Cookin' with Wood

Bucket o' Balls

I had a bag of homestyle meatballs in the freezer, and didn't know what to do with them. I discovered by reading the back of the bag that you could have eight of them done in the microwave in a minute and a half. They're kinda small, and they're already cooked, so that seemed reasonable. While I was heating them up, I looked in the fridge, and saw some chile sauce that I figured I must've bought for some recipe in the past, and decided to try it as a dip for the meatballs. It worked out well, but I knew it was only a short-term solution. There had to be something better I could do with this combination. That was the genesis of this recipe.

As I thought about it, I imagined something with some type of bread, and maybe some cheese. I followed that thread, and came up with the method of preparation I'm happy to share with you now. I must confess, I had a hard time coming up with a name for it. Even though I made them to watch a football event, they seem to have taken on a golf theme. I'm not a fan of golf. I don't even consider it a sport. There's no defense. Chess is more of a sport than golf. But this recipe includes meatBALLS, RANGErolls, and bread BUCKETS, so I'm going to go ahead and name them "Bucket o' Balls" as if some guy who likes golf made up the recipe. If you ever see Tiger Woods eating one, tell him he owes me money!

The first thing I did was slice up the onion and mushrooms into very small pieces. In the small skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat, then add the onion and mushroom and saute for a few minutes. Meanwhile, slice the range rolls in half and hollow them out by peeling out the bread from the middle. Don't go too deep, or you'll break through the crust. Toast them in the toaster oven with the middle facing up until the edges are browned. I tried them with toasted and un-toasted rolls, and the toasted ones were better. While your rolls are toasting, microwave the meatballs. You'll need about five for every half roll. Adjust cooking times for the amount you're making.

By now you should have toasted rolls, saute'd onion and mushroom, and heated meatballs. Put a teaspoon of the onion/mushroom mixture in each of the roll halves, add four or five meatballs, top with the chile sauce and grated cheese, then microwave for about ten seconds, just enough to melt the cheese.

These "Bucket's o' Balls" are not only very tasty, they're really easy and fast to make. You can find the range rolls in the baked goods section of your supermarket. Feel free to make them for your next football or chess party.

Bob is the author of "Don't Fry Bacon with Your Shirt Off!  A Single Man's Guide to the Kitchen"  a PublishAmerica book.