BeerBorg

Tomorrow the Giants are playing the Patriots. Since my son and I are big fans of Big Blue, and my brother and his son are Pats supporters, I've invited them over to watch the game. Naturally, there will be homebrew, and we also have to have game-time food. My brother is bringing his fryer over, and will be making his delicious chicken wings, and I will be making moink balls. I got this recipe from seriouseats.com, and it's a good one. Of course, you can made whatever modifications you care to make, but this is a simple recipe that can't help but turn out great.

1 1/2 pound ground beef chuck, at least 20% fat
3/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons freshly minced garlic, about 2 cloves (optional)
1/2 lb bacon, halved
1/4 cup of your favorite barbecue rub, divided
1 small chunk of medium smoking wood, such as oak or hickory
1 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce

1. Place ground beef, bread crumbs, eggs, and garlic in a large bowl. Using your hands, mix together until thoroughly combined.

2. Roll out meat mixture into balls 1 inch in diameter. Wrap half a slice of bacon around each meatball and secure with a toothpick. Season meatballs generously with barbecue rub.

3. Light one chimney full of charcoal. When all the charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and arrange the coals on one side of the charcoal grate. Place wood chunk directly on coals. Set cooking grate in place, cover grill and allow to preheat for 5 minutes. Clean and oil the grilling grate. Place meatballs on cool side of grill, cover, and cook until cooked through and bacon has browned, about 20 minutes. Brush meatballs with barbecue sauce, cover grill, and continue to cook until sauce has set, about 5 minutes. Remove from grill, let rest for 5 minutes, then serve.

Now, I use my gas grill for this, and get my smoke from a foil packet with soaked wood chips. Works just fine. The rub, combined with the smoke and the sauce, really make these great, especially with a good beer and a football game to enjoy. They work well as either an appetizer, or as part of a larger spread. Heck, they're even great as a stand-alone meal, in my book.

If you're in a hurry, you can also use pre-made frozen meatballs, but obviously, they're not going to be as good as the handmade ones.

Sounds yummy!

Those things are awesome!! Try forming that meatball around a small block of cheese, like pepperjack. Oh, my!!!!

BlackDuck wrote:Those things are awesome!! Try forming that meatball around a small block of cheese, like pepperjack. Oh, my!!!!

Yes, plenty of room to be creative with these. And your comment reminds me of the Bacon Explosion, which is a similar idea to the moink balls, but more like a meatloaf formed around cheese (strips of harder cheese, like cheddar, Romano, Parmesan, work great), and a latticework of bacon wrapped around it. Rubbed before offset smoking and then sauced for a glaze, and you, my friend, are set.

FedoraDave wrote: but more like a meatloaf formed around cheese (strips of harder cheese, like cheddar, Romano, Parmesan, work great), and a latticework of bacon wrapped around it.

Group on FB called smoking meat low and slow, has lots of different ones like these referred to as "Fatties" stuffed with anything you can imagine. And I'm sure no cholesterol at all I have drooled over some of these posts but have not tried yet.

Man I REALLY hate to necro post but for the record MOINKS are awesome. I thought only us guys over at BBQ Brethren knew what they were. And a "Fattie" is a sausage chub either cooked as is or stuffed and or wrapped in bacon. I prefer my Fatties non stuffed and not wrapped. I like them as is nekked.

But MOINKS are the cats a**!!!!

Hey, no reason NOT to resurrect a thread. It all just keeps going.