Cheese-Stuffed Chicken Meatballs

Another rapid fire update and a recipe during busy season:

*Prince Coffee is a new coffeeshop in the ‘hood and they make stroopwafels. STROOPWAFELS. Yes.

*Speaking of coffee, our office now has Water Avenue espresso and Stumptown drip coffee. My caffeine intake is at an all-time high.

*Vitamix is sending me a new container. The old one has died after four years of heavy use. That warranty is the best.

*Amazing chicken sandwiches and waffle fries can be had at CHKCHK.

*Tickets to Germany have been purchased. Let the countdown begin. We’re flying in and out of Frankfurt, but have yet to solidify any other plans. If you have any suggestions, I’m all ears.

*Spring appears to be short lived. It’s supposed to be in the 80s next week. WTF.

*Reading for fun again — making my way through the Wildwood series. I really like them.

This recipe is my first of what will probably be a ton over the summer. Tasty by Buzzfeed, if you aren’t familiar, is a video series that breaks down really simple and delicious sounding recipes. Andrew sent me this one and I think we made it same-day. Cheese stuffed meatballs will do that. Stuffing the meatballs are time consuming in the scheme of how long this recipe takes, but it’s worth it. Besides the obvious reasons why one would like a meatball stuffed with cheese, the addition of fennel seeds are key. I can’t get enough of that flavor. Also, using chicken instead of ground beef or pork seemed to make a more sturdy meatball. Less grease. Seriously good stuff. They’re fried to a golden brown before baking the cheese to ooey-gooey perfection.

Inspiration: Tasty by Buzzfeed

Ingredients

• 1lb ground dark meat chicken
• 1/4 cup finely chopped white onion
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley
• 1/2 tablespoon fennel seeds
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• flour for dredging
• 1 container small mozzarella balls [or a big ball chopped into 1/2 inch pieces]
• oil for frying

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 400º. In a large bowl, add the chicken, onion, parmesan, parsley, fennel seeds, garlic, and salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly. Take a golf ball sized scoop of dough and stuff a piece of mozzarella into it. I found it was easier to flatten it out and wrap the meat around it. Once all of the balls are made, set up a station with the whisked egg and a plate full of the breadcrumbs. Roll the balls in the flour, coat the them in the egg mixture and then dredge them in the bread crumbs.

Fill a skillet with 1/4″ of oil. Heat on high. Fry the meatballs on all sides before placing them on a baking sheet. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.