Holiday Meatballs

1) In a large bowl, mix the turkey, onion, egg, breadcrumbs, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Form the meat into appetizer size meatballs. You should get about 16 meatballs.

2) Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat on the stove. Add the olive oil. When really hot, add the meatballs and brown on all sides. Cook for a total of 8 – 10 minutes until browned and cooked through.

4) Drop the meatballs into the sauce and gently toss until the meatballs are completely glazed. Serve in a bowl or on a platter with toothpicks.

NOTES:  This is an old throwback recipe and one of the first recipes I ever made when entertaining.  It was different back then.  I used beef and grape jelly instead of the cranberry sauce.

This year, I challenged myself with finding creative ways of using left over cranberry sauce and this is one of the ways I incorporated it.  The Jellied Cranberry-Pomegranate Sauce I made for Thanksgiving yielded an extra 1/2 mold (exactly 1/2 cup) and I used that with the Chili sauce to glaze my meatballs.  I love the taste.  Slightly sweet and slightly spicy, the tartness of the cranberry came out and really added a nice twist to this oldie but goodie.

This recipe work just fine with beef and would work with your favorite meatball recipe too.  Didn’t get a chance to make my jellied cranberry sauce?  Yes, the canned version will work in a pinch.  The key is to make the meatballs cocktail size so they easily fit on a toothpick and are really just one bite.  I serve them in a pretty bowl with toothpicks and napkins near by.

FYI:  This glaze can do double duty on meatloaf so if you like it, consider it for that purpose too.

Don’t forget to check out my other cranberry sauce recipes including Cranberry-Cherry Sauce and my Cranberry-Orange Sauce.  Looking for other delicious, appetizer recipes?  Try two of my new favorites:  Goat Cheese, Pistachios and Hot Raspberry Preserves and my Steak Crostini.  Both are easy to pull together and they both get rave reviews.  Enjoy!