Swedish Meatballs

[thorsma]

We serve these on Christmas Eve and I've used the same simple recipe for years:

equal parts ground pork and beef
softened onion
panade
eggs
salt, pepper, all spice, nutmeg

Form into balls and cook in a pan with butter

Gravy from the pan drippings (roux, beef broth, and cream).

Does anyone else have a recipe?

[hopkintoncane]

Swedish and Norwegian on my mother's side so meatballs have been the centerpiece (along with the herring and salmon) on my mothers Christmas eve smorgasbord table since 1959, we made the meatballs yesterday and per usual, that event along with the making of the cookies is an essential gathering at my mother's house, her recipe is very similar, meat is 2:1 beef to pork, and she gets the butcher to grind the 2 meats together 3-times, that's a big deal because when he is done under today's rules and ethics he has to break down the machine and clean after, the panade is whole milk and plain bread crumbs, onions are the dried variety softened in LOL butter (lots of it), spices are pretty much the same including nutmeg and ground clove, salt and white pepper to taste, mix is allowed to stand and then the balls (very small about the diameter of a quarter) are fried in a lot of butter, gravy is a mix of beef broth, pan scrapings, whole milk, balls stand in a pan with gravy in a 300 degree oven for an hour or so immediately before serving, served in the same chafing dish at the head of the table as a touchstone to tradition in our house, lingdonberries on the side, she makes a batch that starts with 6 lbs of meat so everyone can take a pint home. We were in Stockholm 2 summers ago and my brothers and I ordered meatballs for lunch and dinner at every bar and restaurant we went to, and none of them were as good as Moms, Merry Xmas, Todd

As an aside, I tried to make Korv (Swedish Christmas sausage) last year, scoured the internet and came up what I thought was a fairly traditional recipe, what a disaster! wont be on the table this year but gravalax will be.

[Ron Larsen]

Jayne & my grandparents are from two villages in Northern Jutland about 20 miles apart. Her other grandparents are from the other side of the Kattegat in Onsala, Sweden.

Swedish Meatballs
From Eastern Star “Traditional Meats” cookbook, Jayne Peterson Larsen’s version:
1 ¼ lb ground beef (ground twice again if desired).
1 cup diced onion saute in 1 tb butter.
1 slice wheat bread & 1 slice crusty white bread made in to bread crumbs
Soak the two slices in ½ cup milk, grate about ¼+/- ts nutmeg in to mixture.
1 additional slice crusty white bread crumbs (not soaked)
2 eggs –beaten
2 tb fine chopped parsley
1 ts salt
½ ts white pepper
Combine all ingredients, mix well and let sit in fridge for about an hour.
Make in to 1 inch balls.
Bake in oven at 300 for an hour.
For the milk gravy, nutmeg and dill are added.

My daughter and I made 6 lbs of Korv last week. Came out excellent, but this time we left out the milk. I posted the receipe on the forum some time ago.

[Bee]

My mother made them for the family her whole life. We are not remotely Norwegian. Like many things she cooked, I was not that crazy about them until she was gone and they were not available. Then l really started wishing for them again. I never found her recipe and am going to try these you folks have provided, and thank you.

[driftless angler]

What??!?! No Lutefisk on Christmas Eve?!?!? Lutefisk makes the alternative (Swedish meatballs) taste so much better!

[mer]

Take one Swede, preferably from Daralna, chop up very fine.
Mix with chopped lutefisk
Stir in some Sill Sallad.
Smear on Wasabrod.

And people wonder why they drink aqavit?

[driftless angler]

Norwegian fish taco = lutefisk wrapped in lefse! I've done it, not bad.

[hopkintoncane]

I have no direct knowledge about this, but the story my mother tells about the lukefisk is that my grandmother (who I never met) used to make the dish for a few swedes on her side of the family on the day before Christmas for a traditional lunch, and that the whole house stunk to high heaven, she had heavily tarnished silverware reserved specifically for that meal I would assume due to the presence of lye and that all the doors and windows remained open during the afternoon of the 24th to air the house out prior to the arrival of the julbord guests on Xmas eve. Todd

[driftless angler]

Yep, I can verify. Lutefisk will stink up the whole house and tarnish the silverware!

[Ron Larsen]

Try Jansson's Temtation, we did once... or maybe it was twice: the first and last time.

[thorsma]

I think the trick with Jannson's is first to use Swedish anchovies (they're packed in water not oil, and are much less salty) and then to soak them in milk before using. It makes fish mild and much less stinky when cooked. I'm not a fan of strong fish flavors but love Jannson's Temptation - how could anything with potatoes, onions, and cream be bad?