Hawaiian Meatballs

Sauce for Hawaiian Meatballs
1 can (14 oz)  pineapple chunks
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 TBS cornstarch
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 TBS soy sauce
3 TBS vinegar
12-15 meatballs (recipe below)
1 green pepper, cut into large squares
1 onion, cut into large squares

Drain the pineapple chunks, pouring the juice into a measuring cup. Add enough water to the juice to make 1 1/4 cup of liquid. Pour this into a saucepan. (Save pineapple chunks for later.) Add to the juice in the saucepan the brown sugar, cornstarch, ginger, soy sauce, and vinegar. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sauce is clear and thickened. Dump in the entire batch of meatballs, cooked and drained, and let them simmer in the sauce for 5 minutes. Add the green pepper, the onion, and the pineapple chunks, bring to a boil, and cook for about 5 minutes more. Serve over rice. Makes about 4 servings.

Plain Meatballs
1 lb ground beef (or turkey)
1 egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup very finely chopped onion
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

In a medium bowl, combine the ground beef, egg, bread crumbs, onion, salt, and pepper. Squish together with a fork or clean bare hands until well mixed. Form into 1-inch meatballs, Place in one layer on cookie sheet and bake at 375* for 15-20 minutes, turning them over halfway through baking. Scoop the meatballs off the cookie sheet, leaving behind the fat that has drained out of them, and use in any recipe that calls for meatballs (ex: with BBQ sauce, in spaghetti, appetizer on a toothpick) Makes 12-15 meatballs.  Can be made ahead and frozen.

Lisa got this from the cookbook, Clueless in the Kitchen. I like to make this recipe with ground turkey and seasoned bread crumbs.  Instead of rolling individual meatballs, I press the raw mixed meat on a jelly roll cookie sheet to cover the bottom. I usually end up cooking the meat a little longer than 15 - 20 minutes.  Then when the meat is cooked I'll cut them into small squares with a pizza cutter.  So, maybe when I do this, I should call this recipe Hawaiian Meatsquares. 

Also, in the part of the recipe under Sauce for Hawaiian Meatballs, I sometimes like to use rice vinegar instead of plain vinegar.  

Lisa added this helpful hint:  So...last night I was making Hawaiian Meatballs (what a fabulous recipe, by the way...you should try it out!) and I needed bread crumbs. Well, I think I've bought real bread crumbs once in my life, and I sure didn't have any on hand last night. Usually I just crush up saltine crackers and use those. But I was fresh out of saltines too! So I used the next best thing--CHEERIOS! And they worked great. They crushed up nicer than saltines and didn't contribute a weird taste like I was afraid they might. I think I'm going to use Cheerios every time now!