Hawaiian Style Meatballs

                                          (Yes, these are meatballs...not alien eggs...)

Today's scrumptious culinary treat is Hawaiian Style Meatballs! Simple to make. Easy to eat!

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs lean ground beef
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon onion and garlic powder 
• 1 cup apricot or peach preserves 
• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (omg, keep a bottle of this in your kitchen always!) 

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. 
2. Mix the ground beef, soy sauce, brown sugar, onion powder and garlic powder thoroughly in a large bowl. Form the mixture into 2 tablespoon-sized balls and place on a foil covered baking sheet. 
3. Bake in preheated oven until no longer pink in the center...about 15 minutes. Stir the preserves and the cider vinegar together and toss with meatballs in a clean bowl, then return to the baking sheet and bake for an additional 6 minutes. 

I normally serve these over white rice but tonight I made them with mashed potatoes and that worked too. :)

The first time I made this I wasn't thinking and added everything into the meatballs from the start, but they turned out great that way too. The preserves are the secret ingredient in this dish. I use peach, but you apricot folk do as you like. In all honesty, the best tasting preserves I've used has been the Harris Teeter store brand. (When we first moved to North Carolina, we drove past the Harris Teeter every day for a month to go food shopping, because we had no idea it was a supermarket. It sounds like a furniture store or something, doesn't it?) 

There wasn't much I could do with pictures for making meatballs, but I took some anyhow, and I have to say, they are epic. 

                                        A dramatic shot of meatballs waiting to go into the oven...

          A second dramatic shot because I decided the first shot wasn't enough drama all by itself, and meatballs like drama. They also like 400 degree ovens!  

Cooked meatballs slathering themselves in the sweet preserves! 

The tin foil making a dramatic meatball optical illusion. And...back into the oven they go! 

No..wait...a shocking surprise! ONE MORE dramatic meatball picture! 

Okay, so imagine these on top of some white rice and ya got a gourmet Hawaiian meal!
(well..maybe not gourmet...or authentically Hawaiian..but..come on...they're tasty meatballs!) 

Spanish Rice Bake

This one takes a little work, but the taste is amazing!


Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup water
• 3/4 cup uncooked long grain rice
• 1/2 cup chili sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 pinch ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 tablespoons cilantro

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Brown the ground beef in a large skillet. Drain fat and transfer beef to a large pot over medium low heat.  Stir in the onion, green bell pepper, tomatoes, water, rice, chili sauce, salt, brown sugar, cumin, Worcestershire sauce and ground black pepper.  (The temp is very important here. Too high and it burns the bottom a bit, too low and the rice comes out crunchy. A smidgen just under medium seems to work well.)
3. Let this simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Press down firmly and sprinkle the top with shredded Cheddar. 
4. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 10 to 15 minutes. Dust top with Cilantro. 

*A word about Chili Sauce. The taste on Chili Sauces varies greatly from one brand to another. The more expensive ones are a bit more flavorful but they tend to be spicier as well. The Heinz brand I'm using here isn't akin to much more than a mildly flavored ketchup, but it's cheap and it does the job...but if you like your food a bit more spicy, go for one of the fancier (expensive) brands.    

And now for some completely unnecessary pictures.

You can chop up the veggies and toss them in the pot while the meat is browning. 

(Oooh, Pretty!) 

"We wanna go in the pot too!"

It's a FIESTA!

Topped with cheese and ready to go in the oven. You can stick it in the fridge this way and cook it whenever you want! (Well...within a day or two.) 

                                            The finished dish...and it tastes as good as it looks!


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