East Texas Boar Balls

Somewhere in Middle-Of-Nowhere East Texas, there is a guy named Claude who has driven all his life without a license. Claude and his brother trapped a wild hog. Tsagoi and Claude butchered the hog. I wound up with 3 pounds of its meat in ziplock freezer bags labeled with a magic marker, “backstrap” and “fry meat”. So that’s how this meal happened. Thank you Claude, Brother, Mom, and Tsagoi. Sorry, Hog, but thank you, too.

I brined and grilled some of the backstrap like steaks, and I mixed the leftovers with the "fry meat" and ground it and made meatballs- my failsafe way to taste a meat and make sure it’s tender and juicy. I didn’t add much seasoning- just salt, pepper, parsley, and fennel (a great combo for pork). In case it ended up dry (it didn’t), and because I won’t do bottled on a meal like this, I cooked up The Meatball Shop’s BBQ sauce- heavy on sugar and cumin. Yum.

I served it with rustic sides to honor its wild flavor. I give you…

Grilled Wild Hog Backstrap, Boar Balls, Smashed Turnips with Fresh Horseradish, Collard Greens, and BBQ Sauce, cuz #EastTX

The balls were a great idea and came out fabulous. The grilled backstrap took crazy sawing to get through, but was tender when eaten. Tasted like pork tenderloin, but just a little different, hard to put my finger on. Mom says, “wild”.I’ll take that.