Swedish Meatballs Recipe

Swedish Meatballs

Having lived in Sweden for many years, this is my first attempt at making meatballs. I had thought of making it many times before but it never materialized. Being one of the national dishes, meatballs are readily available here, with varying quantities of meat. The cheaper ones are probably more like meat flavored meat balls, containing trace amounts of meat. And this is the major benefit of making your own balls, no unwanted ingredients. With homemade meatballs, you can also introduce other ingredients like shredded veges. In relatively small quantities it may be almost unnoticeable.

Adopted from Crumb

Ingredients

450 grams (1 pound) ground pork

450 grams (1 pound) ground beef

1 cup fresh bread crumbs

½ cup milk

1 large onion, finely minced

1 egg, lightly beaten

4 tablespoons canola oil, divided

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ teaspoons ground allspice

Sauce

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

2½ cups low-sodium beef broth

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

½ cup sour cream

Salt, to taste

Lingonberry, cranberry or redcurrant jelly (optional)

Ingredients

1.      Preheat oven to 205°C/400°F

2.      Lightly grease a large baking sheet.

3.      Mix breadcrumbs and milk in a small bowl. Set aside for about 10-15 minutes to allow the bread to completely absorb the milk.

4.      In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté the onion in 1 tablespoon canola oil until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.

5.      In a large mixing bowl, combine ground meat, egg, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and allspice. Add the soaked breadcrumbs and cooled onions. Mix until everything is well combined.

6.      Using a tablespoon measure, scoop out and roll the meat mixture into balls, transferring the shaped meatballs to the prepared baking sheet (meatballs should be fairly close together, but not touching).

7.      Lightly coat the meatballs with cooking spray or brush with canola oil. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the centre is cooked through and tops are lightly browned.

8.     Prepare the Sauce:

9.      Return skillet to medium-high heat, and add butter. Once butter is melted and foamy, whisk in the flour until smooth paste forms and cook for 1-2 minutes. Whisk in the stock and bring to a simmer, stirring frequently. Cook for 4-5 minutes, or until sauce is thick and glossy, then remove from heat and whisk in sour cream.

10.  Add the cooked meatballs to the pan and stir until well coated with sauce.

West Ukrainian Kvarg Cheese Cake Recipe

West Ukrainian Cheese Cake

If there was a ‘worlds ugliest cake’ competition, this will win, hands down.  Photos like this shouldn't even be allowed on the internet. I guess you would never guess that this is a cheesecake. It looks more like something that came from outer space. But it tastes good.

The recipe uses quark instead of cream cheese. The quark I used had 0.3% fat, so it’s a relatively low fat dessert. It also uses semolina instead of regular flour. You can see the semolina grains in the photo below.

West Ukrainian Cheese Cake

Source: Enjoy Your Cooking

Ingredients

680 grams (1½ lb) quark (fresh farmers cheese)

4 eggs, separated

100 grams (3½ oz) of butter, melted

¾ cup of sugar

2 tablespoons semolina

Juice of half a small lemon

½ teaspoon of vanilla sugar

Ingredients

1.      Heat oven to 190°C/375°F

2.      Beat egg whites until it doubles in volume. Slowly add half of the sugar and keep beating the egg whites until sugar has dissolved.

3.      In a separate bowl mix together egg yolks and the rest of the sugar until the sugar has dissolved

4.      Add quark to the egg yolk mixture and mix well.

5.      Add the rest of the ingredients except the egg whites to the egg yolk mixture and mix well.

6.      Fold in the egg white mixture and add to a greased baking pan

7.      Bake at 190°C/375°F for 15 minutes

8.      Reduce the temperature to 175°C/350°F and bake for a further 45 minutes

9.      Turn the heat off and let cake cool down till room temperature inside the oven. Don’t open the oven. Once cooled, remove cake from the baking pan and refrigerate.

Kyrgyz Style Gamburger (Гамбургер) Recipe

This is not really a recipe post!


In Russian language, ‘h’ is replaced by ‘g’ so hamburger becomes gamburger. If you happen to be in Kyrgyzstan, feel homesick and order a gamburger, you will be in for a shock. Here’s a cross section view.

Gamburger

The dominant flavor in the gamburger is mayo laden coleslaw, with subtle flavors of well done meat and French fries. And you get all of this from one bite. 

If you are not in Kyrgyzstan and anxious to create the gamburger experience, here’s how:

1.      Smother both halves of a burger bun with mayonnaise and ketchup.  Ideally the bun should be either dry or moist with a very chewy crust. For the authentic experience use factory mayonnaise.

2.      Place some French fries on the bottom half of the bun. French fries go in the burger, not on the side. Use less than 10 fries.

3.      Top the fries with well done kebab meat, a relatively small amount for a subtle flavor. About 20-30 grams should be enough. Type of meat should remain a mystery.

4.      Top the meat with a generous amount of mayo laden coleslaw. You should be able to get close to your daily recommended vegetable intake.

5.      Throw in some cucumber slices for crunch and your gamburger is ready to rock and roll.

If your gamburger tastes like a hamburger, or tastes meaty, you have done something wrong. Start over again.

In Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, there are hundreds of "gamburger" stands. I bought mine from the one below and it set me back by 55 soms (US$1.12). 

Gamburger

In recent years a couple of ‘regular’ hamburgers chains have made an appearance. These chains use meat patties, topped with cheese if ordered, and fries are served on the side. They do things the boring old fashioned way! The price of a hamburger and gamburger is comparable. My guess is that gamburgers have a larger market share.