Swedish Meatballs

Oh, Swedish Meatballs how I adore you. I first tasted these morsels of meatballs as I was moving into my first apartment in Hollywood. Where do you go as a 19-year-old with no furniture and only $500 to spend? IKEA ! Oh, those were the days that I don't miss :) If you're like me, the food court at IKDEA drew you in. I wondered why all these people were in a line at the cafeteria? Were they tired from shopping all day? or is the food really that amazing? Yes! to the latter, and where I fell in love with Swedish Meatballs. 

Sweet, savory and in a creamy almost thanksgiving gravy like sacue. I was in love, sold, found my place in meatball heaven. Therefore almost ten years later bombarded the internet to find the perfect swedish meatball recipe. And to tell you the truth, I didn't have to look to far. Alton Brown, who is amongst my favorite chef to watch had a remarkable recipe. The only thing I adapted was adding one beef bullion cube to the gravy mixture. Remarkable I tell you! 

My boyfriend and even his father, who had never eaten a Swedish meatball was in love and licked his plate clean.We put it over rice, but egg noodles or any type of noodle for that matter would be divine.  

I have to tell you that I don't eat a lot of pork, so we used ground turkey. But let me know how yours turned out! 



Ingredients:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. 

1/2 cup Planko breadcrumb 
1/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons clarified butter, divided
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
A pinch plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 pound ground chuck 
3/4 pound ground pork
2 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups beef broth
1/4 cup heavy cream
Wylers bouillon beef cubes
Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.

Directions: 
Mix the breadcrumbs and milk in a bowl. 

In a 12-inch straight sided saute pan over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and sweat until the onions are soft. Remove from the heat and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the bread and milk mixture, ground chuck, pork, egg yolks, 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, black pepper, allspice, nutmeg, and onions. Beat on medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes. (We had to keep adding more breadcrumbs because the meatball mixture seemed a bit runny, I'm guessing we used about 1 cup) 

Using your hands, shape the meatballs into rounds. Place on greased cookie sheet. (My boyfriend made tiny meatballs as I made big meatballs. I wanted one big gourmet meatball to put over my rice!) 

We baked our meatballs for around 20 min. Turning them over half way through. You can also saute your meatballs on a buttered skillet for 7-10 min. 
Once all of the meatballs are cooked, remove meatballs from the skillet (this is if you chose to skillet them, we baked them therefore they cooked in the oven while we made the gravy) decrease the heat to low and add the flour to the pan or skillet. Whisk until lightly browned, approximately 1 to 2 minutes. Gradually add the beef stock and whisk until sauce begins to thicken. Add the cream and continue to cook until the gravy reaches the desired consistency. Place the bullion cube in mixture until melted down. Remove the meatballs from the oven, cover with the gravy and serve. (serve alone, over rice or pasta) 


Recipe adapted from Alton Brown: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/swedish-meatballs-recipe/index.html