Spicy Barbecued Turkey Meatballs

Dear Fans of Hounds Who Cook,

You can't blame us dogs for having a little time away from blogging. We've been having big adventures. Most recently Belly the cat was locked out of the home when our girl Me went out of town and we heard a cat fight but we were trapped in the basement and were not able to participate. Or help Beller. He is recovering fine but came home with a number of cat piercings and one swollen up forearm - or leg. Now you can imagine the special care and attention he's getting from our person Me. It's just exasperating. She won't let us dogs have the least bit of fun with the cat anymore. Very overprotective.

Tonight she fell asleep and we dogs snuck out of the room to see what might have been left on the kitchen counter for snacks. Nothing. Wiped clean. Even Belly came out prowling with us. So we decided to whip up some of those little tasty saucey appetizer meatballs. This is Me's own creation of a recipe which uses ground turkey but we went ahead and used up a pound of ground bison on it. Mmm.

Spicy Barbecued Turkey Meatballs
(Susan Brill 1996)

Meatballs
1 lb. ground turkey (or hamburger)
¾ cup rolled oats
2 eggs
1 cup finely chopped onion
1½ teaspoon minced garlic
¼ cup minced fresh parsley
(or 1 tablespoon dried)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1½ teaspoon vegetable (or beef) bouillon
½ teaspoon pepper

Mix meatball ingredients well. Shape into 1-inch balls and place on greased baking sheet. Bake at 350F degrees for 25 minutes until cooked through.

Tasty Sauce
8 oz tomato sauce
3 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons spicy mustard
1 ¼ teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon Tabasco sauce

Simmer sauce ingredients over medium heat until hot. Transfer meatballs to serving bowl. Pour sauce over, toss gently, and serve.

Tips from Elias: Make a double recipe as they are so good two hounds can eat them all and leave none for the cat or the girl.

Tips from Guthrie: The cat doesn't eat bison, so he wasn't going to eat them anyhow. Just smell them. Make sure you don't overcook the bison...it's so lean it gets dry when cooked through. Leave a smidge of pink in the middle and cover after removing from the oven and it will cook a little more as it sits.