BarBQue Cheddar Balls

Tonights recipe is a little concoction I call BarBQ Cheddar Balls. Its basically a standard meatball with cheddar and scallions thrown in, and instead of serving in marinara you simmer then in barbeque sauce.

Now, I should warn you before you read any further..

I have never written down how I make meat balls, I just kind of “wing it”.  I tried following a recipe once and they were so dry I was like “screw it”.  Nobody likes dry balls!  So ever since then I kind of play it by eye, and that is what you should do too. 

The measurements below are a “round about”,  so good luck!

CHEDDAR BALLS

• abt 2 lbs ground beef
• heaping cup of shredded cheddar
• 1 bunch scallions, diced  (chop off the roots and then dice up the rest!)  Should be at LEAST a half-cup
• a few shakes garlic salt
• salt and pepper  ( I wouldn't even know how to measure.  I do abt 2-3 palms of salt and pepper until I think I have done too much. lol..)
• EITHER abt a cup of OATS or abt a cup of bread crumbs (have extra on hand to thicken if needed)
• 3/4 cup milk
• tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
• some flour in a bowl.  abt 3/4 cup or so for frying

To make the balls, put your meat in a LARGE BOWL and  mix all the ingredients in there.  (NOT the flour)

Now here is the thing with meat balls.  No matter what measurement I put for oats/crumbs it still might not be right for your balls.  You know, if you did a HEAPING and I didn’t then your’s would be dry, etc..   So when I say a cup, that’s a round about.  What you want is, while you are mixing this stuff up with your hands, like a meatloaf mixture, you want it thick enough to hold a ball shape.  But not a FIRM ball – because that will cook up DRY.  So mix it all up and make a test ball.  If its too gooey to even hold shape then you should add more oats/crumbs…   if it holds shape and doesn’t stick to your hands at ALL then you have added to much crumbs and add a little milk.  You want it a little mooshy but to still hold shape.

Go ahead and make up all your balls and put them in your baking dish and sit them either in the fridge or freezer while you prep everything else.  This will help let the milk expand what ever filler (oats/crumbs) and will make the balls a little more firm and easier to deal with.

In a minute, you will be browning these in a skillet, so you will need to put some oil in a skillet set on HIGH, to brown the balls.  

So go ahead and put some flour in a bowl to roll the balls in, but don't start the skillet yet.  Skip down and make the sauce while your balls are chillin.

THE SAUCE

• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons honey (optional)
• 2-3 capfuls of white vinegar
• 3 tablespoons Worcestershire (man, I luv this stuff!)
• 1 cup of ketchup (heaping)
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• dash of hot sauce

Mix all this stuff up in a bowl REAL GOOD with a wire whisk.  Stick your finger in a get a taste.  It should be pretty good by the measurements above, but do YOU like it?  You know better what your family will like.  So just give it a taste and see what you think.  The flavor will NOT change a whole lot in the oven so what you have here is what you get…  Need it more sweet then add more brown sugar or a teaspoon of white sugar.  Want it hotter – add more hot sauce.  Want it more husky – add some Imitation hickory flavoring.  We like it SWEET in this house and the above is what I use every time.   If Im really feeling whacky I sneak in a little lemon juice.  Not a lot, just ALMOST a cap full – but it adds a “wang” that is surprisingly YUMMO.

THE PREP

PREHEAT YOUR OVEN TO 400 DEGREES at this point.

Once the sauce is made, fire up your skillet with a little oil in it.  I like Olive oil but vegetable oil sure is more affordable.  You don't need TONS, you’re just going to be browning up the balls before baking them.  This helps sear in some of that flavor so that the barbque isn't the ONLY thing you taste when you eat.  

When your oil is hot, dredge your balls in the flour and place them in your skillet.  The goal here is NOT to cook them thru, you’re just wanting a nice browning on the outside.  being pink inside is perfect because that will brown while they are baking and wont turn out all dry.   So brown away.  I put enough in the skillet at once that the skillet is full but they aren’t touching each other.  After a few minutes kind of roll em over to get the other side.  Don't play with them too much though or you’ll knock all the flour off and have a gravy mess going on.   When they are brown put them back in your casserole dish.  And do this over and over until you have done them all.

*TIP:  The first time I made these, I put the balls from the skillet onto a napkin to drain off any grease.  DONT DO IT.  They need that little bit of grease to stay moist in the oven.  If you drain it all off now they will be a crunchy dry mess.  A golf ball dipped in barbque!  I’ll say again… NO ONE likes dry balls!

Once you have all these balls browned, take a big spoon and slather each of them with some of the barbque sauce.   I usually have JUST ENOUGH.

You are going to bake this at 350 for about 40-45 minutes, so lower your oven from the 400 we preheated to, to 350 and pop them in the oven.  Starting out at a higher temp kind of “flash fires” the sauce onto the balls so it doesn't all just “melt off” as the balls cook.

When the timer beeps you will have a yummy GLORIOUS batch of balls!

I usually serve with mashed potatoes and a side salad.

*these babies are AMAZING done in the CROCK POT and left on low simmer all day.  Just be sure to cook on LOW or WARMER, 2 batches of the barbque sauce, and add a little water to the sauce if it starts to dry out.

GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!