Foodbuzz Tastemaker: Mexican Meatballs with Sticky Pace Picante Sauce

Thanks to Foodbuzz Tastemaker program I was given the opportunity to test out Pace's Picante sauce. I chose to use it in a sauce for Mexican style meatballs. These would be great for a party, like the Super Bowl, since they're small and appetizer appropriate. It also made the Foodbuzz Flavor of the Month, and is my entry for Foodbuzz' Pace recipe contest.

The picante sauce is like salsa, only smoother in texture to make cooking with it easier. It blends into sauces or meat better without sacrificing the taste of salsa. It also is truly mild. There may be just a faint hint of heat, but it's not in any way hot. I also felt it was a bit watery, as a puree of tomatoes would be, so you'll want to take that into consideration if you use it for cooking.

You can find Pace products at your local grocery store.

I knew I wanted to use the sauce for a Super Bowl themed recipe, since I'll be submitting it to Facebook's contest, so I just needed to come up with a good way to feature the sauce. And what better way to do that than a sticky picante sauce for meatballs! You could also use this for wings, too, because it's very versatile.

The sauce consists of equal portions of sugar, water, apple cider vinegar and the Pace picante sauce along with chili, garlic, onion powder and salt. Whisk the mixture together and cook at a continuous boil/simmer for 30 minutes until the sauce reduces by about half and takes on the consistency of a thick glaze. This is like a simple barbecue-esque Mexican-style sauce with a back note of spiciness.

For the meatballs, you take ground turkey, finely chopped onion and jalapeno, minced garlic, breadcrumbs, oregano, cumin, and salt, a packet of Goya seasoning, and an egg and mix it all together. These meatballs are light and packed with flavor. I chose to use ground turkey since it has a lighter flavor than ground beef, and is healthier.

Roll the turkey mixture into tablespoons-sized balls, cook on both sides in a skillet with olive oil, and place on a rimmed baking sheet. This can also be done ahead of time, either by mixing the turkey to portion later, or cooking the meatballs and finishing them with the sauce later.

I finish off the meatballs in the oven, covering with half the sauce and baking for 10 minutes, then flipping over and topping with the remaining sauce and cooking another 20 minutes to let the sauce saturate into the meatballs. The result is a glaze that coats the meatballs thoroughly with the flavor infusing throughout.

Alternatively, you could also finish off the meatballs by cooking in the sauce on the stove, or a crock pot if so desired.

Serve with slices of jalapeno and you're ready to party! You could also make some rice to use for a heftier meal.

If you're looking for a healthy party dish with a different flavor, here it is! The sauce is versatile and can be used in many ways, so pick up a bottle of Pace Picante and get cooking.

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Mexican Meatballs with Sticky Pace Picante Sauce
Recipe by Christina Provo

Yield: 5 appetizer portions

ingredients -

1 8 ounce jar Pace Picante Sauce
1 cup water
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1 pound ground turkey
1/2 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped white onion
2 jalapenos, seeded, deveined, and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large egg, room temperature
1 teaspoons coarse salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Additional jalapenos, sliced, for garnish

directions -

1. In a medium pot, whisk together Pace Picante sauce, water, apple cider vinegar, sugar, chili, garlic, and onion powders and salt. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, then reduce to medium and let simmer continuously for 35 minutes or until reduced by half and thickened to a glaze.


2. In a bowl, thoroughly mix ground turkey with remaining ingredients, except olive oil additional jalapenos. Using a 1 tablespoon measuring spoon, portion into level tablespoons and roll into balls.


3. Preheat oven to 375°. Heat a large skillet over medium heat with olive oil. When ready, add around 15 meatballs and cook for 1-2 minutes or until the bottoms get a nice, golden brown sear. Flip meatballs over and cook for another 30 second to 1 minute, until the bottoms are golden brown. Remove to a rimmed baking sheet and repeat with remaining meatballs.


4. When all meatballs are cooked, spoon half the sauce on top, covering as evenly as possible. Bake for 10 minutes; remove from oven and flip over. Top with remaining sauce and bake for 20 minutes. Spoon onto a serving dish, pouring juice from the sheet on top, and serve with jalapeno slices.

keftka beef meatballs and homemade naan

How can you follow a meal like the persian chicken with jeweled rice with ramen? You cannot. So dinner two days later consisted of another very flavorful recipe, and wasn't really any more complicated to prepare.

I've made homemade naan before, but haven't blogged about it. I still plan on created a single post showing the process, though for now I'll just talk about how great this stuff is.

The recipe (found on AllRecipes.com - I will link to it at the end of post) is enriched with milk, an egg, and sugar and comes together quickly and allowed to rise for an hour. I've changed the process up by making the dough a day ahead of time and refrigerating it, though you have to make sure the dough comes to room temperature either before shaping into individual balls to let rest, or increase the resting time.

Naan are generally prepared in a tandoor, or clay oven, though you can cook them on a skillet or a grill. I chose a regular cast iron skillet, and next time I may try the skillet I have that has grill indents. I didn't time how long it took, but the first side took less than 2 minutes, and once flipped the other side needed less than 45 seconds. As soon as I placed an uncooked naan in the skillet, I brushed the side facing up with melted butter with garlic. The garlic flavor isn't overwhelming and adds a wonderful flavor boost to the naan. (A note: The skillet doesn't have to be heated to high, but medium will work just fine as long as you make sure to let it thoroughly heat before cooking.)

The best way to cook naan is to either have someone in charge of cooking them whilst you stretch the dough out, or get the process down so that as soon as a naan comes out of the skillet you're ready to put one in. Place cooked naan in a heated oven, covered, to keep warm.

Keftka is a Middle Eastern lamb meatball, though I subbed ground beef for the lamb. The ingredients from the recipe I used sounded incredibly good, with a spice trio of allspice, cinnamon, and cayenne powder. Also included is finely ground nuts (I used pecan, though the recipe called for pine nuts), and a processed mixture of onions with fresh cilantro and parsley. A different kind of meatball compared to its Italian counterpart, but every bit as delicious and definitely unique.

Instead of broiling these as a kabob type meal, the meatballs skewered on bamboo skewers, I formed them larger, browned them in a skillet, then set them aside. After I drained most of the fat away, I sauteed an onion with salt and cumin powder until soft, adding 2 cans of diced tomatoes that I pureed. When that mixture came to a boil, I added the meatballs back, reduced to a simmer, and let cook whilst I cooked the naan. A really simple and easy dish that produced a brothy tomato mixture that you could be sopped up by a couple naan. (I also removed the meatballs about 5 minutes before serving and let the sauce continue cooking at a higher heat until ready.)

The naan comes out so chewy, warm, slightly sweet with a hint of garlic. It's very difficult to just eat one, so I don't; I ate three. I once made a different version that was leavened by baking soda and yogurt, though I didn't like it as much as this yeast version. It lacked the sweetness I liked and it also wasn't as tender. It would have made a good substitute if you're pressed for time, once I tweak the recipe.

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Recipes ~

Keftka Kabob recipe

Homemade Naan