My Basic Meatball Recipe and Sweet and Sour Sauce

I have to be honest, I loathe rolling meatballs.  It takes forever and I have to scream at the top of my lungs to get someone to help me turn on the faucet when it’s time to wash my hands.  And don’t think about adjusting the volume on the TV or answering your phone, once you dive in with both hands, you’re committed.  Barring a fire, flood or injured child,  you’re not touching anything until you’re done rolling.   But, the end result is worth the hassle. 

 I like to grate veggies into mine for a couple reasons. #1) kids dig meatballs, even with grated veggies. Tricky right?  #2) Moisture digs veggies. And that means your meatballs with be moist. 

Once you’ve baked these off, the possibilities are endless.  You can make a sweet and sour sauce, as I’ve done in the picture here.  You can add them to marinara for spaghetti and meatballs or make meatball subs.  You can make Swedish meatballs, cheese stuffed meatballs, spicy meatballs, meatball soup, meat kabobs. Ok I’m kidding about that, but how could I let this moment slip by without a Forrest Gump reference?   You get the picture. 

Ingredients:

1 ½ lbs ground sirloin (or whatever happens to be on sale)

1 lb ground pork

1 medium zucchini grated

½ medium onion grated

½ bell pepper grated

Pinch crush red pepper

1 package Sazon seasoning

Salt and pepper

1 tbs onion powder

1 tbs garlic powder

1 egg

¼ cup breadcrumbs.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Call your assistant to be ready to help you wash your hands.  Mix all of these ingredients in a bowl until blended, but please don’t over mix your meat.  Form into balls, I usually make them a tad smaller than golf balls.  Place on prepared cookie sheet, lined with foil or parchment paper.  Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

From here you can add to your favorite sauce**sweet and sour sauce below**, or allow to cool and freeze or refrigerate.

Sweet and Sour Sauce:
1/2 bottle grape jelly
1 bottle chili sauce
1 small can crushed pineapple with juice
Sriracha to taste
1-2Tbs apple cider vinegar
1 Tbs agave syrup
Salt and pepper


Mix all ingredients in a pan over medium heat.  Add meatballs and allow the heat through.  You can add raw meatballs and above ingredients to a slow cooker to keep warm.
Serve over Jasmine rice and garnish with scallions....mmmmmm!!!!

Meat and Potato Poppers

I really do have a love affair with slow roasted meats.  Tender fall of the bone meat is my comfort food.  I recently entered a recipe contest and the ingredient was short ribs.  I looked over all of the other recipes and they looked amazing.  I created this as a way to use any leftovers you might have.  But, the recipe for the ribs are included.  It seems like a lot of work, but you have plenty of time to get everything together while the ribs are in the oven. This would be a great recipe to jazz up a super bowl party.  It's like a two bite dinner and you don't need utensils!! 

Ingredients for ribs, pickled onions and potatoes:

• 2 pounds Short Ribs
• 2 tablespoons Canola oil
• 1 teaspoon Both salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup Yellow Onion Chopped
• 1 tablespoon Chopped Garlic
• 1 tablespoon Tomato Paste
• 1/2 cup Red Wine
• 1/2 cup Water
• 2 pieces Bay Leaf
• 2 sprigs Thyme
• 2 pounds bite size Yukon gold potatoes
• 2 cups Thinly sliced red onions
• 1 cup White Vinegar
• 1/2 cup Red Wine Vinegar
• 3/4 cups Sugar
• 5 pieces Whole Cloves
• 6 tablespoons Crumbled Gorgonzola Cheese
• 1/4 cup Sour Cream

Cooking instructions :

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil in large, heavy bottom pot with tight fitting lid. Meanwhile, pat the ribs dry and season with salt and pepper
2. Brown meat over medium high heat until meat releases from pan. Be sure to not overcrowd the pan to ensure proper browning. Depending on the size of your pan you may need to do this in multiple batches.
3. Once all pieces are browned on all sides, remove to plate and set aside
4. Drain most grease from pan reserving about two tablespoons. Lower heat to medium. Add onions and sweat for 3-4 minutes.
5. Add tomato paste and cook about a minute.
6. Time to add the wine, be sure to reserve enough for the chef! If using a gas stove,for safety, remove the pan from the flame and add wine, return to heat. Take care to scrape the yummy bits of brown from the bottom of the pan. Add the water. Simmer the mixture for 3-4 minutes.
7. Add the meat and it's juices back into the wine mixture. Cover with tight fitting lid and bake until meat falls off the bone and shreds easily. About 2 hours. While ribs are baking, prepare the pickled onions.
8. Blanch thinly sliced red onions in boiling water for one minute, drain and run under cool water.
9. In another saucepan, heat the white vinegar, red vinegar, sugar, cloves and one of the bay leaves. Boil for five minutes. Add the onions. Continue to boil for another minute. Transfer to glass dish, let cool. Then refridgerate.
10. To prepare the potatoes, boil them whole in salty water until easily pricked with a fork. Drain and set aside to cool enough to handle. Once cool, cut the ends off just slightly so each one is flat. Then cut in half. With a melon baller scoop out the insides of each half, leaving a small "rim" around the potato to make a bowl.
11. To assemble poppers: Once ribs are done, remove from oven, let cool slightly. Turn the oven to Broil. Place meat on cutting board to shred meat and get rid of any fatty parts.
12. Fill the potato bowls with meat. Top with the pickled onions, a bit of the crumbled cheese. Place under broiler for about a minute to melt cheese. Remove and add sour cream if you wish.
13. Plate up and enjoy!!!