recipes 18 and 19: Swedish meatballs and smörgås

First of all, Tristan would like me to mention the rareness of a weeknight post. Second of all, I am not going to lie. Usually when I eat Swedish meatballs, they are of the Trader Joe's or Ikea frozen section varietal. But I've also made my own and they are delicious. The meatball recipe is courtesy of a combination of Alton Brown's http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/swedish-meatballs-recipe/index.html and Emeril's http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/swedish-meatballs-recipe/index.html recipes on the Food Network. I varied up the recipes, or maybe lazied them up, or maybe just sort of mixed them together to create supermeatballs. But the supermeatballs were yummers and so I'll keep making them this way. Moving on to the smörgås (note that the "å" is pronounced as a long "o"). What is a smörgås? Why, it is a Swedish open-faced sandwich, popularized of late by "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." For more reading on Scandinavian open-faced sandwiches, in case people don't have anything better to do, see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_sandwich. Note: Erin and I were serving a platter of smörgåses as an appetizer to every sambo dinner waaaaay before the girl with the dragon tattoo was munching on these.

SWEDISH MEATBALLS, LINGONBERRIES, AND BOILED POTATOES (fully feeds at least one sambo dinner plus leftovers)
Ingredients:
-1/2 c breadcrumbs
-3 T butter, divided
-1/2 c very finely chopped onion
-1 t salt and 1/2 t ground black pepper
-3/4 lb ground beef
-3/4 lb ground pork
-2 large egg yolks
-pinch of nutmeg (trust me, just a pinch)
-pinch of allspice (same here re: only a pinch)
-1/4 c flour
-3 c beef broth
-1/4 c heavy cream
-1 lb small red potatoes
-1 T salt
-1/3 bunch fresh dill
-lingonberry jam

Instructions:
1) preheat oven to 300 degrees
2) saute the onions in 1 T butter in a frying pan until translucent and then set aside
3) combine together egg yolks, breadcrumbs, beef, pork, salt, pepper, allspice, and nutmeg
4) form into mini meatballs and then start making the potatoes (see step 12 below)
5) heat the remaining butter in the frying pan and saute the meatballs in batches until browned on all sides
6) remove the meatballs with a slotted spoon and transfer to a large casserole dish
7) place the casserole dish in the preheated oven while the next steps are completed
8) decrease the heat of the burner with the frying pan to low and whisk in the flour until lightly browned
9) add the beef stock and whisk
10) add the cream, stir, and reduce to desired thickness
11) cover the meatballs with the sauce
12) place the potatoes in a pot covered with 2 inches of water
13) add the salt and dill, bring to a boil, and simmer for 30 minutes
14) drain the potatoes and serve with the meatballs and lingonberries

SMöRGåS!
Ingredients:
-hearty bread
-butter
-thinly sliced cheeses
-cold sliced Swedish meatballs
-cucumber slices
-red pepper slices


Instructions:
1) generously spread the bread with butter
2) top with the desired topping(s) of your choosing
3) enjoy with sambo partner
4) see wikipedia article referenced above for further topping suggestions (mine and Erin's favorites are listed above)