Frikadeller Scandinavian Meatballs With Rich Gravy Food

FRIKADELLER (DANISH MEATBALLS)

Steps:

• Combine beef, pork and onion. Add breadcrumbs, flour, eggs, salt, pepper, nutmeg, garlic, and sage leaves (it works best if you mix it with your hands).
• Slowly add half & half for consistency (you want them to be slightly sticky, you shouldn't be able to form them into a perfect ball). Coat large skillet well with butter. Drop clumps of mixture (a heaping tablespoon-size) onto the skillet.
• Fry on medium to medium low heat until brown (press the meat down a lightly with a fork so it flattens out a little.. it should look like a fat hamburger.. see picture below), then flip (approx 3-5 minutes per side). Add more butter with each batch.
• Serve with gravy (see below). **Don't wash the skillet-- you will want the brown bits and drippings for the gravy**
• Add the flour to the drippings to form a roux (add butter if needed). Slowly add cream (or milk) until mixture reaches gravy consistency. Add beef bouillon, salt & pepper to taste.

FRIKADELLER (DANISH MEATBALLS)

Steps:

• Mix the veal and pork together in a bowl, and stir in the milk, onion, and egg. Mix the bread crumbs into the meat. Sprinkle in the flour, and knead well to mix. Stir in the seltzer water, season to taste with salt and pepper, and mix well. The mixture should be very moist, but not dripping.
• Chill the meat mixture for 15 to 30 minutes in the refrigerator, to make the meatballs easier to form.
• Heat the margarine in a large skillet over medium heat.
• To form meatballs, scoop up about 2 1/2 tablespoons of meat mixture with a large spoon, and form the mixture into a slightly flattened, oval meatball about the size of a small egg. Place the meatballs into the heated skillet, and fry for about 15 minutes per side, until the meatballs are well-browned and no longer pink in the center.

TASTY SWEDISH MEATBALLS AND GRAVY

Steps:

• Start with the gravy. Chop the vegetables finely. Fry in a pan with light olive oil and butter. Add a pinch of salt and cook on a low heat for about half an hour - we're looking for the sweet caramel flavours that emerge from a slow sauté of onion. Add the allspice and stir, then add the stock and cook on a rolling simmer for 20minutes, let it reduce by a third. Add the lingonberry or redcurrant and stir. Decide whether to keep the vegetables in the sauce or to strain. Then finish the gravy, add the cream, stir and bring back to a simmer. Season with salt to taste, add plenty of pepper and a squeeze of lemon.
• Optional flavourings. Add the thyme, mushrooms, vinegar and wine to the vegetables when they have cooked. Keep the heat high and reduce until almost evaporated. Then add the stock as above.
• Make the meatballs. Chop an onion as fine as possible. Add to a pan with the butter and oil. Sweat gently for about 10-15 minutes until soft and transparent.
• Combine the cream with the breadcrumbs to form a consistency like stiff porridge. Add the meat to a large bowl, whisk an egg and add it with the breadcrumbs to the meat. Season with allspice and salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly and form into walnut size balls. Put on a plate. Ideally these should rest in the fridge. (Meat patty mixtures are more complicated than imagined - getting the consistency right is tricky. In particular mixtures that are too wet and loose can be a nightmare. Breadcrumbs can be added to help absorb moisture. Resting in the fridge will also help firm up the meatballs.)
• Coat each meatball in flour. Heat a large frying pan, add butter and light oil and fry the meatballs in batches. Aim for a good all round colouring. If the pan is getting too clogged with burning flour, clean the pan between batches. Use fresh butter and oil if necessary.
• When the meatballs have cooked add to a clean pan with the sauce and heat gently for 10 minutes, allowing the flavours to blend and the sauce to thicken (from the flour on the meatballs).
• Serve with boiled potatoes - and lingonberries! Some chopped parsley provides a final flourish. You can serve with pasta or rice instead of potatoes.

SWEDISH MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Add bread cubes to large mixing bowl and top with heavy cream and grated onion (plus juices from grating the onion). Stir and let sit a minute or two. Mash with a fork.
• Add beef, pork, egg, parsley, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and allspice. Mix well.
• Use small cookie scoop to scoop out and roll into roughly 1 inch wide meatballs.
• Add oil and butter to large skillet and heat over MED/MED-HIGH heat. Add meatballs, working in batches (about half at a time), and cook on all sides, until browned and mostly cooked through, about 5-7 minutes. Remove to a plate and repeat with remaining meatballs.
• Drain off any excess oil but don't wipe out the skillet.
• Add butter to skillet and heat over MED heat. Once melted, whisk in flour and cook, stirring occasionally for 2 minutes.
• Slowly add beef broth, whisking as you add it, until all broth is added. Whisk in Worcestershire sauce and bring to a simmer.
• Once gravy is simmering, add all meatballs and simmer 5-7 minutes, until meatballs are cooked through and gravy has started to thicken.
• Stir in heavy cream and simmer another 2-3 minutes, until gravy is a smooth and silky sauce that coats the back of a wooden spoon.
• Serve over buttered cooked egg noodles or mashed potatoes and garnished with minced fresh parsley.

FRIKADELLER (DANISH MEATBALLS AND GRAVY)

Steps:

• Mix meat and onions together. Add egg and mix again. Add flour and remaining ingredients.
• Using a melon baller or small spoon, form into melon ball sized balls. Place on waxed paper and slightly squish each ball so it is flattened slightly.
• Melt butter in frying pan and cook balls for 10 min on each side at medium heat. While frying the balls on the last side to be browned, make the gravy.
• Melt butter over low heat in a medium saucepan. Add flour and stir until smooth. Add half of the meat stock slowly while constantly stirring. Raise heat to high and bring to a boil. Add rest of the stock along with the vinegar and boil for 3 minutes, while constantly stirring. Add pepper and salt. Add sherry and dill, if using, at the very end, just before removing from heat. Remove from heat, allow gravy to cool for 4-5 minutes, while stirring constantly.

FRIKADELLER (SCANDINAVIAN MEATBALLS) WITH RICH GRAVY

Steps:

• To make the meatballs, mix together the onion, meat, thyme, breadcrumbs and milk in a bowl, and season well. Using a dessertspoon and one hand dipped in cold water (to stop it sticking), shape about 20 slightly oval balls out of the meat mixture. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper, cover with plastic wrap and chill for 10 minutes, or overnight if time permits.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F Heat the olive oil and butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the meatballs, in batches if necessary, and brown until golden all over. Transfer to an ovenproof dish and place in the oven for 10 minutes until cooked through.
• While the meatballs are in the oven, take the frying pan in which you cooked them and place it over a medium heat. Whisk in the flour, add the tomato paste and whisk again for 1-2 minutes, then add the red wine. Turn the heat up to high and bubble for a few minutes. Whisk in the broth and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Season to taste with the Worcestershire sauce, salt and black pepper, then stir in a splash of cream and the redcurrant jelly.
• (If freezing: Allow everything to cool, then tip the meatballs into a freezer bag and cover completely with the sauce. Freeze for up to 1 month.
• Defrost completely and reheat in a saucepan until piping hot throughout.)Serve 3-4 meatballs per person with lots of sauce, spiced red cabbage and mash.

DANISH MEATBALLS WITH PAN GRAVY

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. Add beef and sausage; mix lightly but thoroughly. Shape 1/4 cupfuls of mixture into 18 meatballs; flatten to 1-in. thickness., In a large skillet, heat oil and 1 tablespoon butter over medium-low heat; cook meatballs in batches 8-9 minutes on each side or until a thermometer reads 160°. Remove from pan, reserving 1/4 cup drippings in pan. (If necessary, add additional butter to the drippings to reach 1/4 cup.), For gravy, stir flour, bouillon granules, pepper and salt into drippings until smooth; gradually whisk in milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly; cook and stir 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Serve with meatballs.