Green Salty Balls
Didn’t really know what else to call them and it felt appropriate… somehow.
Take large Green Olives stuffed with Jalapeno (Hy-vee brand is good) and wrap a 3rd of a strip of bacon around them and secure with a toothpick, cook, and viola! Green Salty Balls. I liked Gates BBQ Sauce as a dipper for these balls because it really helped smooth the salty taste out. Yes, my balls were too salty.
To enjoy your green salty balls with a little less salt, I recommend rinsing with cold water thoroughly (soak and drain perhaps?) to remove the vinegar/salt mixture they bathe in until consumed. For these I used a unique method of grilling I learned from an Instructable called “Hellfire Burger.” Basically you take a chimney and grate coated in oil and grill over it once the coals are hot. I’ll be honest, this method cooks small shit REALLY fast (and DONE). Remember to oil the grate as it cools off to restore it. Click on to see before and after pics.
Here’s how the “Hellfire Burger” Method looks… I started the Balls in the middle to get the heat up (It’s bacon, ya know) and then let them rest up on the outer ring of the grate to cook a bit slower, this REALLY helps to stop the charring. This method is perfect for small grilled snacks like this, use as much coal as necessary, a little goes a long way for short cooking time needs like dogs, burgers, and those weird things they sell in the meat section at the grocery store like crab-filled-mushroom-potato-ham-pepper:
And of course, the presentations:
You may find they go pretty quick:
All said and done I would probably forego the toothpicks and find a more permanent solution (like metal skewers) that won’t burn while cooking. I’m sure you’re thinking, “Why didn’t you tell me that in the instructions?” Because now you know what I had to eat to learn that lesson. Oh what fun I like to have !
Of course, if you picked that up from the get go or read ahead you’re just a bit ahead of the game and I’m glad my experience helped you perfect it the first time out! Yum!