*Note: This festive little piece was written in 2019 – when we could go to parties. So instead, add some buttery dill noodles and a beet salad and it makes cozy winter supper.
Oh it’s the holiday season! Gatherings, one after another, where friends and relatives get together and get their “ho, ho, ho’s” on, and I am starting to lose my well rested “glow.” I’m planning to make one of Ina Garten’s spinach in puff pastry for the party tonight (if you have not had it, try it: creamy spinach, cheese and pine nuts encased in a flakey puff pastry. So good! But, I cannot get myself to motor to the store. What do I have here that I could make for our potluck offerings? I have ground beef and sour cream. I am going to my Danish friend’s annual glogg (mulled wine) and aebleskiver (pancake balls) party so I want to stay on the menu vibe. I leaf through cookbooks and find some Scandinavian meatball recipes. I didn’t have all ingredients for any particular recipe, so, I Frankensteined it! And these were delicious! I served them warm in my little crockpot with lingonberry jam on the side. They were gone before you could finish your aquavit! Skal!!!
Recipe
The Somewhat Swedish Meatballs
Makes about 20. Double the recipe for a party or if you want to freeze some for another time.MEATBALL INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup panko (or bread crumbs)
- ½ cup milk or cream
- 2 tbsp Butter
- 1 small onion, minced
- 2 grated cloves of garlic
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp brown sugar (optional)
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp allspice
SAUCE INGREDIENTS
- 1 tbsp butter – if needed
- ¼ tsp allspice
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 heaping tbsp flour
- 2 cups beef broth (divided)
- 4 oz heavy cream
- salt
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350
- Put panko and milk in a big bowl and let set for 10 minutes
- Sauté onions in 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat until translucent and soft. Let onions cool a bit, add to big bowl. Mix in the ground beef, eggs, sugar, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and allspice and carefully and thoroughly mix everything together. Chill meat mixture for a minimum of 30 minutes to 1 day.
- Make balls out of the mixture, about 2 tablespoons each. I like to use my medium kitchen scoop that I use for cookies, the task goes quickly and the meatballs are uniform in size. At this point you could freeze the meatballs for later use (see below.)
- Melt 1 tablespoon butter in the onion pan, over medium heat. Working in batches, brown the meatballs all over, the insides will be pink. Place the browned meatballs in an oven-proof baking dish. Set aside the browning pan and the yummy fond in the pan for making the sauce. Pour ½ cup beef broth over meatballs and cover the dish with a lid or foil. Bake 30 minutes and then put meatballs, reserving cooking liquid, in serving dish or crockpot.
- To make the sauce, heat the meatball pan over medium heat and (add 1 tablespoon butter if there is no fat left rendered in the pan) whisk in the flour. Cook for 1 minute and then whisk in baking pan drippings and rest of the beef broth until smooth. Add Worcestershire sauce. Simmer for about 5 minutes, until gravy is thickened. Whisk in sour or heavy cream and season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour over meatballs. Keep on warm in slow cooker until serving.
- Dig in.
FREEZING INSTRUCTIONS
- After you make meatballs, before you fry, freeze on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and when hard, store in airtight container in freezer for up to 2 months.
- Defrost meatballs in refrigerator up to 24 hours, then cook as described above.
Skål!
Skål is the first thing we hear at a Danish party or a dinner. This is a word known in all Scandinavian countries. Skål is a toast to goodwill and friendship. By saying this at a moment of rising glasses, the Danes wish cheers and good health. My Danish friends, at a dinner party, introduced me to this toast where we drank a shot of aquavit after every toast – of which there were many!
Historically, skål is connected with the Vikings epoch in Denmark. According to legends, as a tribute to their gods who drank out of the skulls of slain enemies, Vikings were drinking mead from bowls toasting “Skull”(Anglo-Saxon “skalle”). I find this fun fact absolutely charming! So Conan the Barbarian!