Swedish Meatballs!

"Swedish Meatballs" is a dish we grew up eating.  I am not really sure why, because we are not Swedish and these are not really a 'southern' kind of thing, but Mama must have seen the recipe someplace and gave it a whirl and they were delicious.  This is my own take on Swedish Meatballs.  I have sort of changed them up just a bit from the more traditional recipes.  Most of the recipes have spices in them like allspice and nutmeg.  I do not care for those type of spices in savory dishes. It just tastes odd to me.  I don't even like nutmeg in sweet desserts all that much, but can tolerate a bit of it now and then.  However, if you want to add those spices, go for it, but I wouldn't add more than a 1/4 teaspoon of each.

Here is what you will need:

1 1/2 lbs. ground chuck

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup half and half cream

1/3 cup Panko bread crumbs (can use regular bread crumbs, if you don't have these)

1/2 tsp. seasoned salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 cup olive or vegetable oil

4 Tbs. butter

1/4 cup onion, finely chopped

1/4 cup flour

2 cups beef broth

1  (10.25 oz.) cream of mushroom soup

1 cup water

2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp. soy sauce

1/2 tsp. seasoned salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Place the ground chuck, eggs and milk in a large mixing bowl and combine.  Add the Panko bread crumbs, seasoned salt, black pepper, and garlic powder.   Combine until it's all incorporated, but don't over work them. If you work meatballs too much, they tend to become too tight and are dry.



Here is a tip on getting fairly uniform sized meatballs. Place the meat in a square shape on a sheet of parchment or wax paper and then with a pizza cutter, cut in equal squares. Then you can just roll each one into a ball.  I don't like to make these huge so they can soak up more of the rich sauce.  I made these each about 1 inch or the size a bit larger than an English Walnut.

Heat the 1/4 cup oil in a skillet with a lid or a Dutch oven.  Place the meatballs in the oil and brown well on all sides.  You need to turn them quite frequently so they don't burn and get an even browning.  Once they are all brown, remove to a plate

 If the beef rendered too much grease, pour most of it off, leave about 2 or 3 tablespoons for flavor.  Add the 4 tablespoons of butter to the pan.  Saute the diced onion, until translucent.  Sprinkle in the flour and cook for about a minute. Slowly whisk in the beef broth, mushroom soup and the water.  Bring this up to a boil, stirring constantly.  It will start to tighten up and thicken.  Turn to simmer when you can tell it is thickening.  Add the seasoned salt, black pepper, and garlic powder.   Temper the cup of sour cream, but placing it in a bowl and slowly stirring in a little of the sauce at a time and incorporating it.  This brings the temperature of the cold sour cream up slowly so that when you add it to the sauce it doesn't break and ruin your smooth gravy.  Once the sour cream is added to the sauce, place the meatballs back in the pan and cover with the sauce.  Make sure to keep the heat on a low simmer, so that it doesn't boil again once the sour cream is added.  Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes.

Plate over egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or rice!  Once plated, sprinkle with the fresh parsley!

Serve and sit back and wait for the compliments!