NEW YORK (NYTimes) - Last year, I read a multivolume Proustian novel about the life of Norwegian writer Karl Ove Knausgaard.
The minutiae of his experience were the point of the book, elaborated in extravagant detail. Everything in his day-to-day life was there, every cigarette break, drinking spree and marital argument - everything, that is, but his meals.
What did this guy eat? He mentions only one food with any regularity: the frozen rissoles he heated up for many a meal.
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Swedish Meatballs
- Yield: 4 dozen meatballs Total time: 45 minutes
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Ingredients
1 cup panko bread crumbs
½ cup warm milk
4 Tbs unsalted butter
1 large onion, diced
2 tsp kosher salt, more as needed
1 Tbs brandy
1½ Tbs all-purpose flour
1 cup beef or chicken broth, low sodium or homemade
½ cup heavy cream
1 tsp Dijon mustard, optional
454g ground beef
454g ground pork
2 large eggs
2 garlic cloves, grated on a Microplane or minced
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp allspice
¼ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp nutmeg
Pinch cloves
Extra-virgin olive oil, as needed for drizzling
Chopped fresh parsley or dill, for garnish -
Method
1. In a medium bowl, soak bread crumbs in warm milk while you prepare the onions.
2. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt 1 Tbs butter. Stir in onions and a pinch of salt and cook until pale golden, about three to four minutes. Transfer half the onions to a large bowl and set aside.
3. Prepare sauce: Add brandy to skillet with onions and ignite with a long match or igniter (or if you're using a gas stove, just swirl pan, brandy should catch fire). Let flame die down, then add the remaining butter, letting it melt. Sprinkle in flour. Sauté until flour browns, about three minutes. Whisk in broth, cream and ¼ tsp salt. Simmer, whisking, until reduced to a sauce, about five minutes. Add mustard, if you like, and season with more salt, if needed.
4. To large bowl with onion, add remaining salt, soaked bread crumbs, beef, pork, eggs, garlic, pepper, allspice, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Roll into 1-inch or 2.5cm balls (about 2 Tbs each), placing them on one or two rimmed baking sheets as you go.
5. Heat broiler. Drizzle meatballs with oil. Broil meatballs, switching pans' positions if using more than one so they both get close to the broiler, until well browned all over, five to 10 minutes. Serve with gravy, garnished with herbs.
So then, what's a rissole?
Finding the answer was more difficult than you'd think. Every time I searched online for Norwegian or Scandinavian rissoles, recipes for meatballs like you'd get at Ikea would appear. And when I searched for just rissoles, I got a variant of French-style potato or meat croquettes.
I never did figure out exactly what he was eating.
But the research gave me a hankering for Swedish meatballs, which are about the most perfect thing you could make on a cold, wet evening, whether you're in Scandinavia, New York or anywhere else a comforting, cosy meal will do your body good.
To clarify: What we call Swedish meatballs here in the United States are made all over Scandinavia, in myriad ways.
Most recipes use a combination of beef and pork: the beef for chew, the pork for flavour and richness. I like a ratio of 50/50, but feel free to change that to suit your tastes. And note that many people substitute veal for the pork. You could probably even try ground turkey.
As for seasonings, onions, either raw or sautéed, are often added to the meat, along with warming spices like allspice, nutmeg and ginger.
Another important ingredient is bread crumbs in milk, which give the meatballs an incredible tenderness. I used panko, which I think provides a fluffier texture than more finely ground dried bread crumbs. Or you could use a diced slice of soft sandwich bread if that's more convenient.
As anyone who has ever bought a Billy bookcase is likely to know, Swedish meatballs are incomplete without a pool of creamy gravy. Here, I've seasoned the gravy with brandy for complexity and mustard for tang. If you've still got that jar of lingonberry jam in the fridge from your last bookcase-buying trip, a dollop adds a touch of sweetness and some very welcome color to the plate.
