Iron Chef Melon: Chicken Meatballs in a Barbecue Sauce and Watermelon Puree

Iron Chef strikes again, and this time, I decided it was time to up my game, both on my recipe and my presentation.

When I was a kid, my mother used to always wow friends and neighbors at Fourth of July barbecues with her watermelon bowls. These were not simple affairs. After gutting the melon of its fruit in perfect red balls, the rind was cleaned into a flawless bowl. Edges were curved or decorated with zig-zags. Sometimes, the melon would be more of a basket, with a wicker-like handle carved with an artist’s hand. My mother was a melon master, and maybe those genes were what led to my creation.  


Or maybe, I just got carried away…

My entry was Chicken Meatballs in a Barbecue Sauce and Watermelon Puree, and my watermelon bowl was formed with an artist-want-to-be’s hand into a hedgehog (toothpicks giving the creature its spikes).

Ingredients: 
5 pounds of ground chicken
5 eggs
2.5 cups of Panko breadcrumbs 
Roughly 3 cups of Carolina Treet barbecue sauce
Roughly 3 cups of pureed (seedless) watermelon.

Mix ground chicken, eggs, and panko breadcrumbs, and form into small balls. Brown balls in a skillet until cooked through (roughly 20 minutes). As meatballs are finished (this took me a few batches), place into crock pot to keep warm. Scoop out watermelon and puree in a blender. Mix pureed watermelon with barbeque sauce and pour over meatballs in crock pot. Stir to cover evenly. Keep warm until ready to serve.

Hedgehog watermelon bowl inspired by this website: http://www.watermelon.org/recipe_detail.asp?recipeDisp=360

This was my first time making meatballs, and apparently it was a success. I walked away with my first Iron Chef winning night.

Happy cooking!

-KSP


(Click here for printable recipe)