Recipe of the Week: Old School Cheese Ball

I guess this could be classified as a "vintage" recipe. It was a holiday party staple in my childhood years - every Christmas and New Year's party had at least one cheese ball set out, and this one is generally better than store-bought varieties. It is getting difficult to find chipped beef these days but this is a trusty recipe that always delivers on flavor, so it's worth the hunt to find the beef.  Notice the recipe does not call for any salt; the Worcestershire sauce and beef will add more than enough sodium for anyone's palate. 

Where's the beef?  For those of you who aren't familiar with chipped beef and all its potential uses, such as chipped-beef-on-toast...a package of this is what you're looking for in the packaged lunchmeat section of your grocery store.

You may also find jars of dried chipped beef along with other canned meats and tuna - but if you can find the refrigerated package, I'd recommend it over a jar of dried beef.

Beef and Cheese Ball

Ingredients:
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
3 green onions, diced fine (be sure to include some of the green tops for flavor and color)
1 package chipped beef, sliced into slivers
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Chopped pecans or sharp shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together; blend well.  Form into a ball and roll in crushed nuts or cheese.  Refrigerate until firm and serve with crackers.  Makes one cheese ball.

Alternatively, the mixture can be placed between pecan halves for serving as bite-size hors d'oeuvres.

Happy appetizer-ing!