a swedish classic

Meatballs, potato mash, creamy gravy and lingonberry jam

One of the best things about getting a new kitchen is that you have an excuse to clean out your cupboards and throw out all of your old, sad looking plates, cutlery, kitchen appliances etc and replace them with beautiful new ones. So yesterday we bought a new hand mixer and mini food processor, which came with an attachment for mashing. This, strangely enough, got me thinking about mashing. And when I think of mashing I think of potato mash. And when I think of potato mash I think of Köttbullar! Delicious Swedish meatballs with potato mash, creamy gravy and lingonberry jam. So it was easy to decide what to have for dinner tonight!

Since I moved to Australia 9(!) years ago I have rediscovered the Swedish cuisine - husmanskost. It is now one of my absolute favourite cuisines. This is probably due to the fact that in Australia you cannot simply buy prefabricated frozen meatalls or pyttipanna (Swedish hash) from the supermarket like we always did when I was growing up. Instead I had to start making everything from scratch and consequently realised how delicious husmanskost is when it is cooked fresh.

Swedish meatballs are smaller than German and Italian meatballs and are traditionally made with beef mince or a mix of beef and pork mince. They are traditionally served with boiled or mashed potato, creamy brown gravy, lingonberry jam and sometimes pickled cucumber. In Australia, lingonberry jam can be quite difficult to get your hands on (I've only found it at IKEA, Nordic Fusion (in Manly, Mosman and Bondi) and sometimes at Harris Farm Markets) but it is quite similar in taste to Cranberry sauce and can hence be substituted for that.

Making meatballs is actually very simple - it's just a bit time consuming. So if you have a friend or partner willing to lend a hand they can be very useful.

Mix bread crumbs and milk. Set aside for a few minutes. Then add grated onion

Add the beef, pork mince, egg, salt and pepper. Mix well.

Rolling time! Be prepared to get your hands dirty. I suggest making the meatballs really small at the beginning as they tend to get bigger as you get tired of rolling. 

Fry a few meatballs at a time. 

I usually transfer the meatball to a big pan at the end where they can finish cooking

Sauce time! These are the ingredients (plus cream) that I use for the sauce. Be careful not to add too much soy sauce and stock as it gets quite salty. I always use salt reduced stock.

Note the new masher! I highly recommend it. Makes perfectly smooth and creamy mash.

And voila! Beautifully home made meatballs. Sure beats IKEA meatballs :)

Köttbullar

Ingredients:

Meatballs
0.5 brown onion, grated or finely diced
100 ml milk
1 teaspoon salt
250 grams beef mince
250 grams pork mince
1 egg
Salt
Pepper
1 tablespoon butter

Creamy Gravy
300 ml pure cream
1 tablespoons soy sauce
1-2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 beef stock cube
Meatball drippings
Pepper

Mash Potato
1/2 Kilo potatoes, cut into small pieces and boiled
50 ml milk or cream
1 tablespoon butter
Salt
Pepper

Instructions

Meatballs

1. Mix milk and breadcrumbs. Set aside for a few minutes to swell. 
2. Grate onion or dice it finely. Add to milk and breadcrumb mixture.
3. Add pork and beef mince
4. Add the egg and salt and pepper
5. Mix well
6. Roll into small 2.5cm balls and fry until golden brown

Sauce

1. Mix all ingredients for the sauce in the frying pan used to cook the meatballs. 
2. Cook for approximately 10 min until thickened

Serve with mash, lingonberry jam and pickled cucumber.

xxx