Bento Balls (aka French Hamburgers)

Total Time: 1 hr 10 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 50 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 1 cup fine dry breadcrumb
• 1 cup havarti with dill (grated)
• 3 tablespoons prepared horseradish
• 3 tablespoons dried onion
• 1 teaspoon salt (or salt-spice mix of your choice, we prefer a creole seasoning)
• 1/2 cup cottage cheese (or 1/4 cup dairy of some sort)
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 lbs ground turkey
• 1/2 cup butter (melted)
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 -2 tablespoon soy sauce

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a baking sheet by lining with parchment or foil.
• 2 lightly coat the parchment or foil with cooking spray.
• 3 mix the bread crumbs, havarti, horseradish, dried onion, salt (or spice-salt mix), cottage cheese, and egg together in a large bowl. (please note that the horseradish should be prepared, i.e., the creamy kind that is mixed with mayonnaise. we use the beaver brand.).
• 4 allow to stand for 5 minutes to soften the bread crumbs.
• 5 mix in the ground turkey.
• 6 the meat mixture will be very soft.
• 7 form the meat into balls that will fit into your bento box(or on your plate).
• 8 flatten slightly so that the meat is formed into shapes resembling patties.
• 9 place in the oven to bake for 20 minutes.
• 10 meanwhile, make the basting sauce by combining the melted butter, ketchup, and soy sauce.
• 11 carefully turn the patties over and put them back in the oven until 20 minutes before the meat is cooked through.
• 12 **********.
• 13 the time to finish cooking will depend on how large you made your patties.
• 14 i use a meat thermometer to check for doneness.
• 15 **********.
• 16 approximately 20 minutes before the meat cooks through, baste one side of the meat with the sauce, returning to the oven for 10 minutes.
• 17 turn and baste the other side and return to the oven for the remaining 10 minutes.
• 18 let cool, add to your bento box, and have a great day hiking.