Thanksgiving Dinner at the Minnesota State Fair!?! It’s the two best eating events of the year combined! When I was asked to compete in the Twin Cities Live Chef Competition for food on a stick, I knew exactly what I wanted to make.
A couple of years ago, I was sitting poolside with my sister and we were brainstorming what would be the best food on a stick (I know usually the last thing people are thinking about while basking poolside is food on a stick, but hey what can I say, I have an amazing sister). Needless to say, we thought it would be such a great food on a stick at the Minnesota State Fair-turkey, stuffing, green beans, cranberries oh and cheese, how can we forget the cheese! And then serve it with gravy and cranberry sauce! Well I finally had an opportunity to turn our daydream into a reality! This would be a great appetizer and conversation piece at a party or potluck-especially all the football parties coming up. I served mine on lollipop sticks and displayed them in florist foam (sticks and foam are available at any craft store).
Usually when I have a good recipe I can tell because my taste tester can’t get enough. Well the night before the competition he ate about a half dozen and then said to me, “I feel like I just ate Thanksgiving dinner and I need to lie down.” Hmm, well that was a good sign I guess considering I was going for real Thanksgiving flavor! The dish scored a perfect score with Dez from KS95 (she was the judge) which meant I beat out the other chefs in the competition and won the Golden Whisk! The Golden Whisk is literally a painted whisk that is secured to a wooden board and it gets passed on to each winner. It’s such an honor to have won and I have my Golden Whisk proudly displayed on the mantle!
Click here to watch the September 3, 2010 episode of TCL when I made this recipe (link only available for one year)
Ingredients
1 box of Stuffing Mix (6 ounce)
1/4 cup of Butter
1 2/3 cup of Water
1 cup Cheddar Cheese (finely shredded)
2 ½ cups Butterball Deep Fried Turkey Breast, divided (cubed)
1/3 cup Craisins (finely chopped)
3/4 cup Cooked Green Beans (finely chopped)
3 Eggs
2/3 cup of Flour
1 container of French Fried Onions (6 ounce, Cheddar)
Turkey Gravy (for dipping)
Cranberry Sauce (for dipping)
1 Package of Lollipop Sticks
Directions
Preheat oven to 375.
Mix stuffing, butter and water in a covered microwave safe dish. Heat for 5 minutes. Once done heating add cheese, 2 cups of turkey, craisins and green beans. Stir until combined.
Using an ice cream scoop, scoop balls of dough and divide in half, making 52 balls. Place flour on a plate and beat eggs in a bowl. Crush french fried onions and place them on another plate. Roll each ball in flour, dip in eggs and then roll in french fried onions.
Place balls on greased cookie sheet and bake in the oven at 375 for 10 minutes, turning balls after 5 minutes.
To skewer, use remaining ½ cup of turkey. Place a cube of turkey on stick, then the ball and another cube of turkey.
Serve with Turkey Gravy and Cranberry Sauce.
Yum – Go Alice!
I am so prou of you hun!