Oscar meatballs

Oh my God the Oscars sucked. It was almost painful to watch. I'm going to start the 2012 Ricky Gervais petition right now. I love awards season, mostly because I like to see what everyone wears and all the crazy shit that happens. This year was such a bore. And I'm pretty sure James Franco was on something. Or he really just didn't give two shits. Either way, I hope the Oscars never does that again.

That being said, I made my cocktail meatballs for my little Oscar shin-dig, and as always they were a hit.  I've changed the recipe over the years, and I think I have perfected it. I think. I make this with my slow cooker so that it makes the whole house smelly yummy, and it makes them super tender but you can also just cook the meatballs in the sauce in a casserole dish in the oven for an hour and get a similar result.

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 cup quick cooking oats

1/3 cup evaporated milk

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1-2 minced garlic cloves

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 small chopped onion 

1 1/2 cup ketchup

1/4 teaspoon minced garlic

1/4 cup chili sauce

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon liquid smoke flavoring

2 tablespoons paprika

1/2 cup scallions (optional, basically makes it prettier)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease a large cookie sheet.
2. In a bowl, mix beef, egg, oats, evaporated milk, salt, pepper, garlic, chili powder, and half of the onion. Form into  balls and drop onto baking sheet.
3. Bake meatballs in the oven for about 5-10 minutes (you don't want them fully cooked, you just want them to get a nice brown crust on the outside)
4. While those are cooking, mix ketchup, garlic, sugar, chili sauce, paprika and the rest of the onion, and liquid smoke. Pour into your slow cooker set to high.
5. Turn slow cooker on and allow the sauce to heat up about 20 minutes.
6. Take meatballs out and put them into the sauce with your slow cooker. Gently toss them around so they get covered in the sauce (I use a rubber spatula so they don't break apart)
7. Put on low for 3 hours or high for 2 hours (depending on how fast you need them)
8. Check them every half hour or so and stir them up. When the are done, throw in some chopped scallions and stir.

These are so good, I swear. It will make even James Franco not seem so bad.