Bertolli Sauce and Smoked Meatballs on the BBQ Grill - Happy 150th Birthday

 Happy 150th Birthday Bertolli

We have a Italian sauce issue at my house. I love homemade, but my boys think the jarred is better. Go figure. This meant that I was a little worried about trying out Bertolli (which I've not had before), but I thought it would be worth a try. They would send out the beautiful box of their 150th birthday gourmet sauces, and I might or might not find a sauce from a jar that I enjoyed serving and eating.

The box came in, and I was impressed with the packaging. Of course, presentation doesn't matter if the taste/flavor is not there. The new celebration sauces did sound yummy. They include:
  

 Marinara with Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese

Balsamic Vinegar with Caramelized Onions

              Asiago Cheese with Artichokes
                            Porcini Mushroom with White Truffle Oil

I decided to go Italian on the Weber Grill with the sauce heated and meatballs smoked. It was hard to select the first sauce to try, but I liked the sound of Porcini Mushroom with White Truffle Oil.

 Bertolli Riserva Porcini Mushroom and White Truffle Oil Sauce

It is possible to do the noodles on the grill. You have to hit a boil and then maintain the heat. It's easier on a gas sideburner though many of those do not put out enough heat. Over charcoal can hit the needed temperatures, but it's hard to keep heat even. A good thick, pot is good for holding the heat.

Since I was not out in the great outdoors, I did my pasta on the stove. It's much easier, so I'd say do that on the stove, unless you are out camping or something.

I did heat the marinara sauce over charcoal to add a little smoke flavor and also grilled meatballs with mushrooms.

 Grilled Meatballs with Bertolli Marinara 

Yum. I was very pleasantly surprised at how good the sauce tasted. The smoke added a nice note, but the basic sauce was excellent. My boys can tell you that I've never said that about any sauce in a jar. I might eat it to humor them, but I don't have to like it. This sauce, I did like as much or more than my own.

I'm glad Bertolli got in touch about their new celebration sauces. I wasn't really sure that I could ever eat sauce from a jar and love it, but that is how I feel about this red sauce. I will be buying Bertolli, and I'm thankful to have found a sauce that I really enjoy.

Grilled Bacon Wrapped Meatballs with Fischer & Wieser Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce

Fischer & Wiser Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce


I have been looking forward to trying out Fischer & Weiser's Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Barbecue Sauce. Toni sent me out a sample bottle right before I went to the beach. The packaging is really nice, and the sauce looks beautiful through the glass.

Raspberry Barbecue Sauce

It's easier to see what the Fischer & Weiser looks like when I have it poured in the bowl to sauce up some MOINK grilled meatballs. The color is just great, and you can see that the sauce looks home canned with the chunks of raspberry clearly visible.

The smell was great, so I had a quick taste before I started grilling. Wow. This sauce tastes like candy. Honestly, I could have kept eating right out of the jar. But, that would not be a very balanced dinner, so I put on the MOINKs.

MOINKs Ready to Go on the Grill to Slow Smoke

Larry at Barbecue Grail came up with MOINKs which are Moo (hamburger) and OINK (bacon) - hence the name. They are really simple to make. Just buy or make meatballs and wrap a half slice of bacon around. Secure with a toothpick (soak those in water for 20 minutes so they don't burn). Grill or smoke slowly until the meat is close done. Sauce. Finish grilling until the sauce caramelizes.

Sauced Up Barbecue Meatballs with Bacon

I was talking on the phone and ran late getting our meatballs on the grill, but they smoke pretty quickly. They can go right on the grates, but I find it easiest to use my grill wok. With the lid down on the grill at medium heat, the meatballs barbecue even and don't even need turned. On the grates, I usually have to turn them.

Here you can see that I added the Roasted Raspberry Barbecue Sauce to the MOINKs. I used a brush, but I sometimes use tongs and lift and dip each one and then put them back in. Either method works fine.

Grilled Meatballs with Raspberry BBQ Sauce

My son was starving, so he dove right in. I was close behind. We both thought the Fischer & Wieser Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce was great on the MOINKs. The very sweet flavor with only a slight hint of heat went just right with the meats. They were some of the best MOINKs we've had.

This barbecue sauce would be good where you want a nice sweet kick. The MOINKs are excellent, and I'd say the sauce would go very well with chicken and pork too. Frankly, I think it would be good on hot homemade biscuits just out of the oven as well or even ice cream.

Grilling for One? Yes - Absolutely - No Need to Suffer Right?

My family deserted me )-: Naw. Not really. But, Mom and Harry are off on a trip to Wyoming, my older son is working two hours away in a college town, and the youngest was home a day and a half and then went off to Boy Scout camp as a counselor.

No. I did not put away the grills. It's in my blood, but also I know that grilling is a healthy way to cook. Most of the fat cooks off, and I do not char my grilled food (except on rare occasions when I am very distracted).

It may seem like a lot of work to grill for one, but it really is no harder than cooking inside for one if you think about it and plan. And, it is worth it too, since you have a good meal and leftovers.

Above you see the smoked ribs I had tonight. I did them on the Traeger for around an hour. That was really easy. I just turned on the pellet grill and turned the ribs once plus sauced them with Stubbs barbecue sauce about 15 minutes before I pulled them off.

These are not traditional ribs. They are called country style ribs around here and cook faster than rib racks. They are an odd cut below the ribs and some have bones and some do not. They are lean and taste a lot like pork chops and are meaty and can be eaten with a fork and knife or with your fingers like ribs.

With a salad and roll, this was a great grilled meal for one, and I have a smoked rib left for lunch tomorrow which will be great with some garden tomatoes and cumcumbers.



The night before last I grilled chicken and potatoes. I had a new bottle of Bob Evans Wildfire barbecue sauce and wanted to give that a try. I put on a couple of large chicken breasts on sale at the IGA and made the Garlic Greek Grilled Potatoes that I mentioned earlier on the blog. Those are really yummy.



Earlier in the week, I had grilled meatballs and potatoes rubbed with olive oil and sprinkled with seasonings. I just put them on an offset charcaol grill (charcoals to one end) in the grill wok and had my main dishes ready in 45 minutes while I puttered around doing stuff in the house.

Either of my boys could polish off this many grilled meatballs and potatoes, but my metabolism is not at teen speed now. I ate around half of my grilled meal and had a nice lunch the next day with what I didn't eat the night prior.



If you wonder why I'd grill when home alone, then this warm up dinner tells the tale. I had a hankering for lasagna and bought a microwave meal. It wasn't as bad as it looks, but it sure wasn't a grilled meal.

Yes. The lasagna in the microwave was quicker, but it sure wasn't great. It did not fill me up, and there sure were not any leftovers.

After that heat-and-eat meal, I fired up the grills again. I may be home alone, but I do not have to eat yucky food. I've been going with old favorites on the grill (and working around a bag of potatoes that are going begging with the boys gone). The grill recipes I'm using are low impact (just put them on and check now and then), and I am grilling or smoking with an eye on enough to make two meals - dinner and then lunch or a dinner the next day.

For even quicker meals, I'm also firing up the Char-Broil Patio Bistro. That is an electric model where I can grill burgers, hot dogs, or grilled boneless chicken breasts faster than I could get to town and back with carry out.

International MOINK Day 2010 - Crank Up the Grill and Make Some Bacon Wrapped Meatballs

Today is World MOINK Day - not that we ever need an excuse to fire up some MOINKS on the smoker or grill. It is pretty neat to see others across the globe doing the same though, and if you've never tried MOINKs, then I invite you to join in the fun.

First of all, you may need to know what MOINK balls are. They are the creation of The BBQ Grail, and you can read the history of MOINKs at his site.

The basic idea is that you take frozen meatballs (thawed), wrap them in bacon, and slow grill or smoke them. The idea is simple but delicious, and The Holy Grail is not impressed if you try to fancy up his MOINKs. He does cut us homemade meatball rollers some slack, since we can't all find frozen meatballs at our grocery store.

How to Make MOINK Balls



First you let your frozen meatballs thaw out, or just roll up your own as I've done above. And, then add seasoning. The Holy Grail uses Yardbird Rub, but I have Not Your Average Cajun Seasoning on mine. It's not a spicy mix - just a solid, balanced and really nice flavorful seasoning.



Then you wrap the meatballs in half slices of bacon and stick a toothpick through to hold the bacon in place. Be sure to soak the toothpicks for 20 minutes or so first, because dry wood does burn. And, you do not want to catch your toothpicks on fire.

I usually add a little marinade on my MOINKs before they go on the barbecue grill. A lot of people dip them in barbecue sauce for the last little bit of grilling time for more flavor, but my boys prefer them without sauce. So, I just splash a little something on. In this case, it was just apple juice.



MOINK balls can go right on the barbecue grill grates, but I use a grill wok. That makes it super simple. I don't have to turn or move the MOINKs once I put them in.

Here you see the grill wok in a Traeger smoker, but I've also used a PK Portable Cooker and the Weber Kettle grill with the coals offset. They also work on gas grills. With the Char-Broil Big Red, I just use burners on one side and put the MOINKs on the side without heat so that they just slow grill.



Here are our National MOINK Day MOINKS. And, yes, they do taste as great as they look. I first made them during the winter when the Winter Grillers at Grillers Index were talking about them, and now I make them really often. Everyone goes wild for the MOINKs, so I get MOINK requests every week or two.

Click on the little map button below and see BBQ Grail's map of MOINKers. There were so many on the east coast, I could not get my little marker on NC or even see NC, so my lavendar marker is in the ocean. I did not really MOINK on a boat though (-: But, that would be interesting.