Chicken Balls (Ebelskivers)

For about a year, my 4-year-old had been wanting chicken balls for dinner. She created this idea that you could form chicken into balls and dip them in "white ketchup." For a while, every time we went out to eat she asked me if they could make chicken balls for her. Finally, I found a recipe for chicken meat balls. She told me that she liked them, but I could tell she wasn't truly satisfied. Then I got an email from my sister-in-law with this recipe for Chicken Ebelskivers with a buttermilk dipping sauce. I made them for dinner and my kids LOVED them!! The next day, my 4-year-old asked me when we were going to have chicken balls for dinner again. You may be asking, "What are ebelskivers?" They are these fun spherical Danish pancakes. You have to have an ebelskiver pan to make them. I have the Williams Sonoma nonstick pan and I love it. Ebilskivers were already a breakfast favorite around here and now they are a dinner favorite too!


Chicken Bites (Ebelskivers)

2 cups all-purpose flour (I used half whole wheat)
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
4 large eggs, separated
2 cups whole milk (I used 1 ½ cups skim milk + ½ cup nonfat plain yogurt)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
8 ounces chopped, cooked chicken breast meat
5 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley (or 5 tsp dried)
1 shallot, finely chopped
Buttermilk Dressing

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper. In a small bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks, then whisk in the milk and 2 tablespoons of the melted butter. Add the yolk mixture to the flour mixture and , using a wooden spoon, stir until well blended. The batter will be lumpy.

In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff, but not dry, peaks form. Fold about one-third of the egg whites into the batter to lighten it, then fold in the rest just until no white streaks remain. Gently fold in the chicken, parsley, and shallot, taking care not to deflate the mixture.

Brush the wells of the ebelskiver pan with some of the remaining melted butter and place over medium heat. When the butter starts to bubble, add about 2 tablespoons of the batter to each well.

Cook until the bottoms of the pancakes are lightly browned and crisp, 3-5 minutes. Use 2 short wooden skewers to turn all the pancakes and cook until lightly browned on the other side, about 3 minutes longer.

Transfer the finished pancakes to a platter and keep warm in 200 degree oven while you repeat to cook more batches. Serve right away with the buttermilk dressing for dipping.

Buttermilk Dressing
3/4 cup mayonnaise (I substituted some of the mayonnaise with nonfat plain yogurt)
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 ½ tablespoons chopped Italian parsley (or 2 1/2 tsp dried)
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon dried minced onion
salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

In a bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, buttermilk, parsley, cheese, and dried onion until blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 8 hours, to blend the flavors.
Makes about 1 cup