swibirun
is one Smokin' Farker
I know rib tips cook along with the ribs can be a great treat but I am always looking for new ideas for ways to use my rib tips. I wanted to share this one because it was pretty darn good.
Yesterday I took the rib tips and trimmings from 3 spares and the scraps from a pork loin I had trimmed. I cut it up into 1" or so pieces, being very careful to remove all cartilage/bones. (kept that for stock)
It yielded about 2 1/2 lbs of ground meat after the first pass through the grinder. (Yes, I used a much larger bowl, I was just trying to show the coarse ground in this picture.)
I saved half and then used the other half for this Mexican Meat Ball recipe.
Holy Mole' Mexican Meatballs
source: NibbleMeThis
Meat Balls
1.25 lb ground pork
3/4 cup finely torn bread (I tore up a leftover yeast roll)
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp cumin, ground
1/2 tsp coriander, ground
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flake
Holy Mole Sauce
adapted from Alton Brown's Enchilada Sauce
3-4 cloves garlic, very finely minced
2 ea chipotle in adobo sauce, seeded and diced
2 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp roasted cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
6 oz can tomato paste
2 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups spicy pork stock
2 Tbsp turbinado sugar
1/2 ounce semi sweet chocolate
This is an accidental mole' sauce. My plan was to simmer the browned meatballs in AB's enchilada sauce but my spicy pork stock made it a bit "too kicky". So I tamed it down with an extra Tbsp of sugar and the chocolate at the end. Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.
Make your sauce by simmering all of the sauce ingredients except 1 Tbsp sugar and the chocolate for 45 minutes. Since my sauce was heated up by the spicy pork stock I made, if you are using chicken stock or beef stock, add a tsp of red pepper flake. Shave the chocolate into the sauce and let melt. Taste for seasoning and add the 1 Tbsp of sugar and salt/pepper as needed.
If using ground pork, make your meatballs by mixing all the ingredients together by hand. Since I was grinding my own pork, I added all of the ingredients together before the second grind (fine die) and ground it all together like you would do for a sausage. I like this technique because it really integrates the seasonings with the meat.
Either way, form the mix into 12 -15 meatballs.
Get your grill burning at 350f direct heat and brown your meatballs in 1 Tbsp of oil in a cast iron dutch oven (or brown them in a cast iron skillet on the stove top). This should take about 10 minutes.
Now add about 2 cups of the mole sauce to the dutch oven, cover and allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. The sauce should reduce and thicken up during this time.
Temp check your meat balls and pull them off when they reach an internal temperature of 165f. Mine were 170f at 15 minutes but were not overcooked at all.
Serve over rice and top with shredded cheese and chives (or white queso, cilantro, or whatever).
This absolutely did not suck!
Yesterday I took the rib tips and trimmings from 3 spares and the scraps from a pork loin I had trimmed. I cut it up into 1" or so pieces, being very careful to remove all cartilage/bones. (kept that for stock)
It yielded about 2 1/2 lbs of ground meat after the first pass through the grinder. (Yes, I used a much larger bowl, I was just trying to show the coarse ground in this picture.)
I saved half and then used the other half for this Mexican Meat Ball recipe.
Holy Mole' Mexican Meatballs
source: NibbleMeThis
Meat Balls
1.25 lb ground pork
3/4 cup finely torn bread (I tore up a leftover yeast roll)
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp cumin, ground
1/2 tsp coriander, ground
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flake
Holy Mole Sauce
adapted from Alton Brown's Enchilada Sauce
3-4 cloves garlic, very finely minced
2 ea chipotle in adobo sauce, seeded and diced
2 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp roasted cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
6 oz can tomato paste
2 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups spicy pork stock
2 Tbsp turbinado sugar
1/2 ounce semi sweet chocolate
This is an accidental mole' sauce. My plan was to simmer the browned meatballs in AB's enchilada sauce but my spicy pork stock made it a bit "too kicky". So I tamed it down with an extra Tbsp of sugar and the chocolate at the end. Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.
Make your sauce by simmering all of the sauce ingredients except 1 Tbsp sugar and the chocolate for 45 minutes. Since my sauce was heated up by the spicy pork stock I made, if you are using chicken stock or beef stock, add a tsp of red pepper flake. Shave the chocolate into the sauce and let melt. Taste for seasoning and add the 1 Tbsp of sugar and salt/pepper as needed.
If using ground pork, make your meatballs by mixing all the ingredients together by hand. Since I was grinding my own pork, I added all of the ingredients together before the second grind (fine die) and ground it all together like you would do for a sausage. I like this technique because it really integrates the seasonings with the meat.
Either way, form the mix into 12 -15 meatballs.
Get your grill burning at 350f direct heat and brown your meatballs in 1 Tbsp of oil in a cast iron dutch oven (or brown them in a cast iron skillet on the stove top). This should take about 10 minutes.
Now add about 2 cups of the mole sauce to the dutch oven, cover and allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. The sauce should reduce and thicken up during this time.
Temp check your meat balls and pull them off when they reach an internal temperature of 165f. Mine were 170f at 15 minutes but were not overcooked at all.
Serve over rice and top with shredded cheese and chives (or white queso, cilantro, or whatever).
This absolutely did not suck!
. I don't do well in the Throwdowns (although I do enjoy watching everyone elses).
