Swedish Meatballs/Finnish Meatballs
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| 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 |