Chili Lime Meatballs

They're not real photogenic, but damn, they're tasty

Source: Pampered Chef

I made these for a bridal show I did tonight and it was totally unnerving because we did the food prep before the show instead of a demo during the show, and we were just throwing things together and not much measuring was being done and I'd never made these before and I was really worried about how they were going to turn out. As it was, they turned out very well, and they're super easy, even if you're not 100% following the directions.

CHILI LIME MEATBALLS

Glaze

½ c teriyaki baste and glaze (we weren't sure what this was, exactly, so we just used a generic teriyaki sauce and it seemed to work okay)

2 tbs lime juice

2 tsp Thai red curry paste

2 garlic cloves, pressed (as per my usual motto, more garlic = better, so I used 4)

Meatballs

1 lb lean ground beef

¼ cup plain dried bread crumbs

1 egg

2 tbs Asian Seasoning Mix (this is a Pampered Chef item, but see below for a substitution that they helpfully provided)

2 tsp Thai red curry paste

2 green onions, sliced

Whisk together baste and glaze (or dump in your sauce, whichever), lime juice, curry paste, and garlic in a small bowl. Set aside.

Combine beef, bread crumbs, egg, seasoning mix, and curry paste in large bowl; mix well. (Note: if you're at a loss on how to do this, as I was, since it didn't seem to want to stir very well, just use your hands and knead that stuff together. It worked really well.)

Using small scoop, form beef mixture into 40 meatballs. (Here is where the recipe went slightly awry, because I think I was using a medium-sized scoop, and there is no way I got 40 meatballs. I actually gave up about halfway and just started shaping them with my hands anyway.) (The idea behind using the scoop is to make them uniform in size so they cook consistently)

Place meatballs in 12" skillet. Cook over medium-high heat 8-10 minutes or until browned, turning frequently. Remove skillet from heat. (I found that timing this endeavor was pointless and you really just have to eyeball them and poke at random samples to make sure they're not still pink in the middle. Again, mine were probably much larger than they were supposed to be.)

Pour glaze into skillet; stir meatballs to coat. Place meatballs onto serving platter and top with green onions.

This step wasn't mentioned, but next: sit back and let the compliments roll in. Everyone loved these.

To substitute the Asian Seasoning Mix, add 2 tsp grated fresh gingerroot, ¾ tsp salt, 1 pressed garlic clove and ¼ tsp ground cayenne pepper. 

Verdict: quite tasty, though I would like to try this again sometime when I'm not so rushed and can properly measure out ingredients and make the meatballs the right size. 

Leftover quality: Unknown. There were no leftovers to be had.