Backyard parsley in the morning garden light.
Happy Monday! On one hand, time changes suck. But on the other… it means we get more daylight, and more daylight makes both my edible garden and my backyard chickens very, very happy. We’re all very much looking forward to spring.
…
So let’s geek out over meatballs for a minute.
In my bowl of pasta, I like them large, savory, and bathed in a tangy marinara sauce. In fact, my favorite part about a bowl of spaghetti is breaking down my meatball so I get a bit in each bite. It’s an appropriate form of playing with my food.
Cocktail party meatballs are different. I like them small, so I don’t have to gnaw them into pieces while trying to mingle with others. I like them sweet to keep my appetite going. And I like them spicy to complement my beverage, usually an ice cold beer.
In either scenario, they have to be tender and flavorful.
It took me a good year to figure this one out because internet searches for “cocktail meatball recipe” didn’t yield much of interest. Most cocktail meatball recipes used not much more than a crock pot and a jar of grape jelly. For the record, I have nothing against crock pots (I own three), but I was never able to make perfect, tender, succulent, spicy, sweet, tangy, and juicy meatballs using one exclusively.
Previous attempts used too much bread crumb… Then not enough. Too much egg…. Then not enough. Some of them were gooey, and some of them dry; one batched melted into a pool of sauce (that I later converted to a bolognese), and another shriveled into something a lot like kitten poop. #sorry
I almost gave up altogether.
But then I spent all weekend testing recipes for next Sunday’s big jazz gig at the house, and I was determined to get it right.
And now we have it, just 374 days later… the best. cocktail. party. meatballs. ever. They’re just the way I like ‘em, and definitely going on the hors d’oeuvres list. Please consider these little beauties for your next batch of party meatballs!
[K]
These tangy, sweet, and spicy meatballs are made quickly and come together in less than an hour. The key to these tender bites is to start them in the broiler, but finish them in the sauce. Double the recipe if you’re feeding a crowd.
Ingredients
- • 1 ½ pounds 85% lean ground beef
- • ½ pound ground pork breakfast sausage
- • 1 finely diced chipotle pepper and 1 tablespoon of adobo sauce from a 7-ounce can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- • ¼ cup bread crumbs
- • 1 large egg
- • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- • 1 teaspoon onion powder
- • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- • 1 medium brown onion, finely diced
- • 1 tablespoon olive oil
- • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- • ¾ cup ketchup
- • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- • ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- • 2 cups beef stock
- • ¼ cup freshly chopped parsley
Instructions
- Minute 1: Turn oven onto broil setting. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and set aside.
- Minute 2: In a large bowl, combine ground beef, ground pork, chopped chipotle pepper, bread crumbs, egg, maple syrup, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
- Minute 5: Form small meatballs about ¾ inches in diameter and place them on the cookie sheet about ½ inch apart. Broil on top rack in batches (it took me three batches) until meatballs begin to brown, about 5 minutes. When meatballs are cooked, transfer them to a large bowl and continue on the with the next batch.
- Minute 10: While meatballs are cooking, start cooking the sauce. In a 5-quart soup pot, sauté onions in olive oil, salt and pepper over medium heat until soft and translucent, about 7-10 minutes.
- Minute 20: Add ketchup, brown sugar, red wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and beef stock. Bring sauce to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. At this point, if you like your sauce homogenous, use a stick blender to blend your sauce. I like my sauce chunky, so I skip this step.
- Minute 25: Add meatballs to the sauce and continue to simmer. If meatballs are still being broiled, add them directly to the sauce when they come out of the broiler.
- Minute 45: Reduce heat to a bare simmer. At this point, you may plate the meatballs immediately with a little bit of sauce, and garnish with freshly chopped parsley, or keep them warm until you are ready to serve them.
Notes
- The recipe, as written, yields a mild spice level. For a medium or hot spice level, add two more chipotle peppers and adobo sauce to meatball mixture. - Store leftover chipotle peppers and adobo sauce in the refrigerator or freezer for another use. I add them to my Mexican red sauces, omelets, and chili recipes.
Source: Rustic Garden Bistro with credit to Emeril Lagasse for the list of ingredients used for the sauce referenced in his cocktail meatballs recipe.
These look like your hard work paid off – I want one – right now! I use my grandmother’s recipe for baked meatballs that calls for applesauce – works!
Kim this recipe is my kind of appetizer. I could not be left alone with these meatballs – they would disappear quicker than lightning.
I too am a meatball lover! I could eat way more than six at a time to be honest
See you at The Big Potluck!
KIM! I can’t wait to try these, especially after all the work you went through to get them perrrrfect. What I love about this recipe is that I have almost all of the ingredients already. I’m soooo glad you didn’t use grape jelly. I grew up in an area where every party had meatballs cooked in grape jelly. YUCK!
Your’s = YUMTOWN!