Polynesian Meatballs With Apricot Sauce I Made It Ii

Polynesian Meatballs with Apricot Sauce

DIZ3 4 years ago
Recipe: Polynesian Meatballs With Apricot Sauce
Submitted By: FavoriteFixins
Date: May 27, 2019

***May 2019 Group Recipe Challenge--Tropical Food***

Great tasting meatballs although they were a little dry. Loved the waterchestnuts and would suggest chopping them slightly larger so you get a crunch when you bite into the meatball. It’s the waterchestnuts that really make the meatball! This made exactly 40 cocktail sized meatballs. Don’t know when I’ve ever had a recipe come out exact. I used 1 lb. ground beef and 1 lb. ground pork. The recipe seemed off--only ½ tsp. finely chopped onion and ½ tsp. parsley? That didn’t seem right for 2lbs of meat. I’m thinking it was supposed to be onion powder and dried parsley. That’s what I used. Since I was using dried seasonings, I went ahead and used 1 ½ tsp. garlic powder instead of fresh garlic.

The sauce was very apricot-y. I wasn't able to find a good apricot jam and was forced to go with an off brand that I had never heard of before. It was almost solid and starting to crystallize. I am a firm believer that results vary based on the quality and brand of the ingredients which brings me to my next point. I hate recipes that call for “BBQ sauce.” There are so many brands and varieties that no two taste alike. Not all marry well with other flavors. I thought Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey Barbecue might taste good. It was okay, but I didn't care for the apricot taste. I added about a ¼ c. Kraft Hickory Smoke BBQ Sauce. Hubby thought the meatballs were just okay. I loved the flavor of the meatballs, but the sauce could be better and might have been if I’d use the Hickory Smoke BBQ in the beginning or had a better quality jam.
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Cosmicmother 4 years ago said:

Another gorgeous photo!
Lol, yeah I can't imagine chopping only a 1/2 tsp of onion! :P Good call to use dried!
Too bad the sauce didn't work out for you! I hate that too, when it calls for a sauce and doesn't specify a brand name or a type of flavour. Chili sauce always throws me off too, is it the chili sauce in a bottle next to the ketchup, or is it a sriracha type sauce or a thai style chili sauce etc.?....so many types of chili sauce.

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DIZ3 4 years ago said:

Thank you, Cosmicmother! My rule of thumb when it comes to unspecified chili sauce in a recipe is to go by whether or not it's an Asian recipe or American style cooking. If it's an Asian recipe then I use Asian chili sauce like Sambal Oelek. If the recipe is generic or American style cooking then I use the sweet chili sauce next to the ketchup.

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LindaLMT 4 years ago said:

Great picture DIZ! maybe it could be 1/2 an onion?? 1/2 tsp. is not much at all. Regardless glad you were able to judge to make the recipe work.

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DIZ3 4 years ago said:

Thank You, LindaLMT! Hard to know what a submitter intends, but you know what they have down can't be right. I was thinking maybe she meant a 1/2 cup chopped onion. I found a couple of similar recipes that used dried ingredients so that's what I went with.

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mommyluvs2cook 4 years ago said:

Lol at 1/2 tsp. of onion and parsley Diz :P. I'm also thinking they meant dried. Too bad this didn't turn out how you would have liked, at least the meatballs tasted good! Love your picture,. I could just reach right in and eat one :)

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DIZ3 4 years ago said:

Thank You, Mommyluvs2cook!

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