Celebrate Celebrations
My philosophy is that every meal should be a celebration. Food is life-giving. It is the fuel for our bodies. And it’s pretty awesome that our fuel can be beautiful and yummy too.
I recently made a traditional Nordic meal for my family including Swedish Meatballs and Potato Herb Gratin with Pepparkakor (Nordic Ginger Cookies) for dessert. These were all new recipes for me, so I was pleased when they turned out not just edible, but delicious. The entire meal was a hit with the Valley bunch.
I found the Swedish Meatball recipe on the food blog Damn Delicious. Meatballs look fancy, but are easy to make. You can substitute ground chicken or turkey for the ground pork if you would like cut some calories from the recipe (but I wouldn’t suggest it). It’s perfect just as it is.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1/2 cup Panko
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups beef broth
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves (optional)
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 3 minutes.
- In a large bowl, combine ground beef, ground pork, Panko, egg yolks, allspice, nutmeg and cooked onion; season with salt and pepper, to taste. With clean hands, mix until well combined. Roll the mixture into 1 ¼ to 1 ½ inch meatballs, forming about 24 meatballs.
- Add remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to the skillet. Add meatballs, in batches, and cook until all sides are browned, about 5 minutes for each batch. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
- To make the gravy, melt butter in the skillet. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in beef broth and cook, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in sour cream; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Stir in meatballs and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through and thickened, about 8-10 minutes.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.