Swedish Meatballs/Finnish Meatballs
|
finnish meatballs |
|
my finnish mother-in-law taught me how to make these and they are similar |
to swedish meatballs ¦in finland they often put a bit of nutmeg in theirs, |
but my mother-in-law doesn't. i don't care for the nutmeg taste either but |
some people seem to like it. |
|
1 lb. | hamburger (80% fat is best as it doesn't pop as much but the fatter |
| stuff |
| tastes better) |
1 tsp | salt |
1/4 tsp | ground white pepper |
1/2 cup | heavy cream or half & half |
1 small | to med. onion |
1/2 cup | old-fashioned oatmeal |
| real butter (approx 1 tbsp.) |
1/2 tsp | dried dill (optional) it's good with or without this |
|
pour the cream into a bowl with the oatmeal before you start making |
meatballs so the oatmeal softens while you are chopping the onion. add |
salt & pepper to the oatmeal mixture too. slice off about a third of the |
onion to go in meatballs themselves. chop really fine. take the other part |
of onion and slice it into slices and put into the pot you are going to |
simmer your meatballs in. cover the onions with water just until covered a |
couple of inches and turn on to simmer while frying meatballs. |
|
put hamburger in mixing bowl and add the minced onion and oatmeal mixture |
and mix well with fork until it looks thoroughly mixed together. take |
about 1 tbsp. of butter and put in frying pan and turn to about med. high. |
(you might have to turn it down to med if they start getting too dark) let |
the pan get hot and the butter a little browned. roll your meat into |
meatballs in the same bowl they are in and you might have to turn the |
water faucet to a trickle and wet your hands periodically as the meatballs |
are rather sticky. fry them in 2 batches and the second batch you will |
probably have enough grease left that you won't need more butter. turn |
them at least a couple of times or as much as you can to make them dark |
brown. the darker the better as this gives the good flavor. put on paper |
towels to drain after browning for about 8 minutes. take the drained |
meatballs and put in your pot with the onions. pour any leftover grease |
out of your frying pan and discard grease. add some water to the frying |
pan and scrape up any pan drippings. pour this over meatballs. if you |
don't have enough water to just cover them, add some from faucet. try to |
use as small a pot as the meatballs will fit in as they have more flavor |
with less broth used. add enough salt to the simmering water to taste |
salty enough. simmer for 30 minutes and serve over salted boiled potatoes. |
|
the trick to making really good meatballs is to get the salt just right |
between the meatballs and potatoes. also to get the meatballs as brown as |
you can. |
|
my mother in-law sometimes makes a gravy for the meatballs instead of |
cooking them in the water for 30 minutes. she takes about 4 tbsp. of real |
butter and melts in frying pan and adds 4 tbsp of flour. stir until |
browned and then add enough water to make a gravy. when thickened, pour in |
a little bit of cream just to make it creamy and give a little flavor. add |
salt & white pepper to taste. you can add a bit of dill again if you want |
or not. add the meatballs to the gravy and mash a couple of them into the |
gravy and let them simmer for about 25 minutes. this is great too but oh |
so fattening!!! |
|
enjoy! |
|
|
-- |
(ID: 5695) Mirror: rec.food.recipes: Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |