Recipe Review from 11/16/2020

THIS week ended with the furnace going out. On Friday evening. When we called, found out our usual oil service company doesn't do weekend service anymore (maybe because of COVID? I dunno...). Anyway. Option 1 - call the company they suggested that does to weekend service or see if we can get by until Monday and can use our company. It's Saturday, 630am in morning as I type this, we'll see how today goes. And! The dog barfed twice in the middle night. Man, nothing wakes a dog owner up faster than the sound of a dog horking. Andy-dog ate too much bird seed. Why do they have to eat bird seed?

McKinney Falls State Park ,Austin, TX 2017

The Meal Plan:
Sat(L) leftover butnut soup (S) leftover potato curry
Sun (L) fried egg sandwich (S) cranberry bear meatballs
Mon - leftover meatballs
Tues - leftover meatballs
Wed - nachos
Thurs (yoga) - brats
Fri - brats

Lunches - leftover potato curry

I reviewed the Potato and Pea Curry last week, but I'm coming back to add, I had enough for lunches the entire week with basmati rice. Delicious dish! I would absolutely make again.


Cranberry Bear Meatballs (North American Hunt Club Cookbook) This is NOT a new recipe. This is a tried and true that we've made whenever we have venison in the freezer. Well...no venison but we do have some ground bear. Since its been a few years since we've had any game, I had forgotten how easy this was to make.

My main observation is, this has become almost too sweet for me. There's a lot of sugar between the cranberry sauce, the chili sauce, the catsup and the brown sugar. While the brown sugar adds a molasses undertones I'd recommend skipping. Or find some sugar free catsup and decresase the brown sugar.

2 lbs ground (venison, moose, bear, etc)
1 cup plain panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
2 eggs
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 fresh ground pepper

1 (14oz) can whole berry cranberry sauce
1 (12oz) jar chili sauce
1/3 catsup
2 tbsp brown sugar (dish can get overly sweet, reduce to 1 tbsp or omit if you wish)
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp dried minced onion

Preaheat oven to 350*. Line a jellyroll pan with aluminum foil, and if you have a baking rack place on top of aluminum foil. If no rack, not a problem. Proceed with directions. Lightly oil a 9x13 glass baking dish and set aside.

Mix ground meat with panko bread crumbs, parsley, eggs, soy sauce, and garlic powder. Shape into 1" balls and place in pan or on top of rack. Cook for 30-35 minutes.

While meatballs cook, combine cranberry sauce, chili sauce, catsup, brown sugar and minced onion in a bowl.

When meatballs are (mostly) done, remove from oven and transfer from baking sheet to prepared pan (this helps keep grease/fat drippings out of final dish). Pour prepared cranberry sauce mixture over the top. Cover with aluminum foil and bake an additional 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake 10 minutes more or until sauce is nice and bubbly. Serve over rice, egg noodles, or even potatoes .