Tropical meatballs perfect for a 4th of July celebrated outdoors

1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork
1 small mango, peeled and diced small
3 tablespoons minced onion
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup dried bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon each salt and black pepper

4 cups warm plain or fried rice, if desiredAdd first nine ingredients together in a large bowl and mix well. Form into meatballs (1 1/2-inch diameter shown in image.) Get your smoker ready or toss a cupful of hydrated wood chips in your grill, on top of your gray coals or use a foil pack, tightly sealed, to produce smoke.

Place the meatballs in a foil pan and on grate in cooker or barbecue grill. Make sure you have the lowest setting of heat if using propane and level out charcoal if using briquettes to place wood chips. When smoking, close all vents and smoke meatballs for about 30 minutes, according to the size, or until well done throughout.

Remove, douse with your Tropical Teriyaki sauce and serve immediately.

To make the Tropical Teriyaki sauce, in a small bowl, mix 1/4 cup orange juice with cornstarch until smooth, making slurry; set aside. Place remainder orange juice, soy, brown sugar, garlic and ginger powder in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat and whisk in cornstarch slurry until smooth.

Schiffer Books of Pennsylvania has released Jim Bailey’s new book The Yankee Chef: Feel Good Food for Every Kitchen. It contains more than 550 traditional New England comfort-food recipes tweaked for today’s palates with hundreds of kitchen tips and food facts. The hardback book is 312 pages and contains 200 color images. Its ISBN is 978-0-7643-4191-5 and the cost is $34.99. The book can be ordered through Misty Valley Books, 802-875-3400.