I’ll keep it short and sweet.

Here’s my latest witches’ brew: meatballs slowly simmered in a laid-back and slightly different from your average peanut sauce. Oh, how I love anything with peanut butter in it.

I used my slow cooker but you can make a stove-top version as well. Simply add 1/3 cup orange juice extra, and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes.

 
Ingredients:

1 pound meat balls (recipe is in printable)
6 tbsp peanut butter
thumb-size piece ginger
1 medium garlic clove
2 tbsp sweet mango chutney
3 tbsp sweet chili sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp butter
1 cup orange juice

 
Directions:

* I like my peanut sauce thick and luscious. If you’re after a thinner sauce, add extra orange juice. You can tweak during cooking, it’s a very forgiving sauce.

 
I used my basic, go-to recipe for meatballs, the Dutch meatballs. I left out the grainy mustard this time.

Peel and grate the ginger and garlic.

Here’s the stuff: soy sauce, orange juice, peanut butter, mango chutney and chili sauce. Together they create magic.

That first scoop out of the jar. How I love to make the first mark in that perfectly smooth surface.

 
No idea why. I have many, many idiosyncrasies.
 

Heat the butter and carefully place the meatballs in there.

Brown them on all sides.

 
If you’re using a slow cooker as well, this is your cue to start transfer things.
 

Add the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, mango chutney and peanut butter. Stir until it’s a thick paste.

Add the brown sugar and pour in the orange juice. Mix well.

Taste the sauce and add sweet chili sauce to spice and liven things up, 3 tbsp was the right amount for me.

Pop the lid on and simmer on low for 3  hours.

This was my sauce after 2 hours.

 
Remove the lid and simmer for another hour to let the sauce thicken a bit. It seems lighter, fresher almost than ‘normal’ peanut sauce.
 

This has a wonderful summery, citrusy—almost Caribbean—flavor to it.