Recipe#007: Joan's Swedish Meatballs

The main difference between a Swedish and an Italian meatball is ingredients; oregano and garlic in the meat mixture and, tomato based sauce versus a sour cream sauce with a pinch of allspice.

The meat mixture can also vary. For Italian; veal,beef and pork may be mixed. For Swedish; beef and pork, or just beef is used.

*-Hint: For a simple Italian sauce, if short on time, Joan will sometimes use a large can of tomato juice poured over the browned meatballs which reduces in the oven to become a thick sauce while keeping the meatballs moist.

Ingredients:

Meatballs:
1 1/2 pounds of minced meat- 1/3 beef 1/3 pork and 1/3 veal *choose a variation
2 eggs beaten
5 slices of bread [crusts removed]
1 finely chopped onion [or 2 finely chopped shallots]
1/2 large carrot grated then chopped
1 tablespoon of butter
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil [for pan]
1 1/2 cup flour [ for dredging]
[1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika]* additional in Michael's version

Sauce:
2 cups beef stock
1/4 cup heavy cream [or sour cream]
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon BBQ sauce
1 tablespoon steak sauce [HP]

Instructions:

The balls:
Soak the bread in water for 2-3 minutes, then squeeze out the moisture
Saute over medium heat the onion and chopped carrot in the tablespoon of butter until soft
In a large bowl, mix together; meat, spices, onion & carrot, bread, mix well and form into small bite-sized balls

*-Hint: You can put all these first ingredients into a food processor and process until you have a smooth even mixture, but not a paste- if this happens, roll the paste into logs, roll in bread crumbs and fry them in a skillet until cooked. Serve in a bun with mustard.

Anyway...

Put some of the flour on a large plate [*adding smoked paprika to taste]
Dredge the meatballs in flour until coated
*-Hint: Place 10 meatballs on the plate at one time and cover well with cling film before shaking enough to coat the meat.
Over medium heat, fry the meatballs in vegetable oil until brown then place them in a casserole dish
*-Hint: At this point you could also freeze them in zip locked bags

The sauce:
In the remaining hot pan oil add 1 tablespoon of flour and stir until dissolved with the pan off the heat
Add; 2 cups beef stock and stir until smooth
Add ketchup, BBQ sauce and steak sauce [HP]
Stir mixture well and place back on the medium heat stirring until it starts to thicken, remove pan from heat
Stir in heavy cream to sauce mixture and pour over meatballs
Bake covered in preheated 300ºF oven for 25 minutes

Serve over rice and peas cooked in part stock and part water or with mashed potatoes