Cocktail Meatballs For A Crowd

Meatballs can be made ahead, browned, and frozen.  When you want to use them simply thaw what you want and make up enough sauce to heat them in.

Yield 250 meatballs

3 lbs ground beef
3 cups dried bread crumbs
3 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons horseradish
8 beaten eggs
12 drops Tabasco sauce
6 tablespoons finely chopped onion

Sauce:
3 cups catsup
2 cups water
1 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped onion
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons salt
4 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
12 drops Tabasco sauce

To make sauce place all ingredients in large saucepan and bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for about 30 minutes before adding browned meatballs and putting in oven to simmer in sauce.

Mix meatball ingredients and form into meatballs.  Brown meatballs lightly in sauce pan or put on baking sheet lined with parchment and brown in 350 degree oven until they brown but are not cooked through.  They can be frozen at this point on baking pan and then removed from pan and stored in plastic bag in freezer for future use or they can be added to simmering sauce and cooked in 250 degree oven for up to 2 1/2 hours.