Re: [CH] Meatballs (thanks!)

JohnT (Love2Troll@kc.rr.com)
Mon, 19 Sep 2005 11:21:02 -0500

Meatballs start-up
http://www.fototime.com/F9CD7053EF42825/standard.jpg

Meatballs at aprox 2 hours
http://www.fototime.com/5BD70AA0045B8D7/standard.jpg

The smoker
http://www.fototime.com/9F45DD81DBDDC0D/standard.jpg


Smoked at a pretty steady 250° using lump charcoal and one nice 
chunk (maybe 1 1/2 lb) of seasoned pecan wood.  The lump charcoal 
burns a little hotter and a lot cleaner than briquettes...  with 
absolutely no petrol taste.

The meatballs turned out quite well.  I made two batches & the first 
batch is pictured above.  Took aprox 3 hours for each batch.  The 
RisaG ones I smoked until internal temp of 167° and the DaveD batch 
172° I think.

RisaG:

1 lb ground pork
1 lb ground chicken sausage (subbed ground Honeysuckle turkey)
2 eggs lightly beaten
4 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
4 cloves minced garlic
2 tsp dried oregano (crumbled)  (I used a tad less)
6 tbsp oat bran
2 grinds black pepper
2 tsp sea salt (I used only one)
     (I added 1/2 cup chopped Vidalia onions to her recipe)

All but the front row 5 meatballs were covered with Plochman's mild 
yellow mustard before smoking.  Added a very light dusting of 
Zatarain's Creole Seasoning on top of each.


DaveD:

1 lb ground beef  (I used 80/20 ground chuck)
1 lb ground pork
2/3 cup chopped onions
4 tbsp flour
2 tbsp fresh minced cilantro
1 tsp dried oregano (I used slightly less)
1/2 tsp ground cumin (I ground up cumin seeds)
2 eggs beaten
6 tbsp vegetable oil (I used canola)
I added 4 minced cloves garlic to the meatballs as didn't make his 
sauce

The meatballs were covered with a 50/50 mixture of Plochman's 
mustard and JimC's "General Hurtin'" hot sauce before smoking

Was very pleased at how the mustard/hot sauce worked in 
combination...  even though 3 hours at a pretty steady 250° there 
was still some heat and a lot of sauce flavor.  And I think some 
chopped celery would work in both recipes.

Today will be out on the deck cooking the spaghetti and trying to 
decide which sauce to use before rolling everything up into 
burritos.   I have Classico Roasted Garlic, Bertolli Garlic Alfredo 
and Mezzetta Roasted Garlic.

Some of you know that I practically live on Saran Wrap(ped) frozen 
ho-made burritos.  Nuke for 2 minutes, remove the SW, slit them 
across top lengthwise, add cheese sauce, hot sauce or whatever and 
nuke for an additional minute.  Absolutely perfect for someone that 
eats only one meal per day and only cooks a couple times per week. 
Not sure how warming them up on my smoker will work at Open Field. 
We will see.

And thanks again to Risa and Dave for the recipes!