My mother in law, Olga, from Norway, was married to a Swedish man, Leo. She made wonderful Swedish meatballs but I never got her recipe. This is Alton Brown’s recipe and it was a BIG hit around here, with kids and grown-ups alike. I heard my Swedish brother-in-law licked his plate.
My sister made me make another batch of gravy for the leftovers so if your family likes lots of gravy too, you might save yourself the step and just double the gravy ingredients the first time around.
Swedish Meatballs
2 slices of white bread
1/4 cup milk
3Tbsp. butter, divided
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 tsp. kosher salt
3/4 lb. lean chuck
3/4 lb. ground pork (not sausage)
2 egg yolks
1/2 tsp. white pepper
1/4 tsp. each allspice and nutmeg
optional: 1 tsp. cardamon (I used it)
1/4 cup flour
3 cups beef broth
1/4 cup cream
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees. Soak the torn up bread in the milk.
Get a skillet going on medium low. Melt 1 Tbsp. butter and sweat the onion til tender but not brown, along with a pinch of salt. Scrape it into a large bowl and add to it the soaked bread, salt, both meats, yolks and spices. Mix well. (Alton says to mix it for 2 minutes in a Kitchen Aid but I just used my hand mixer) Wet your hands and form into 1+1/2 inch balls. It should make about 30. Using the same skillet, again on medium low, fry up the meatballs, one batch at a time. Don’t crowd them too tightly. Fry them gently-you don’t want to hear too much of a sizzle. This helps keep them tender but yes, it does take a little longer. Be patient. When one batch is done, put in a pan in the oven to stay warm and keep frying. When all are done and in the oven, melt another couple of tablespoons of butter and mix in the flour. Cook gently for a few minutes, then slowly stir in the broth. Cook til thickened and then add the cream. Serve over wide egg noodles.
Brazen Bites 