Recipe(tried): IKEA Swedish Meatballs

IKEA Swedish Meatballs with Lingonberry Sauce

To serve as an hors d'Oeuvre, don't make this gravy, but buy a jar or two of Lingonberry sauce from your favorite market or an Ikea store. The tart-sweetness of the sauce plays perfect counterpoint to the tender savory meatballs.

Makes 70-80 meatballs

2 cups soft Bread Crumbs
2/3 cup Half-and-half
4 tablespoons Unsalted Butter
1/2 cup minced Onion
1 Garlic clove, minced very fine
1/2 pound Ground Beef
1/2 pound Ground Veal
1/2 pound Ground Pork
3 large Eggs
1/2 to 1 teaspoon freshly grated Nutmeg
1 teaspoon Salt (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground Black Pepper

GRAVY

1 tablespoon Bovril (concentrated meat extract)
3 tablespoon All Purpose Flour
1 cup Veal Stock, Chicken Stock or Water
1 cup Sour Cream mixed with 1 teaspoon All Purpose Flour
2 tablespoon minced Parsley

GARNISH:
Chopped Parsley and purchased Lingonberry Sauce

1. Soak the bread crumbs in the half-and-half in a large mixing bowl until softened, for about 10 minutes.

2. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. When the foam starts to subside, add the onions and garlic and saut for about 3 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.

3. Add the beef, veal, pork, and onion-garlic mixture to the bread-crumb mixture and gently mix with your impeccably clean hands. Add the eggs, nutmeg, salt and pepper, and again gently combine everything with your impeccably clean hands.

4. Cover the bowl and refrigerate the mixture for a couple of hours.

5. Shape the mixture into uniform 2/3-inch balls, wetting your hands with water so the meat won't stick to them. Arrange the meatballs on a baking sheet in one layer so they do not touch each other. Let the meatballs stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

6. Melt the remaining butter in a saut pan or skillet over moderate heat. When the foam starts to subside, add the meatballs without crowding them in the pan; you will have to cook the meatballs in batches. Saut the meatballs for about 5 minutes until they are well-browned on all sides. Turn them gently as they saut . Reserve the cooked meatballs on a platter and continue to cook the remaining ones until done.

7. After the last meatballs have been removed from the saute pan, add Bovril and flour. Stir until well blended, add stock or water and pepper, and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened.

8. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. sour cream-flour mixture into the sauce, one tablespoon at a time - stirring until thoroughly blended after each addition. Return meatballs to gravy, cover, and simmer very gently 10 minutes.

PRESENTATION SUGGESTIONS:

As an hors d'Oeuvre, serve sprinkled with minced parsley and without the gravy from a shallow casserole, with a dish of Lingonberry sauce on the side. Serve with plenty of cocktail picks.

You can also serve these meatballs, with their gravy, over buttered broad noodles as a main course. Yum. Garnish these dinner plates with a dollop of Lingonberry Sauce atop the meatballs.