The Sweden box

So a couple of weeks ago I got an email saying that 'Try the World' was running a deal where you only pay $5 for shipping to get the Sweden box.  Try the World is a gourmet food subscription box where they send you condiments and snacks from different countries, and typically each box is normally $40.  I had gotten the France box a year or two ago also for $5, and it was pretty awesome because you get 6-8 things from that country in the box.  Of course I couldn't resist getting the Sweden box, I just had to remember to cancel the membership within a month :)

The real impetus in getting the Sweden box was I was pretty sure it was going to contain lingonberry something, and I really wanted to try my hand at making swedish meatballs.  Lo and behold, I wasn't disappointed!

The last time I went perusing cookbooks at the library, I stumbled upon a Scandinavian cookbook, and put a post-it note on the Swedish meatball recipe.  The only other time I've had Swedish meatballs was at IKEA, so I wanted to see if I could make my own!

Real Swedish Meatballs, from The ScandiKitchen:

1/3 c Porridge, Old Fashioned Oats or breadcrumbs (I used oats)
2/3 c meat stock
14 oz ground beef
9 oz ground pork
1 large egg
2.5 tbs all purpose flour
a pinch of salt
1 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 t ground white pepper
a dash of soy sauce
1 small onion, grated
butter and oil for frying

Soak the oats for 5 mins in the meat stock.
Mix the meat with a pinch of salt in a food processor.  Mix eggs, flour, spices, soy sauce in a separate bowl, then with the oats/meat stock, onion, and meat.  Rest the mixture for 20-25 mins.
Shape the meatballs roughly 1" in diameter with damp hands.
Heat a frying pan/skillet with a small amount of oil/butter, fry the meatballs and roll them around so they don't stick.  It takes about 5 mins/batch to cook, so cook them in multiple batches.
When all the meatballs are done, make a gravy!  Add a tablespoon of flour to the leftover fat and whisk, add stock until you get a good creamy gravy, and season with salt.

Serve the meatballs with mashed potatoes and the gravy.  Oh, and I added some gailan in there for green veggies!

P.S. - I don't think I'll ever attempt anything this ambitious on a weeknight again for the first time.  It was later than I wanted to be eating :/