# Help with swedish meatballs



## fdm (Jan 4, 2010)

Hi all

do any of you have a good swedish meatball recipe? I'm ok with the actual meatball but I can use help with the sauce. Thanks for any advice..


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

*Köttbullar(Swedish Meatballs*)

250g ground beef (1/2lbs)
250g ground pork
3/4 cup white breadcrumbs (or panko)
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 onion
salt, pepper, 

½ tsp allspice

-Soak the breadcrumbs in the milk until plump. You can also use a couple of slices of white bread, soaked in milk and shredded. Remove the crusts first if using this method. 
-Saute the finely-chopped onion in a little butter until glassy and softened.
-Mix everything together and season with the salt, pepper and allspice. I use about 1/2 teaspoon for this quantity of meat. You can test-fry a small meatball to check the seasoning. 

-Form into balls using wet hands to avoid sticking. Fry in butter with a touch of oil and serve with boiled new potatoes with dill, and lingonberry jam. Mashed potatoes work well here too.

GRAVY

Add 3/4 cup cream and 1 cup beef stock to the pan you cooked the meatballs in. Stir in a sprinkling of flour and season with salt and pepper, and a pinch of sugar. Allow to bubble and thicken slightly, scraping the bottom of the pan as you go. Strain and serve.

Note: I received this recipe from a member of another forum who adapted the recipe from a cookbook that she did not name.


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## homemadecook (Jan 27, 2010)

May I know what's the difference of Swedish meatballs than the other meatballs?


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## chefross (May 5, 2010)

We always added sour cream and dill pickle juice to the finished sauce to call them Swedish.......


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

HomeMadeCook said:


> May I know what's the difference of Swedish meatballs than the other meatballs?


What other meatballs are you referring to? I would say that different cultures have different meatballs. For example, herbs like basil and parsley are common in Italian meatballs which are also extremely large and finish cooking inside a tomato sauce. Then they are served with pasta.

A moroccan meatball on the other hand will primarily be made of lamb and will contain spices like cinammon and then be generally served with rice.

The kind I grew up with, greek meatballs, are usually made with garlic, onion, lots of fresh mint and parsley and eaten plain like an appetizer.

Swedish meatballs' secret ingredient is allspice and are always served with a beef gravy.

I don't think I've ever had any other kind of meatballs, anyone?


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

Koukouvagia said:


> I don't think I've ever had any other kind of meatballs, anyone?


I guess it depends on your definition Koukouvagia. Are cevapcici (i don't know how to put the little accents on the Cs) meatballs? onion, some spices i'm not sure of, and grilled. Or kofte kebab in Turkey? Probably every country has its meatballs.

Also i;ve never had meatballs in sauce over pasta in Italy, but have had large meatballs (fist size) sliced cold (like small meat loaves), or tiny tiny meatballs as big as hazelnuts inside certain dishes like timballo (pasta, sauce, peas, meatballs, cheese, egg, etc, baked in a deep dish and unmolded) or in certain soups (cardoon soup, or escarole soup), or regular sized meatballs cooked in a pan, and then the pan deglazed with cognac or wine and that sauce served on top. No doubt there is a spaghetti-and-meatball region somewhere from which that version was brought to italy, but i don;t know it.

I would be curious to know what other cuisines have meatballs and what they're like.


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## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

You're right Siduri, we sometimes put them in soup too, mostly tomato and pumpkin. But, I must sincerely warn everyone with kids about this; it will start a fight when one kid has a little less than the other! They will like them and they will count each others portion. Don't say I didn't warn.

It's all very straight forward: minced pork/beef meat, p&s, a little lightly beaten egg to glue it all together, breadcrumbs (I use panko), french mustard, and herbs of your choice. These were made for soup made from butternut pumpkin. I have no kids hanging around anymore, so I added a little chili flakes, and chopped fresh sage.

Make small balls, again, when having kids; let them do it! Put in boiling water. When they surface, they are ready to go in the soup. Yummie! This is how they look cooked in water and in your soup;


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## maryb (Mar 21, 2008)

Can't leave out the midwest meatball. Beef, egg, oatmeal, onion, seasoning. Browned then baked with cream of mushroom soup.


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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

Koukouvagia said:


> I don't think I've ever had any other kind of meatballs, anyone?


I've had wontons with small, spicy pork meatballs in them. I'm sure there are several variations in Asian cuisines.

mjb.


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## ishbel (Jan 5, 2007)

In the UK, we have ******* which are usually served with gravy and peas.  I'm not too keen as they are very fatty.  They are really popular in northern England and Wales.


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

Siduri, I should have known that giant meatballs cooked in "gravy" is an american-italian thing.  Spaghetti and meatballs here is the quintessential italian dish.  Badabing-badaboom.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

Every nationality has their own version of meatball. Originally they were made by cleaning out the fridge.  The Swedish Version are served with Loggenberry Preserves, boiled potato, gravy and pickles. There is no only one way to make them. Some add sauteed onion, some raw onion, some add crumbs, others oatmeal or farina. Some add sour cream to sauce others don't. Some pan saute, some bake. some even steam or boil. To each his or her own. Some even use ground Reindeer. (If Santa were to find out?)


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

Koukouvagia said:


> Siduri, I should have known that giant meatballs cooked in "gravy" is an american-italian thing. Spaghetti and meatballs here is the quintessential italian dish. Badabing-badaboom.


Well, I still wonder where it came from, and likely there is a town somewhere in italy where people had to emigrate from way back in the late 1800s and brought this dish! The italian americans formed a big family (I bet like Greeks) and though regional cuisines are vastly different, each learned something from each other. Maybe spaghetti and meatballs was just a really good dish that caught on in those communities. I bet spaghetti were used because at the time it might have been the only italian pasta available!


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

I don't know siduri, who know knows how this dish came about. I'm not afraid to admit that spaghetti and meatballs is one of my favorite italian dishes though. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/wink.gif


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

Spaghetti or noodles as such (Mein) came from the    Far East and was bought back by Marco Polo.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

Ed Buchanan said:


> Spaghetti or noodles as such (Mein) came from the Far East and was bought back by Marco Polo.


Apparently not. I thought so too, but it appears in medieval cookbooks that predate Marco Polo. But that shouldn't surprise us, what is simpler than mixing flour and water into a paste and then boiling it. Not rocket science. Similarly, pizza, pita, pida and every flatbread every population has made over history, it doesn';t have a single origin, but originates wherever people have grain and a desire for good food!

I found the denial of the marco polo legend in a cookbook of medieval french and italian cooking (with "lasagne" - flat pasta sheets boiled in soup and eaten with toothpick) written by three historians and amateur cooks. Very nice book by the way.


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## tseptember (Dec 15, 2010)

Here is the recipe I use when I make Swedish meatballs. I use a basic bechamel or white sauce as a starter. Add nutmeg to taste and finish it with beef broth. If you use beef bouillon powder, you can adjust the flavor to what you like. I think this is as close as you can get to the Ikea recipe.

                                                                                                        Enjoy


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

nothing against your recipe tseptember, but it makes me think of a joke i found in one of my kid's mad magazines - it was a satirical Ikea ad, and it said

"Where you can eat the best swedish food you ever ate in a cheap furniture store"

If i want something from Ikea, i can get my husband to accompany me saying "we could have meatballs..."


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## homemadecook (Jan 27, 2010)

Koukouvagia said:


> HomeMadeCook said:
> 
> 
> > May I know what's the difference of Swedish meatballs than the other meatballs?
> ...


I'm referring to the ingredients of the meatballs. I guess, every country have different recipe for the meatballs. Do you have or anyone have a variety of recipe for meatballs? Thanks!


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

Turkish meatballs (kofta), serbian meatballs (cevapcici), hungarian meatballs (don't remember how they;re called) - and those are off the top of my head.  Is there anywhere in the world where someone hasn't thought of chopping up some sort of meat that is probably too tough to eat whole and making balls out of them? 

As for the recipes, I don't know them.


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## homemadecook (Jan 27, 2010)

In Asia, they do have other version of meatballs. As I recall, the meatballs is covers with intestine skin. I haven't tasted it yet but it really smells good.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

HomeMadeCook said:


> In Asia, they do have other version of meatballs. As I recall, the meatballs is covers with intestine skin. I haven't tasted it yet but it really smells good.


then are they considered sausages? that is, are they stuffed into intestine skin?


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## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

At home we ate a lot of meat balls, Indonesian style (= Frikadel).

It would surprise me if the SE Asian region doesn't have a multitude of recipes.

My version is made of

mince (pref coarse beef mince),

finely chopped onion,

finely chopped garlic 

chili (preferably fresh, but otherwise chili paste = sambal ulek, or chili powder),

sweet soy (kecap manis),

egg and

breadcrumbs.

I like the small meat balls, fried till very crispy!


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

Do chicken and fish meatballs count? because there are really endless variety of what spices/herbs/sauces can be used in/with them.

Or is it just red meat varieties? I like using chicken mince for oriental style "meatballs" with a stack of ginger, chili and garlic, pre-cooked, in them. They can be accompanied by a chicken broth with noodles and spring onions, that sort of thing. Or just on skewers and bbq'd with a satay sauce, or other sauces.

How does one define a meatball? And yes, they are handy to make when cleaning out your fridge /img/vbsmilies/smilies/thumb.gif


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

How about Quenelles, which is a French Take off on a meat or fishball


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

Tseptember said:


> Here is the recipe I use when I make Swedish meatballs. I use a basic bechamel or white sauce as a starter. Add nutmeg to taste and finish it with beef broth. If you use beef bouillon powder, you can adjust the flavor to what you like. I think this is as close as you can get to the Ikea recipe.
> 
> Enjoy


This could work, never thought of a bechamel first then adding broth. I like it.


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