Carolina BBQ Meatballs

[TasunkaWitko]

Smoke 'em, if you want to - they'll be even better!

Carolina BBQ Meatballs

For 16 meatballs:

1 lb. ground pork
1 tsp brown sugar, honey or sugar substitute
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp celery salt
1 egg
1/4 cup bread crumbs or almond flour
1 Tbsp water

For the BBQ sauce

1/4 cup yellow mustard
2 tsp Frank's Hot Sauce
1 Tbsp dried onion flakes
3 Tbsp brown sugar, honey or sugar substitute
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp ketchup
salt and pepper to taste

Start the sauce first so the flavors have time to develop while you are making the meatballs.

For the sauce.

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan, stirring until smooth. Simmer on low heat for about 8 minutes.

For the meatballs

Combine all of the meatball ingredients in a medium bowl and mix thoroughly. Form into 16 meatballs. In a large, nonstick saute pan, fry the meatballs over medium heat until golden on all sides and cooked through. About 3 - 4 minutes per side. Toss the meatballs gently in the sauce, then spread on a parchment lined baking sheet and broil (carefully!!) for 2 - 3 minutes.

Ron's notes:

These were good! The cumin was interesting and the acidity was on point, giving it the Carolina ambiance. I thought the ketchup would be too much, but it worked well, for sure. We used celery seed rather than celery salt, and chili powder rather than cayenne. Other than that, it was by the book and I liked it. It really was a bit like having Carolina pulled pork - not the same, but reminiscent of it.

For a side, we had a sort of "broccoli slaw," shown here:

http://www.greengiantfresh.com/value-added/broccoli-slaw

Topped the slaw with a homemade Italian sauce, and we were good to go.

Definitely worth a try as-is. I'm sure that a person could improvise it a bit to tweak it if they want, but it's really not necessary.

 

[Mismost]

That does sound good! I make a Carolina style pulled pork in the crockpot....big Boston butt...big jar of whole dill pickles...butt in the pot, pour pickles & juice into crockpot...low and slow for 8 hours. Throw away the pickles, you wouldn't want to eat them anyway after you see them! pull the pork and shred it up. Add a bottle of Chili Sauce to the juices, stir it up good and throw the pork back in the pot.

Good sandwiches...great sandwiches if you put good coleslaw on them! You get that salt vinegar twang from the pickle juice, a little tomato from the chili sauce, good pork flavor, and the creamy coleslaw just pops the sandwich. Freezes good too.

 

[rulesoferick]

hey i like the idea! sounds like im preparing it for dinner!

 

[piertduane]

(Hi, I'm new and looking around. Me, Facebook: 'bbq fast food budget rehab'. I Studied a little winemaking at university.) These meatballs sound fantastic!