Recipe: MOINK Balls ala The BBQ Grail

For those of you following, you know that this Saturday is WORLD MOINK BALL DAY! In honor of that, I made MOINK balls this week, and will be making them at the Smokin’ in Seattle Eggfest.

I made them according to the recipe by the MOINK master himself, Larry Gaian of The BBQ Grail. Besides sharing these tasty wonders with you, and preparing for the Eggfest, I had a third motivation: I want my MOINK ball certification.

Certification? Yes! As Barry “CB” Martin explains on the Char-Broil blog, Larry will send you a commemorative certificate if you follow his three simple instructions listed there by June 7th. Hey, maybe you could pass it off at work as a “continuing education” credit. It’s worth a shot.

On to the MOINK balls. First, see Larry Gaian making his MOINK balls on Fox 40 Live here. If you want to read the whole story, recipe, and background of the MOINK ball, check out WikQuepedia.

Per the recipe, you must buy all beef, fully cooked meatballs. Finding meatballs without pork or “soy protein” can be tough, but I found a nice product at Trader Joes.

Another must is a thick sliced and meaty bacon. Cut the bacon in half, and wrap a half slice around each meatball. Secure with a toothpick.

Rub generously with rub of your choice. I used my own “Cocoa Bliss” rub from She-Smoke, because I have a lot of it in the house. That is so important in barbecue. Use what you have. Innovate from the shelf.

Smoke at 225 degrees on a charcoal or wood smoker. I didn’t pay exact attention to the time, but I think Larry’s estimate of 90 minutes total cooking time is what I did. After about an hour, I turned the balls. It’s not necessary, but I wanted my bacon a little crispier.

I made a simple glaze of BBQ Sauce and grape jelly (I used the sauce Pork Barrel BBQ gave me at Memphis in May. Thanks guys – it’s delish!). The original BBQ Grail recipe calls for a Chipotle-Raspberry-Balsamic glaze, but I wanted to keep mine mild for the kids.

I dipped each MOINK in the glaze and cooked them for another 20 minutes or so. OMG! I ate way too many. I can tell I’d better get a lot more meatballs for Saturday. They are going to be devoured.