I was listening to a podcast the other day that does a dip dive on episodes of The Golden Girls. The particular episode they were discussing featured a scene where Sophia was accused of “pilfering cheeseballs”. The hosts had never HEARD of cheeseballs and one of them began reading Google descriptions of it. The podcasters were somewhat horrified by the sounds of it but it just made me hungry for one.
As I’ve written before, Cheeseball shows up at all sorts of occasions in these parts. Happy occasion? Sad occasion? A cheeseball will help.
This is what I would call a traditional cheeseball and is probably one of the more popular variations I’ve encountered. I like to use ham but there is a strong contingent of people who prefer to use dried canned beef. I have used the beef many times as well but it’s super salty and I prefer ham. I do avoid any type of “honey” ham and go for the Black Forest or just plain old cooked ham.
Cheeseball
To make this cheeseball you’ll need:
2 8oz boxes of cream cheese, room temperature
6oz thin sliced deli ham
3 to 4 green onions, washed and trimmed
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Wash your hands and roll up your sleeves because the best way to do this is by hand. You’ll also be washing your hands a lot in between steps.
In a medium sized bowl, unwrap your softened cream cheese and give it a little squeeze to mix all into one loose ball. Then chop up your ham. I like to keep a little bit of ham out to put on the top of the cheeseball when I’m finished but that’s optional.
Add your ham over into the bowl with your cheese and chop up your green onions. If you’re not familiar with using green onions, you’ll want to trim them by chopping a bit off each end. You don’t want to use the little roots at the end and I also don’t like to use the tip end of the green. So give each end a trim, dispose of those parts, and get chopping. Add those over to your bowl along with your W sauce.
Now here’s the messy part, mix all of this up by hand and shape it a ball or loaf. If you held a little bit of ham out to put on top, go ahead and add that on once you have it the shape you want. Wrap it up in plastic wrap and pop it in the fridge for 4 hours or so. I actually like to make mine the day before I plan to serve.
Cheeseball will keep in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days but it’s doubtful that much of it will stick around that long because it’s just too good not to eat! I like Ritz or Townhouse crackers with mine.
You should also check out my sister-in-law’s recipe Aunt T’s 3 Cheese Cheeseball . For the taste of this cheeseball without the cream cheese and the messy mixing, check out my Cheeseball Dip.
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From the heart and from the holler,
Minda