Pork & Cranberry meatballs

I make meatballs pretty regularly, often from Mel Joulwan's Well Fed site which has a whole meatball madness link page (I think I've made her Czech meatballs, Cuban meatballs, Merguez meatballs, and maybe the Moroccan ones, though if I remember right I did not like them.) I've been on a pork meatball fest lately, and recently made a Bon Appetit Vietnamese inspired meatball, where I learned that I can cook meatballs entirely in the broiler, which makes them really crispy and delicious.

This recipe is based on what was originally ground turkey to make a Thanksgiving inspired meatball. It was delicious with pork and easy ingredients I had at home (lemons yes, oranges no; baking soda yes, cream of tartar no). I ended up reheating a bunch of left-overs to go along with these, and this meal was a total star this weekend: roasted squash, pickled beats, the last greens of my wilted garden, and a bunch of saurkraut. I ate about 3x the amount of kraut pictured in the photo because it was so good with every other thing on the plate. 

Pork & Cranberry Meatballs (makes 12)
1 pound ground pork
1 T lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 c dried cranberries
2 cloves garlic, minced
*1/4 tsp baking soda dissolved in 1 T warm water (opt)
(Mel uses baking soda and cream of tarter to tenderize meatballs sans breadcrumbs. I never do and find them to still be delicious. This time I did do the baking soda, for whatever reason!)

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prep a cake pan with foil or parchment if you like - these do get a little broiled on, but it scrubs off with a scouring pad.
2) Mix all ingredients except baking soda/water in a bowl by hand. Add baking soda/water mixture and combine.  Form meatballs. (Mel has us chill the meatballs prior to baking. Is it necessary? I don't think so.)
3) Bake for 20 minutes. I then put mine under the broiler for a few to get them nice and caramel-y. The exposed cranberries do burn a bit (the sugars!) so keep an eye on them if you do that.

Let cool a minute or two and serve! These were delicious with saurkraut and squash.