Swedish Meatballs

Have you ever made Swedish meatballs? If not, you should. They are probably one of the best foods EVER. They are a bit time consuming but they'll last you a few meals and you could even make a double batch because they freeze and reheat really well. It takes me about 2 hours start to finish so allow yourself some time for this one. Now you are saying "Two hours!? No way. Who has that time?" but I promise, IT IS WORTH IT. I made these on Christmas Eve and just did bits and pieces at a time throughout the morning.  This will be your family's new favorite meal. :) 

This is where the original recipe is from: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/swedish_meatballs/

Swedish Meatballs 

INGREDIENTS:

Meatballs:

·       1 large yellow or white onion, peeled, grated (through a cheese grater) or finely chopped

·       2 Tbsp butter

·       2/3 cup whole milk

·       4-5 slices of bread, crusts removed, cut into pieces (My dad uses crushed swedish hardtack which is also really good. I use sprouted wheat bread)

·       2 eggs

·       1 pound ground pork

·       1 1/2 pounds ground beef

·       2 teaspoons sea salt

·       1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

·       1 teaspoon ground cardamom

·       2 teaspoons black pepper

Sauce:

·       6 Tbsp butter

·       1/3 cup flour

·       1 quart beef stock

·       Lingonberry jelly

Directions:

1 Sauté the onion in the 2 Tbsp of butter over medium-high heat until the onions soften and turn translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

2 In a medium bowl, mix the bread pieces with the milk. Set aside until the bread soaks up all the milk. When it does, pulverize the bread in a food processor and pour it into a large bowl.

3 Add the cooled onions to the bowl of milk and bread. Add the rest of the meatball ingredients—eggs, ground pork, ground beef, salt, nutmeg, cardamom, pepper. Using your hands, mix well for about 2 minutes until the ingredients are well combined.

4 Use a tablespoon to measure out the meat for the meatballs. As you form the meatballs, set each one aside on a sheet pan or plate. You should get 40 to 50 meatballs.

5 Heat 6 tablespoons of butter for the sauce in the same sauté pan you previously cooked the onion in over medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the meatballs. You will probably be able to fit 12-15 meatballs at a time. Do not crowd the pan. Work in batches, using tongs, browning them slowly on all sides. Be gentle when you turn them so they don't break apart. Do not cook the meatballs all the way through, only brown them at this stage. It takes about 10 minutes per batch. Once browned, use a slotted spoon to remove them from the pan, setting them aside so you can make the sauce with the remaining pan butter.

6 Start the sauce slowly whisk the flour into the pan butter. Stirring often, let the flour cook until it is the color of coffee-with-cream; this is a classic roux.

7 As the roux is cooking, heat the beef stock in another pot until it simmers. When the roux has cooked until the color of coffee-with-cream, slowly add the hot beef stock a little at a time. Everything will sputter at first, and the sauce will seize up and solidify. Keep stirring and adding stock slowly, and it will loosen up and become silky.

8 Add the meatballs to the sauce (again in batches) and turn the heat down to low. Cover the pot and cook on low heat for 10 minutes. Remove each batch with a slotted spoon and store in a serving bowl until all of the meatballs are finished cooking.

9 When finished, move the meatballs to a serving dish and pour the sauce over top.  Serve the lingonberry jelly on the side.