Recipe: Swedish Meatballs a la Petra

[missroserose]

When Brian and I went to Sweden to visit our dear friend Petra not long ago, we joked that we should go to IKEA and have meatballs just to be able to say we'd actually had Swedish meatballs in Sweden. Much to our surprise, Petra expressed almost violent disgust - "Those are fake meatballs!" So, of course, we asked her if she would share her family recipe for authentic Swedish meatballs, and she did us one better - she actually made them for us while we were there. So we did have real Swedish meatballs in Sweden! And it's turned out to be one of my favorite foods. (I do still have a soft spot for the IKEA ones, but having tasted the real thing, I can't help but agree - they're like the McDonalds version. Cheap and filling and not bad, but nowhere near as tasty.)

In the intervening year, Brian's made this recipe a number of times, and it's become one of my favorites - enough that my consumption of lingonberry jam has increased by a significant percentage this past year. Not only are they surprisingly simple and tasty, they also make a ton of leftovers that reheat very well! And given that I've had numerous people asking for the recipe on Facebook whenever I mention them, I thought I'd post it here.

Note that a lot of the proportions are approximate - feel free to experiment!


Köttbullar - Not IKEA style!

(Not vegan, gluten-free, or low-fat. Surprisingly low glycemic, though!)

1 yellow onion
Salt
White pepper
1 egg
2 lbs ground beef
2 lbs ground pork
1 cup milk or cream
1/2 cup flour
1 beef bouillon cube
Lingonberry jam

Chop up the onion into small pieces. (Note: I'm normally a fan of sweet onions, but the stronger flavor of a straight yellow onion works well here. So get out the goggles and start chopping!) Mix it in a large bowl with salt, white pepper, and an egg; add the minced meat and combine everything. Roll the mixture into balls.

Fry the balls on medium heat until they get a nice dark-brown crispy shell. Every time you fry a pan of meatballs, save the drippings.

When all the meatballs are fried, return drippings to the pan along with milk or cream, bouillon cube, salt, pepper, and enough flour for thickening. Whisk together and heat until it makes a nice thick gravy. Return the meatballs to the pan and simmer to reheat them and finish cooking them through.

For a delicious Swedish dinner, serve with red potatoes (boiled and quartered), salad, and lingonberry jam!

Comments

[vatine]

For an EVEN BETTEREST version, start a saucepan with beef stock beside the pan. When you have an "initial crust" (basically a very thin browning), plonk the meatballs in the stock and let them swim for 2-3 minutes, then back into the frying pan.

Or, if you're super-ambitious, onto a plate, separated, then into the freezer (so you freeze then individually, for easier to deal with when they come out of the freezer). I seldom have the patience to make much more than "meatballs for now and maybe some left-overs for sandwich later" (meatballs halved, as a sandwich topping, is delicious).

I sometimes play with adding some finely chopped capers into the mix, I quite like it, nut I also quite like capers.

[missroserose]

The beef stock does sound tasty, although I'm curious - does it just make them more moist, or does it add flavor?

I'm not a *huge* fan of capers, but I could see that being interesting...I'll keep it in mind to try sometime.

[vatine]

It makes the crust tastier (by having some stock still on the meatballs as they get fried the second time), infuses more beef flavour and ensures the meatball is completely cooked through. It also means that if you continue on to freeze them, they stay in better shape when you bring them out of the freezer.

If you want to go completely wild, crumbling some feta into the meatball mix makes for a tasty not-at-all-a-meatball result.

On your Upcoming Visit . . .

[faith_in_the_journey]

You are so making these for me when you are visiting next week! Love, Mum

Re: On your Upcoming Visit . . .

[missroserose]

I think I can do that. :) Do I need to bring some lingonberry jam with me?

Re: On your Upcoming Visit . . .

[vatine]

In a pinch, the least-sweet cranberry sauce/jam you can find MAY suffice. Cranberries and lingonberries are essentially interchangeable for culinary purposes (the latter tends towards being smaller and I do believe preferred habitats differ slightly; back in Sweden you're more likely to find lingonberries in mixed forests, while cranberries tend to prefer bogs).