I was inspired by Kristine Fraser and decided I would also try making Disney World foods at home. Which is awesome because Disney foods but even more awesome because I rarely cook anymore…(I’m skipping the Dole Whip from her list, because that’s not an official recipe, I don’t care what anyone says. Dole Whip is vegan and that recipe isn’t vegan. Also, we have the official Dole Pineapple Frozen Yogurt mix which DOES make more realistic Dole Whip anyway.)
I decided to start things off with a recipe from what used to be my “dream resort” and is still one of my all-time favorite resorts at Walt Disney World… The Polynesian. Much to TW’s disappointment, I did not choose her beloved noodles for this adventure. Instead, I chose Captain Cook’s Thai Coconut Meatballs which I’ve never actually eaten. Hah. It seemed like a quick (hahaha) and easy (hahahaha) recipe and I didn’t need too many items from the grocery store in order to make it (hahahahahahahaha.)
Here’s a link to Kristine’s photo, the real meatballs, and recipe.
This is a photo of mine.
You’ll notice one differences right off the bat, eh? I had some cooking mishaps that were completely unexpected.
I’ve made rice in the microwave a zillion times without issue so I figured it would be the easiest method for this recipe and keep another pan off of the stove top. I was so confident in this cooking method that when the microwave beeped to say the rice was done… I didn’t even open the door and peek. Instead, as I was about to plate the food, I reached over my head and pulled the dish out and… spilled scalding hot water all over myself, the stove, and the floor… and the rice wasn’t cooked. WTF?
I sent TW to the spare freezer to look for the Schwans frozen mashed potatoes, which she could not find because our freezers are an overflowing mass of impossible. If you want anything that isn’t ice cream… good luck finding it, haha. I told her to give up looking and reached for a box of INSTANT MASHED POTATOES and quickly (with more spills than I want to discuss, because I’m not generally a spill everything while cooking kind of person) and plated the damn thing.
What you don’t also know is that I did not make meatballs from scratch. I used frozen meatballs, coated them in the Thai chili sauce, and baked them as directed by the bag. I’m not calling that a fail, because it wasn’t bad but as TW said… it would have been better with homemade meatballs. I agree but my meat selection is limited at the moment and have you seen the covid-19 stories about meat packing plants? Yea, no. Using the frozen meatballs was the right choice, right now.
The other thing about this recipe is that it would NOT reduce and thicken. I looked at several videos and photos of other people’s versions and the sauce always seems much thinner than I’d like. (TW said, “Oh, you made Captain Cook’s Meatball Soup” lol) I did try to thicken it a bit with cornstarch and if I hadn’t had the rice fail, I probably would have worked a little more to thicken it up. But I didn’t.
In the end, we all liked it. TW even had one extra spoon of instant mashed potatoes dipped into the sauce/soup. TW’s mom thinks she would not have liked it as much with the rice. I might try the leftovers today with some extra Thai chili sauce added in and see if that spices it up a wee bit more.
While we ate, we had Alexa play the soundtrack to Lilo & Stitch and we drank Backscratchers a la the Tambu Lounge. (I made a small batch of POG with just single serving cans of passionfruit, orange juice, and guava. The Backscratchers were a big hit with TW and her mom. TW even had a second one and that NEVER happens.)
I’m calling this first recipe (plus bonus drink recipe/s) a win.
Next up… maybe TW’s beloved noodles from O’hana. Maybe a Cheshire Cat Tail for me.
Updated the day after: TW saved my failed brown rice by finishing it off in the instapot so when I cleaned up after dinner, I put the 2 cups of rice with half dozen meatballs into a container and spooned enough sauce to cover the entire thing and put it in the fridge. I had 1/3 of it for lunch and… OMG, it’s even better the day after. The sauce thickened and picked up more flavors from the meatballs (Thai chili sauce) and the coconut milk. Definitely making this again but going to make it the day before.