These are a relatively quick to make, crowd-pleasing use of venison. The barbecue sauce and egg keeps even the leanest meat from tasting too dry, and the soup mix and bread crumbs keep them from being too wet to shape. Originally written August 2008.

Ingredients

• 3 pounds ground venison (or beef)
• 2 packets dry onion soup mix
• 2 extra-large or 3 large eggs
• ½ Cup barbecue sauce
• approx. 1 Cup bread crumbs

Directions

• In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients but the bread crumbs, working as little as possible to get an even mixture.
• Once all the other ingredients are mixed, add just enough bread crumbs that the mixture “holds together.”
• Roll into approximately 1 inch (2.5cm) balls and cook, refrigerate or freeze for later use.
• To cook, put on a grill and turn every couple minutes. Fresh meatballs will take as little as 5 minutes on a hot grill. Frozen might take a half-hour on a very slow grill or 15 minutes on medium heat.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 5-20 minutes

Feeds a couple dozen as an appetizer or eight as a main course

Note that all the work for these is in the preparation. As long as you roll meatballs about an inch in diameter, they'll cook fast on the grill. Just turn them over when the bottom side gets done. Two or three turns should suffice to get them completely cooked.

If you're going to freeze meatballs, spread them in a single layer on the biggest sheet-pan that will fit in your freezer and pop them in for at least a half-hour before transferring them to a zip-top bag for long-term storage. They'll freeze more quickly that way, which makes for better flavor when they're thawed and cooked.

#recipe #main #appetizer

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