Random Food Fridays - Sweet and Sour Meatballs

I've been making these meatballs for so long, I really had to think hard about where it all started. I've been making these since I was a teenager at my folk's house. The original recipe was from The Betty Crocker Recipe Card Library. You could subscribe to the recipes and they would send you a new set of cards every so often. They even came with a cool yellow plastic recipe file. I don't know if my mom still has the file. I currently have one card left out of that set -one of my dad's favorites, Cheeseburger Pie.

It's been so long since I saw that old recipe card that I've probably changed it all around by now. Please feel free to add any veggies you like. I always added green bell peppers for my folks. Mr. Dwayne views bell peppers as one of those fundamentally polluting foods, so you won't see them in things I serve to him.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

1 1/2 lbs. ground turkey

1/2 cup dry bread crumbs

1 large egg

2 tbsp. chopped dried onions

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 tsp. garlic & herb seasoning

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1 20 oz. can pineapple chunks packed in pineapple juice, drained, juice reserved

Sauce:

Reserved pineapple juice

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp. soy sauce

1 tbsp. cornstarch

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine ground turkey, bread crumbs, egg, dried onions, garlic and herb seasoning and ground ginger. (I like to stir with a carving fork because everything will combine nicely but the meat will not become compacted.) Form the meat into meatballs that are about 1/4 cup each. I usually get 14 meatballs. Place the meatballs onto a greased or lined baking sheet, making sure the meatballs do not touch one another. Bake in the hot oven for about 20 minutes or until browned and the internal temperature reaches at least 160 degrees.

While the meatballs are baking, make the sauce. Combine all the sauce ingredients in a large sauce pan. Whisk until the cornstarch is dissolved. Cook over a medium-high flame until the sauce thickens, bubbles and becomes translucent. Add the pineapple chunks and keep warm until the meatballs are ready. Carefully move the meatballs from the bake pan into the sauce and fold to insure everything is well coated with the sauce.

Serve with steamed brown Basmati rice.