Swedish Cardamom Meatballs |
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Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 60 Minutes |
Ready In: 80 Minutes Servings: 12 |
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These are about as Swedish as they get and my once a year MUST make recipe each Christmas season. This joins my Top Ten favorite recipes. Two tips: Cardamom can be expensive & hard to find. I finally found it at Wild Oats where bulk spices are sold by the ounce. I also use Tyler Florence's recipe for the accompanying Lingonberry Sauce, another hard to find item. I found 2 brands at Cost Plus World Market, and I also hear it's sold at Ikea if there's one near you. Ingredients:
2 cups fresh breadcrumbs |
1/2 cup milk (i use buttermilk) |
1 lb lean ground beef |
1 lb ground pork |
3 eggs |
salt & pepper (to taste) |
1 tablespoon ground cardamom |
1 1/2 cups yellow onions, finely chopped (divided use) |
1/2 cup butter (divided use) |
2 tablespoons sugar |
3 cups beef broth |
2 cups heavy cream |
3 tablespoons gravy mix |
1 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg |
1 teaspoon ground allspice |
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves |
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon |
3 -4 tablespoons cornstarch |
1/4 cup water |
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour |
1 1/2 cups chicken broth |
3/4 cup sour cream |
1/4 cup lingonberry preserves or 1/4 cup lingonberry jam |
Directions:
1. Soak bread crumbs in milk or buttermilk in large mixing bowl for 5 minutes. Add meat, eggs, salt & pepper, cardamom and 1 cup chopped onion. Mix well and roll into 1-1/2 meatballs. It helps to wet your hands as you roll.
2. Saute meatballs in 1/4 cup butter approximately 20 minutes. Remove browned meatballs and set aside.
3. In same skillet, saute 1/2 cup chopped onion with 1/4 cup butter, sugar and pepper unti caramelized, about 10 minumtes.
4. Add beef broth to onion & sugar mixture, scraping up any browned bits from the pan. Briefly cook over high heat.
5. Add cream, gravy maker and all other spices and bring to a simmer.
6. Make a slurry of the cornstarch & water and whisk the slurry into the mixture to thicken.
7. If you're going to serve the meatballs right away, add them to the sauce and simmer another 20-30 minutes. Otherwise, cool and refrigerate sauce & meatballs, either together or separately. (I do this separately, as I often freeze the meatballs without the sauce.).
8. Combine all ingredients for the lingonberry sauce and mix well.
9. Serve meatballs in a chafing dish with sauce and lingonberry sauce on the side as a dip.
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