Stout BBQ Meat Ball Sliders
"Do pigs…smell like bacon?'
I’m talking to a Hat Grabber at a party in Vegas. Hat Grabber is shorthand for a very young, very pretty, fairly vacant, girl who does things only she can do without getting punched in the face. This includes things like grabbing the hats of the heads of men she’s just met, putting it on her head, and forcing everyone to answer the question, "OH MY GOD, HOW CUTE DO I LOOK?" Hat grabbers.
I’m talking to a Hat Grabber about growing up on a farm, and she asks me if pigs smell like bacon.
"Live pigs? Do live pigs smell like bacon?" I’m a little confused and wonder if I actually heard her correctly.
"….yeah. I mean, I’ve always wondered that."
I’m mostly thinking about how quickly I can exit the conversation without hurting her feelings. "No," I answer, "They don’t smell that good. Also, cows don’t smell like hamburgers."
She laughs. She thinks I’m hilarious. I point to the waiter circulating the party with a silver tray of mini burgers. "How cute are those?! You should eat one!" She grabs her Hat Grabbing accomplice that has just returned from the bar and heads right for the cute food.
I’m relieved, I feel like I’ve been rescued. I owe the remainder of that evening to cute mini burgers. Burgers that actually do smell much more like bacon than live pigs do.
Stout & Sriracha Beer Barbecue Sauce Recipe
Stout BBQ Meat Ball Sliders
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground chuck
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup stout beer
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 1 batch 2 cups Stout & Sriracha BBQ Sauce (link above)
- 12 slider buns
Instructions
- In a large bowl add the meat, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, salt, egg, bread crums, and beer. stir until just combined (about two of three turns with your hands). Over handling the meat will make it tough and mealy.
- Place bowl in the fridge for 1 hour and up to 1 day (this will help keep it’s shape during cooking.
- Using a cookie scoop, make balls just smaller than a golf ball with the chilled meat.
- Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat until very hot. Add the meat balls, pull the skillet back and forth over the burner to roll the meat balls around in the pan. Cook until meatballs are just starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat and add the barbeque sauce, cover with a lid, cooking at a simmer until meatballs are glazed and sauce is very thick.
- Place one to two meatballs inside slider buns. Serve warm.