Sweet and sour meatballs

[theropicus]

World Domination Status: DISCONTINUED. :O Oooooooo~

I was getting ready to email this to Jean, since I promised I would, but then I remembered that I'm trying to get back into the habit of using this journal, so instead I will share with everyone!

This is a combination of about four different recipes plus my own tweaks and some suggestions from the APUs (I haven't, for example, tried the apple variation, but that's more because I keep forgetting to). I've modified it to be for pressure cooker, since that's what I use primarily, but you can use a regular pot if you want, just cook your carrots beforehand.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs Recipe

• 1 lb ground beef
• 6 Italian sausages (squeezed out of casings)
• 3/4 cup cooked brown rice
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• ½ cup onion, chopped
• ½ cup peppers, chopped
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbs cornstarch
• ½ tsp ginger
• ½ tsp black pepper


• 1 Tbsp oil
• ½ cup onion, chopped
• ½ cup peppers, chopped
• 1 ½ cups water
• 1 ½ cups pineapple juice (reserved + more)
• 2 Tbs soy sauce
• 5 Tbs vinegar
• 1 tsp ginger
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 1 12oz can pineapple chunks (with juice reserved)
• 2 chopped carrots
• 1 6oz can tomato paste
• 1 Tbs cornstarch

1. Preheat oven to 400° F. Lightly grease 1-2 large, shallow baking sheets.
2. In a large bowl, combine first list of ingredients (ground beef through black pepper), being sure to mix thoroughly. Shape meat mixture into 1"-1 ½" balls.
3. Place meatballs in a single layer on the baking sheets, making sure space them at least a quarter of an inch apart. Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes, then remove and set aside.
4. To make sauce: Add oil to pressure cooker over medium heat. Add chopped onion and peppers, sauteing lightly until onions are semi-translucent. Once onions are ready, add water, pineapple juice, soy sauce, vinegar, and ginger to the pressure cooker. Next, add brown sugar, mixing thoroughly until dissolved.
5. Add carrots and pineapple chunks to pressure cooker. Cover and seal. Allow to come to pressure and stay there for at least 2 minutes before executing a quick release. Return pressure cooker to the stove over medium heat. Carrots should be soft and tender.
6. While carrots are cooking, mix cornstarch with a little cold water, being sure to dissolve it all. After carrots are done, add tomato paste to pressure cooker, mixing thoroughly with existing liquid. If it seems too thick, add some hot water. Add cornstarch-and-water mixture.
7. Finally, add meatballs to pressure cooker, being sure to coat with sauce. Cover and cook for 5-10 minutes, until meatballs are thoroughly cooked.

Instead of brown sugar, try molasses! Instead of brown sugar or molasses, try slicing up an apple and adding it in! Ooooo, yum.

It's especially good over rice, though I've also done it over cornmeal mush, and I've added a potato along with the carrot, which was pretty good. I usually use red/orange/yellow peppers when I cook because they're tastier than green ones, but I recommend using at least half of a green bell pepper with this because it really needs the green color to make it pretty. We generally get about 8-10 meals out of the whole recipe, so it's fairly large. BUT SO GOOD.