Swedish Meatballs!

Oh hai everyone! Sorry I missed last week, I was celebrating our country's independence by setting off some totally legal fireworks. For this week, I decided to make a SND from my heritage: Swedish Meatballs! Also, the Mr. loves him some meatballs and has wanted me to try this for a while.

It was a really delicious experiment, but I'd love to hear from ya'll to see if/how your recipe differs, but this is what I humbly suggest via Alton Brown, Marcus Samuelsson, and my own head.

Okay first of all what is with grocery stores not carrying ground pork?? Super irritating. Sometimes they have it, sometimes they don't. Well, Whole Foods always has it, but after I had gone to Trader Joe's and Ralph's I had had it! So when you, my little darlings, try this at home go for half ground pork and half ground beef. I used all ground beef (80/20 fat content heh) and they were tasty, but everything is better with a little pork fat, ya hrrd?

Anyhoo, you want a pound and a half of ground meat - half pork/half beef. If you were politically incorrect you could use some ground veal in there too, or lamb. Delicious. Mix your ground beef in a bowl with 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of panko bread crumbs, 1 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice, and 1/2 cup (about one half of a medium large) finely chopped red onion. Before you add the onion to the mix, soften it in a pan over medium heat with a two count of olive oil and S/P. Mix everyone together using your hands - it's the best way to get the best mix! After you've mixed, form little meatballs and set aside on a plate or sheet pan. Don't make them big, you want them to be around bite sized (and you need them to cook all the way through), I'd say around 1/2 or 3/4 inch.

Now it's time to cook those suckers! Using the same pan you cooked your chopped onion in, heat two tablespoons of butter and a three count of olive oil over medium-high heat. Brown your delectable meatballs on all sides. Be careful not to burn - you want them to brown evenly but not burn and still cook all the way through, so keep a weather eye on your heat and adjust accordingly. You may have to cook your meatballs in shifts, and when they are done set them aside - you can keep them warm in an oven set to low. Time to make the Swedish Sauce!

Turn the heat down to low in your pan and add a heaping 1/4 cup of flour to the accumulated fat. Whisk that around until you've cooked and browned the flour slightly, it should take two minutes or so. Next add three cups of warmed beef broth - whisk it in a cup or so at a time to thicken your sauce. Okay here comes a weird addition: add 3 tablespoons of pickle juice. No don't argue, just do it! It adds a little somethin' somethin' in the background of the sauce. Whisk that in, then add 1/2 cup of sour cream. Whisk whisk whisk and taste for seasonings, you'll probably need to add some S/P. Whisk over low heat until the sauce is at your desired thickness.

As you cook the sauce, cook some egg noodles or baby red potatoes. Serve your amazing Swedish Meatballs over the noodles or potatoes and ladle your kick ass sauce over the lot. Have some raspberry (or lingonberry) preserves at the ready for those who want, sprinkle some fresh parsley and enjoy! Hooray for the Swedes!

'Til next time...

D