May 2-4 Swedish Meatballs

May 2     Swedish Meatballs and basmati rice
May 3     Stovetop Roast Chicken with Lemon Parsely Sauce (Cook's Illustrated)
May 4     Spaghetti with tomatoey sauce made using leftover bolognese from the freezer




I had planned to bbq but the weather did not agree with these plans so I was kind of left hanging, not sure what to cook. I went into the freezer for some ice and a bag of frozen meatballs fell out on on foot- OUCH- and I took that as a sign. We had pasta the night before so the next best thing to do with meatballs is go all Ikea and make Swedish meatballs. It certainly scores me brownie points with The Kid, who loves these things.




These are not the meatballs I made to go with them the last time I made them but I think they were even better so these are now my go to meatballs for everything. I prefered the flavour without the allspice and nutmeg that are usually in swedish meatballs. I am also ALL about evaporated milk these days and I used that instead of heavy cream and it was, once again, perfect. Not as fatty, not as heavy but the sauce was just as rich and creamy. In fact, I could almost drink the sauce like a soup and happily ate a bowl of this for breakfast the next day.


Swedish Meatballs
adapted from my own recipe


meatballs:
2 dozen leftover meatballs from my spaghetti and meatballs
if you want to make them, I would suggest halving this recipe or make the whole thing and freeze the leftovers to use again in either another batch of swedish meatballs or to throw into tomato sauce

Meatballs:
1 lb ground pork
1 lb ground veal
1 lb ground beef
4 sliced white bread made into bread crumbs using a food processor
1/2 cup milk
1 cup grated parmesan
1/2 cup chopped italian parsley
4 tsp kosher salt
1 med onion, grated about 1/2 cup
2 large eggs, beaten
freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup olive oil, divided


soak the bread crumbs in the milk and let sit til they absorb it for a few minutes. In a large bowl, mix the bread crumbs, with the rest of the ingredients except for the olive oil until just combined. Don't over mix it or you will make the meatballs tough. Gently form the mixture into balls. I like them a little bit bigger than a golf ball but that is up to you. You don't want to pack the meat too tightly either - again, overworking the meat mixture will result in tough balls.
You can refrigerate them for up to 24 hours at this point.

Heat half the oil in a skillet over med heat. Start browning the meatballs in batches, being careful not to overcrowd the pan. Move them around and make sure they are browned on all sides 6 or 7 minutes. Remove them to a plate and continue until all the meatballs are done.





sauce:
adapted from own recipe

3 tbls butter
1/4 cup flour
3 cups of chicken stock
1 heaping tbls grainy mustard
1/4 evaporated milk
handful of fresh basil, chopped

Once all of the meatballs are cooked (or, if you used thawed out leftover meatballs like I did, you just heat up the meatballs in the butter to flavour the butter), melt the butter in the pan you cooked them in and stir in the flour. Whisk the roux and continue to cook it until it takes on some colour and starts to turn golden. At that point, start slowly adding the chicken stock , stirring constantly to prevent any lumps from forming. Once all of the stock has been added, throw in the grainy mustard and let it simmer lightly until it thickens up to the desired consistency. Just before serving, add the evaporated milk, put the meatballs back in and cover the pan for a minute or two to heat the meatballs through.

Take the pan off the heat and scatter a handful of chopped basil on the top and serve over rice or noodles or mashed potatoes. Just make sure you serve with something that is going to take advantage of all that beautiful sauce.