Apr 15 2013
Last Friday my daughter in law came home with a meatball and sauce recipe a friend from work gave her. It didn’t sound good with the kraut and cranberries; but was different enough I had to try them.
The recipe called for the meatballs to be cooked in the sauce. I mixed the sauce in a crockpot and did the meatballs on my smoker to render out some of the fat in the 80-20 mix of the ground chuck. I did them up early and left them on low until I did my sides.
I had wanted spaghetti squash but could only find a small one so I got a yellow acorn type squash to fix too along with some fingerling potatoes. I did the squash with butter in the center for an hour and a half. The potatoes I had on for the last hour. The potatoes were coated with some olive oil and some Penzey’s sandwich sprinkle.
I baked some take home & bake baguettes and served warm along with the meal. The meatballs were a big hit with all. I saved out two without the sauce for the grandson; he usually does not like sauce. My wife who is not a meatball fan loved these. My veggie daughter in law even ate some. I liked them and the bread was good with the sauce.
If you make these as an appetizer for a party I would say do the small 1 inch balls but for a meal I like larger ones. I think they would also be good served over rice or mashed potatoes for a good comfort meal.
Some of the players
Meatball mixture
Ready for the smoker
Sauce in the Crockpot
Meatballs done
Sides about done
My Plate
Recipe
Meatballs in kraut and cranberry sauce
Meatballs:
2 lbs. ground chuck
2 large eggs
½ cup dry bread crumbs
1 package dry onion soup mix
Sauce:
1 14oz. ketchup & 14 oz. water
1 16 oz. can whole cranberries
1 16 oz. can sauerkraut
¼ cup brown sugar
Recipe said to mix the sauce in a Dutch oven and simmer while you make up the meatballs. Make one inch meatballs; add to the sauce. Cover and bake in 350 deg. oven for 1 ½ hours. It said it makes about 60 meatballs.
I made larger meatballs 1 ½ inch and it made 22. I used Italian style bread crumbs because that’s what I had on hand. I think it is best to cook the meatballs some way to reduce some of the fat.
I mixed up my sauce in a crockpot and did the meatballs in my smoker, ½ hour on smoke at 175 deg. then 225 deg. for another ½ hour. I then added them to the sauce and cooked for 2 hours on high then down to low until supper time.
These are supposed to freeze well. The sauce is like a sweet and sour sauce. My wife is not a big meatball fan but loved these. I tried one of the meatballs without the sauce and will use this for my standard meatball recipe.
Serve with some crusty bread for dipping in the sauce.
