The Hungry Canary

Adapted from Ideals Family Cookbook · Nancy W. Burns

Glazed Meatballs

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Ingredients

  • 1 lb ground beef
  • ½ cup dry bread crumbs (original); for a wheat-free version, use ½ cup dry sorghum-based bread crumbs when available
  • ⅓ cup minced onion
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1 Tbsp snipped parsley
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ⅛ tsp pepper
  • ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce (original), or ¼ tsp coconut aminos + ¼ tsp apple cider vinegar
  • ¼ cup shortening, for browning
  • 1 bottle (12 oz) chili sauce
  • 1 jar (10 oz) grape jelly

Directions

  1. Gently combine ground beef, crumbs, onion, milk, egg, parsley, salt, pepper and either Worcestershire sauce or the suggested substitute.
  2. Shape into approximately 1-inch meatballs.
  3. Melt shortening in a large skillet and brown meatballs in batches. Transfer meatballs out and drain excess fat.
  4. Heat chili sauce and grape jelly in the skillet, stirring until jelly melts and the glaze is smooth.
  5. Return meatballs to the skillet and gently stir to coat. Simmer for approximately 30 minutes, until the centers reach 160°F.
  6. Serve hot from a chafing dish or other food-safe warming setup; keep hot at 140°F or above.

Cookbook source

Adapted from Nancy W. Burns’s meatball appetizer in the Ideals Family Cookbook. The title was dictated as “Blazed Meatballs,” but the chili sauce and grape jelly finish suggests the printed title may be “Glazed Meatballs.” The original yield is approximately five dozen meatballs, with serving suggestions of toothpicks and a chafing dish.

Hungry Canary substitutions

Breadcrumbs: Keep the original ½ cup dry breadcrumbs as a reference. For the wheat-free adaptation, use dry sorghum-based bread crumbs once a tested version is available. Sorghum flour alone is not a direct textural equivalent to dry bread crumbs. Do not substitute pork rinds here: the recipe developer does not like them in place of bread crumbs.

Worcestershire sauce: In place of ½ tsp, use ¼ tsp coconut aminos plus ¼ tsp apple cider vinegar. The substitution is approximate, not an identical flavor.

Check the ingredient lists of the bottled chili sauce, grape jelly and any packaged crumbs for dietary compatibility. The 160°F internal temperature and safe holding temperature are modern additions; the historical recipe gives a 30-minute simmer but no thermometer reading.