comes to throwing parties for the girls, I try to play super-mum and make everything myself. After all, hand-made is always better than store-bought, no? Everything that you see in the following pictures were either made by myself or my sister. I must also mention my mum who cooked two tables full of main dishes that I forgot to photograph (oops).

Seeing my two girls eyes light up that morning when they were greeted with hundreds of balloons and all the pretty food and decorations just made my day. It may have been my daughter's birthday but their giant grins were the best present I could ever receive. For anyone keen on planning their own party, full details at the bottom of the page.

 

 

DECORATIONS

- The gold fish scale feature wall was made from circles cut out of tissue paper then layered onto foam board. It may look impressive but it really took no more than three hours to make. 

- Tissue paper pom poms are my go-to party decor. They're inexpensive, easy to make and looks great. Here's a great tutorial.

- The glitter bunting was made with scrapbook paper and ribbons. I lined each flag with doubled sided tape and then applied glitter. The tape ensures a neat and uniform edge.

- For the Happy Birthday garland, I first printed the words on the computer then traced and cut them out of thick stock paper. The rest is pretty straight forward, glue, glitter and string up.

FOOD

- My wonderful sister (baker extraordinaire) kindly offered to bake the birthday cake. The bottom tier is a classic chiffon and cream cake. The chiffon was baked in three layers of different shades creating an ombre effect. The top tier was intended to be a smash cake for the birthday girl. The ruffles along with the cake toppers were all made from fondant. 

- My sister also made the gorgeous macaron cupcakes. Funny story, we actually started off with 150 macarons but after consuming almost the entire batch we had to use the remaining 15 as cupcake toppers. 

- One of my favourite ways to serve strawberries is with a little drizzle of balsamic reduction. You can find the recipe here in a previous blog post. 

- These donut brownies were inspired by a similar milk and cookies display I saw on Pinterest. I used mini donut pans to bake my brownies in but you could easily use a bit of foil for the same effect. 

- Luckily for me, pavlovas are readily available at the supermarket in all shapes and sizes here in Australia. All I needed to do was add a spoonful of double cream and a drizzle of passionfruit syrup. But if you're interested in making your own pav, I have a great recipe here. 

- No-bake cheesecakes are a fast and easy alternative to your regular baked cheesecake. Plus with this method you can go crazy with presentation. The white chocolate shards on the cheesecake have edible glitter and crushed macarons set in them. 

- Store bought shortbread is a lot less fragile than homemade which makes them much better as party food. Here I paired it with David Lebovitz chocolate fudge sauce. See here for a homemade version.

- The quintessential party food, fairy bread. No further explanation necessary.

Friday's Fancies: Party Planning

Party planning is in full force this week. My baby girl officially turned One last week but we decided to postpone her party till this weekend. I've been busy making all the decorations while my sister is baking up a storm and my mother, preparing dishes upon dishes of delicious food. Meanwhile my dad is busy organizing his wine cellar and cleaning up after us. It's all hands on deck in this household. Suffice to say the guests will all be going home bloated and hopefully slightly disgusted of themselves (sign of a good party, right?). I only wish my husband was around for his little girl's first birthday. I guess it's only fair since he had to miss out on her sister's first birthday last year too. Poor hubby, it must be so hard to always miss out on key events. These are the times when Skype just doesn't cut it. But enough about that, here's a sneak peeks of what's in store for her party. More photos to come.

A sneak peek at the dessert table. Note the countless hours spent catching up on my favourite shows while completing that gold fish scale wall. Although tedious, I love the overall effect.

 

A sweet little birthday wreath for my sweet little girl. There was really no design process behind this wreath, it was merely me using up whatever materials I had on hand. Surprisingly it all came together really nicely. Don't you love it when that happens? 

 

Happy first birthday to this little one. 

Stringing up garland with her name and making gold glittered accent letters.

  

150 macaron shells, 10 minutes in the oven, two eager ladies (being my sister + me)... and now only 50 left for the party. Big fat Oops with a capital O. 

Bows, Blooms and Balloons

I still cannot believe my baby girl is turning the big One in two weeks time. Soon I'm going to have two full grown toddlers running around the house, *faints.  I've posted before about throwing a Red Balloon themed party for her. I just love the images a simple red balloon conjures up. A feeling of hope, of love, of childhood and dreams. It's the perfect theme for a first birthday. 

Aside from the red balloon, I'm also picturing lots of ivory, gold and pastels, with a pop of red. Think Marie Antoinette meets shabby chic. Here's a look at what I've got planned for her big day. Most of these images can be found on my Pinterest. Make sure to follow me there if you're anywhere as obsessed with food and party planning as I am. 

 

Party Food

One of the main features of any party is always the food. Here, I am envisioning an opulent dessert table, think Marie Antoinette "Let Them Eat Cake" with decadent cupcakes, pastel macarons, candy covered popcorn and stenciled sugar cookies. As for savory foods I'm leaning towards more casual fair with paper wrapped sandwiches, bite sized appetizers and a fruit and veg buffet. 

Party Decor

If I had to come up with a name to describe my vision for the decor I'd have to call it shabby glam. Although those two words combined seem like a contradiction of each other. I'm feeling inspired by sequin filled glass vases, favors in stamped muslin bags, ombre garlands, chandeliers as cupcake holders, and lots and lots of pastels with gold accents.

Birthday Cake

I love the idea of a smash cake alongside a regular sized cake for guests. We had one when my older child turned one and it was a huge success. I'm really loving all the mini cakes popping up all over Pinterest. Right now I'm leaning towards a pink ombre smash cake with buttercream frosting topped with a gold leaf bow. And for the guest cake, a delicate two tiered white ruffle cake with mini birthday bunting and an asymmetric red felt balloon. 

Birthday Wishes

For the main event I'm thinking of having each guest write a message on a red balloon and then fill it with helium. As soon as my little girl blows out her birthday candle, all the balloons will be released into the air filling the sky with a red cloud of well wishes.  

Red Balloon Inspiration

I cannot believe my baby girl is turning ONE in two month's time! It seemed like only yesterday when I was planning her big sister's first birthday party. Good news is, this year she will get to celebrate her birthday in Australia just like her sister did. To all my Aussie friends reading this, yes you're all invited :)

While scouring Pinterest for inspiration (where else of course) I came across a lot of fantastic party themes and ideas but none of them screamed out to me. What I kept coming back to was the picture of Banksy's girl with the red balloon. That got me thinking, how fantastic would it be to create a birthday party around that piece of graffiti? To my surprise (and slight dismay) there isn't too many red balloon themed parties out there. Here are some pictures I've found that I'm feeling particularly inspired by. Enjoy! xx

via: weheartit.com

To my two girls who may read this one day in the future. Just like Banksy's balloon girl, may hope and love never be too far from your grasp. 

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