Swedish Meatballs

What you need:

• ½ cup of breadcrumbs
• ½ cup (125 ml) of milk
• 35 ml of Cream
• 1 large egg
• 1 clove of garlic (minced)
• ⅓ teaspoon of salt
• ¼ teaspoon of black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon of white pepper
• ¼ teaspoon of allspice
• ½ of an onion (finely chopped)
• 1 lb (500g) of ground beef
• ½ pound (250g) of ground pork
• 2 tablespoons of fresh parsley(chopped)
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 2 teaspoons of olive oil

Gravy Sauce: Optional
• ⅓ cup butter
• ¼ cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1 cup thickened (heavy) cream
• 2 teaspoons regular soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Execution:

• In a large bowl, mix the breadcrumbs together with the milk, cream (If using), egg, garlic, salt, peppers and spice. Allow the milk to soak into the breadcrumbs for at least 10 minutes.

• Once the milk has absorbed some, add in the onion, meat and parsley. Mix well with your hands to combine.

• Roll meat into about 24 small balls, or 16 larger balls.

• Heat 1 tablespoons of butter and 2 teaspoons of oil in a pan on medium-high heat. Fry meatballs in batches of two so they don’t stew or simmer. Transfer to a warm plate and cover with foil.

• Add the 1/3 cup butter to the juices in the pan to melt. Whisk in the flour until it dissolves and turns brown in colour. Pour in the broth (or stock), cream, soy sauce and dijon. Bring to a simmer and season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix the sauce through well to combine all of the flavours together.

• Continue to simmer until thickened.

• There are 2 ways to serve this dish.
1) Non-Swedish way: Place meatballs into the gravy in the pan and serve
2) Traditional Swedish way: Do not make the cream sauce at all. Serve meatballs over plain or stewed macaroni, plain or mashed potatoes, and lingonberry jam. The jam is optional.