Recipe: Mandarin Orange Spice Meatballs

Best eaten while reading 'Peony Love' by Lisa See 

Mandarin Orange Spice Meatballs

Serves 10 • Preparation Time: 20 minutes • Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Traditional sweet-and-sour meatballs are always a hit. The clove in the tea makes this recipe delightfully different.

Ingredients:

5 Celestial Seasonings Mandarin Orange Spice tea bags

1 ½ cups white wine

1 lb. ground beef

1 lb. ground pork

¼ red onion, diced

1 tsp. crushed garlic (4 cloves)

Pinch of  sea salt

Dash of pepper

2 Tbsp.  olive oil

1 tsp. cornstarch

1 cup orange marmalade

Preparation:

Steep the tea bags in the wine for 10 minutes. Squeeze tea bags gently and then discard. Set wine aside. Blend

the beef, pork, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Pour ¾ cup of the wine into the meat and mix well.

Form into small meatballs (yields 35-40 meatballs). Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium flame and brown

the meatballs. Remove the meatballs and set aside on a warm platter. Carefully pour the grease out of the skillet.

Add the remaining wine, the cornstarch and the marmalade to the skillet. Stir over medium heat until thickened.

Add the meatballs to the sauce mixture and simmer 15 minutes.

From the Cooking With Tea Cookbook by Jennifer and Mo Siegel.