If your place is the spot folks gather to watch games or celebrate the holidays, I think you might want to have this recipe in your hopper. Those of you who enjoy Buffalo wings will quickly become fans of these easy to make meat balls that come from The Meatball Shop Cookbook. This is a really simple recipe and there is little that could be added to improve it. I do, however, have a caution to share with those of you who will plan to make these gems for the first time. The amount and type of hot sauce you use to make these is really important. If at all possible, use the Frank's Red Hot Sauce that is called for in this recipe. It adds flavor as well as heat. If you have to use a vinegar based hot sauce, watch the amount of it you use. I've made these meat balls using other sauces and found myself breathing fire. I don't mind heat, but I bristle when it kills my taste buds and the vinegar based sauces will do just that. I do hope you will try these. They are very very nice and I think you will enjoy them. Here's the recipe.

Buffalo Chicken Meat Balls with Blue Cheese Sauce

Ingredients:

Meat Balls
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1/3 cup Frank's Red Hot Sauce or any other favorite hot sauce

1 pound ground chicken, preferably thigh meat

1 large egg

1/2 celery stalk, minced

3/4 cup bread crumbs

1 teaspoon salt

Sauce
3/4 cup sour cream

1/3 cup crumbled Blue Cheese

1/3 cup whole milk

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon salt or more to taste

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Drizzle vegetable oil into a 9 × 13-inch baking dish and use your hand to evenly coat bottom and sides of pan. Set aside.

2) Combine butter and hot sauce in a small saucepan, and cook over low heat, whisking until butter is melted and fully incorporated. Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool for 10 minutes.

3) Combine hot sauce mixture, ground chicken, egg, celery, bread crumbs, and salt in a large mixing bowl and mix by hand until thoroughly incorporated.

4) Roll mixture into round, 3/4-inch balls, making sure to pack meat firmly. Place balls in prepared baking dish, being careful to line them up snugly and in even rows vertically and horizontally to form a grid. The meatballs should be touching one another.

5) Roast for 15 to 20 minutes, or until meatballs are firm and cooked through. A meat thermometer inserted into center of a meatball should read 165 degrees F.

6) Allow meatballs to cool for 5 minutes in baking dish before serving.

7) Place sour cream, blue cheese, milk, mayonnaise, salt, and vinegar in a medium bowl and whisk thoroughly until completely combined. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if desired. Yield: 40 3/4-inch meatballs.

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