Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

This is a serious issue, folks.  Which side of the fence are you on?  On the one hand, I do appreciate the concentrated taste you get with a glaze; on the other hand, if I’m serving something with rice, I want sauce for the rice.  In the case of these Polynesian Meatballs, that’s why I opted to err on the saucy side.  I ended up one-and-a-thirding the meatball recipe (yes, I know that’s a made-up term, but it’s what I did; I wanted to use two pounds even of ground beef) and doubling the sauce, although there still wasn’t nearly as much sauce for the rice as I might have preferred.  All in all, though, I like these meatballs.  They are on the sweeter side of sweet and sour, and the meatballs themselves have a nice flavor.  They would have more, of course, if I had the patience to actually brown them in the pan the way it calls for.  I know that adds flavor, and it’d be nice to have that flavor, but at some point, cooking with a two-year-old underfoot who no longer naps forces you to cut some corners.  (I’d love to see some of the Food Network chefs cook in some of my real-life conditions.)  Instead, I stick them on a cookie sheet and broil them for 5-7 minutes, shake the pan to roll most of them over, and do it again.  The simmering in the sauce ensures that they’re always fully cooked, and my kids can learn the flavor difference when they’re old enough to either help or stay safely away from the heat.

Life’s all about compromise, right?