Cyndi Allison's Yes You Can Grill MOINK Balls!

I got a great email from Cyndi Allison at Yes You Can Grill about her MOINK Ball initiation. I’ve posted her story below. You can read more about Cyndi and he BBQ exploits on her website.

The wild and crazy guys at Winter Grillin’ tossed out a MOINK challenge for Super Bowl weekend. Although I’ve grilled for years, I’d never heard of MOINKS. With a little lurking, I figured out that I needed hamburger (moo) and bacon (oink). Basically, I wanted meatballs wrapped in bacon. Other than that, I was winging it on this new-to-me grill delight.

Most of the guys were using frozen meatballs for the MOINKS, but I’ve never even seen those around here. So, I got ground beef and a couple of packs of Carolina Pride bacon.

My kid adores cheese and asked if MOINKS could be cheesed. I figured they could, so I grated a cup of cheddar and hand mixed that in with the ground beef. After that, I poured some Wild n Mild (wild version) marinade over the meatballs. One of my friends down in Mississippi makes Wild n Mild, and he’s just starting out. I love his marinade/sauce. It’s thin and a great multiple purpose go-to condiment. After that I rolled each MOINK ball in a half slice of bacon. The Wild n Mild is sticky enough that the bacon hung tight, but I put a toothpick in each MOINK for good measure and so that the MOINKS would be easier to eat when they were done. Gotta love handles for appetizers.

With it cold and dark outside and since MOINKS are not supposed to be labor intensive, I put mine in a grill wok. My coals were offset in a Portable Kitchen (PK) Outdoor Cooker grill – yes – the retro type your Dad or Granddad may have used. I learned to grill on a PK, and they are back on the market, so I have a new one. Mom still has the original PK. I just put the MONKS on, closed the lid and let the MONKS smoke for about an hour and 20 minutes.

My kid kept asking, “Are the MOINKS done yet?” And, finally they were. Whoa buddy. Those were good eating as they say in the South. We ate all but four of the MOINKS, and the kid heated the leftovers up for breakfast.

I tweeted about our MOINKS and some of the barbecue guys told me that BBQGrail invented the MOINKS. So, I had to go and check to see if I got mine right or close. Pretty near. And, now a great story about how a recipe traveled from one coast to the other by word-of-mouth. Who would think a grill girl from NC would be getting a recipe from a guy in CA? Only in a cyber world.

Now I can pass along the MOINK love at Yes You Can Grill and on my Barbecue Master blog, and I even know the history and the rules. By the time the next Super Bowl rolls around, goodness knows how many people will be MOINKing thanks to BBQGrail and the online grapevine.