Recipes: Entree

Ingredients

• For the Meatballs
• 1-pound ground pork (not pork sausage)
• 1 ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon Five Spice Powder
• ¼ teaspoon ground all spice
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 tablespoon minced shallots
• ¼ cup finely chopped green onions
• ½ cup warm milk
• ½ cup panko bread crumbs
• 1 egg, whisked
• For the Savory Blueberry Sauce
• 4 cups frozen blueberries
• ½ cup blueberry preserves
• 2 tablespoons tamari
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar (seasoned)
• Cornstarch slurry (1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 1 teaspoon cold water)

Directions

• To make the sauce, add the frozen blueberries to a medium sauce pan over medium low heat, stirring a bit until the blueberries begin to soften. Let the blueberries slowly simmer until the berries have reduced and the liquid is syrupy, about 10 minutes.
• Take the sauce pan off the heat and strain the liquid from the berries in a fine mesh strainer, pressing the berries to get all the extra liquid. You should end up with about 1 cup of liquid.
• Discard the pulp and then add the liquid back to the sauce pan. Heat over low heat and then stir in the blueberry preserves (or jam), tamari and rice wine vinegar. Let this simmer for about 5 minutes until the liquid coats the back of a spoon. Once the liquid cools it will harden a bit.
• However, if for some reason you want a thicker sauce, mix together the cornstarch slurry and add it to the sauce while the sauce is simmering. Let the sauce simmer for at least one minute to thicken. Set the sauce aside to cool.
• To make the meatballs add the ground pork, salt, pepper, Five Spice powder, all spice, minced garlic, minced shallot and chopped green onions to a large bowl. Gently mix until the ingredients are nicely combined.
• Next add the panko bread crumbs to the warm milk and stir. When the bread crumbs have mostly absorbed all the milk, pour it into the ground pork mixture along with the whisked egg. Again, gently combine the bread crumbs, milk and egg into the mixture until combine.
• Pre-heat the oven to 350F
• With a cookie scoop or tablespoon, make the meatballs and then place them on a parchment lined baking sheet.
• Place them in the oven and bake them until golden brown on the bottom, about 10-15 minutes.
• Remove the meatballs from the oven and then add them to the blueberry sauce. Serve warm with little appetizer forks or party picks.
• Another option is to cool the meatballs and the sauce and then refrigerate them separately in covered containers overnight.
• To serve, gently re-heat the sauce in a large sauce pan and then add the meatballs and warm through.