Boys Night IN - BBQ Fried/Baked MEATBALLS and a little Spaghetti

Last night my wife and my neighbor's wife (actually, she is my neighbor also, but I digress...) attended one of those ridiculous "parties" where friends are asked to buy Cookware they will never use, Jewelry they do not really want or Erotic Jammies they will... wait, that party is a GREAT idea, it's the other two that are silly. Sadly, last night, Jackie and Hemie went to a jewelry party.

So, it was time for a guy's night in. Hermie's husband (and my neighbor) Jim came over for a night of belching, scratching, "V" (the new TV series that I taped but never got around to watching the last two episodes), and this original recipe for BBQ SAUCE , Baked first, then Fried: MAN SIZED MEATBALLS (and just to pretty the plate up... spaghetti, homemade sauce, garlic toast and Jim brought the beer!)

Here's what I did...

Assemble your ingredients...

A pound of hamburger
a pound of sausage
1 onion - diced
some sweet peppers - cored, seeded and diced
garlic (lots and lots of garlic) - diced
two eggs
2 ounces provolone cheese -shredded
1/4 cup all purpose flour

2 more eggs
1/2 cup of oil
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs

And a secret ingredient...

BRANDY MANDARIN - ORANGE Sauce from R.P.Hill Exotic Sauce CO. "Gourmet Sauce ~ With a Little Kick". Advertised as All Natural, NO FAT sauce, 2007 Flavor of Georgia Winner! The ingredient list is a joy to read... Almost no salt (a small amount in the Tomato Paste, but no additional salt added). And, very low sugar. I was very excited to give this a shot.

OK... Here's what I did...

Put the first 8 ingredients into your Kitchenaid mixer and use the hook attachment to mix up the meat and seasonings. If you are one of the sad few that do not have a big ass beautiful mixer, use your hands. Also, add 1/4 cup of the BBQ sauce of choice.

While the meat is mixing, ready a casserole pan (spray a bit of spray on canola oil).

And form into balls. You can make dainty one inch balls, or big MAN SIZED BALLS! It was to be a guy's night in, so I made MAN SIZED BALLS! 11 of these beauties fit into the pan perfect!

Bake your balls at 325 degrees for 50 minutes! Meanwhile, lets work on the sauce...

Again, assemble the ingredients...

Garlic (lots) ... Finely chopped in my mini chopper
Some more sweet peppers ... Finely chopped in my mini chopper
1 onion ... Finely chopped in my mini chopper
18 ounces of tomato sauce
4 ounces of tomato paste
and, since this was MAN food for real MEN, I added a can of Mexican SPICED chopped tomatoes.

Not pictured, but prior to serving, I noticed that the sauce had been reduced to a very thick sauce. I added about a cup of red wine to thin the sauce.

Combine everything and let simmer until ready to serve...

Meanwhile, my balls were done baking... But I wanted a little crisp to the texture, so I was going to fry them as well...

Get your oil hot, roll the balls in egg, and then roll them in the fancy breadcrumbs (they really do make a difference).

And fry your balls...

Roll them around to get your balls crusty.

Cook the spaghetti according to the directions on the bag. Toast a bit of bread with garlic (I like Garlic) butter in the broiler, pop the top on a couple of beers (no glasses, real men don't need glasses).

Shred a little more provolone over the top.

The Toast was good, the the spaghetti was good, the spaghetti sauce was really good...

But I would stack my balls against any one's...
My motto, real balls for real men!!!

Ladies, I apologize for the wording of the above post. Too much beer and testosterone and I channel my years at Edison Junior High School.

And today is the last day you can enter my contest to WIN A FREE bottle of the BBQ sauce I used in the recipe. It really is terrific, and I would urge you to hunt it down. For details on the contest (and a great gift idea, "sauce of the month club", click HERE... but hurry, last day!

...

And finally, allow me to get on my soapbox for a second...

We never ever let our cats climb on the counter tops, nor on the dining room table. There is never ever a single bit of cat hair in my cooking. And furthermore, people like Pam on her blog, SIDEWALK SHOES, who think that it is FUNNY (can you imagine) to show people that she not only allows her cat on the dining room table, but seemingly brags about how full of cat hair that table must be should be ashamed...

I can not possibly imagine the type of person that would allow this...

Incredible...

ummm...

Hmmm...

My cat, Chang must have hypnotized me (look at her eyes)... She never ever sits on the table...

never... ever...

Really, never...

Honest, after all, have you ever been lied to by a man?

Oh, and take a peak at Pam's blog. She does a weekly posting of possibly the third cutest cat on the Internet (after my Chang and Eng of course... ;)

Now, where the heck is that "tongue in cheek" font button???