BARRY SAYS: I’ve become friends with some of the guys in a Swedish classic rock outfit called The Cadillac Band. They come through town every summer and last month they played at the Chattanooga Choo Choo in the formal gardens. Kelley seized on the opportunity to chat up members of the band and the fans traveling with them, asking about everything from kitchen design to favorite Swedish dishes.
KELLEY SAYS: Well, I wanted to know. And the thing I heard from just about everybody was that the fish was wonderful, but Swedish meatballs are the favorite dish.
BARRY: I just liked watching the look of surprise on the poor, unsuspecting visitors who no doubt were wondering who the inquisitive American was.
KELLEY: Anyway, I did what I always do and went online and looked in my cookbooks for recipes. Pretty much everything I found indicates the meatballs – or köttbullar, (pronounced SHUT-boo-lahr) – are fairly simple and straightforward – meat and a few spices then a nice sauce. I found a recipe in an old cookbook I have called “The United States Regional Cookbook” from 1940.
BARRY: I kept trying to compare the dish to some meatballs Kelley had made a few weeks earlier, but it was more like a Russian stroganoff with pickles, capers and mushrooms. Maybe it was because the sauces are somewhat similar and, well, there were meatballs, but they were very different. “Subtle” is the word I would use. We could really taste the meat, the dill and the allspice.
KELLEY: We served the dish with mashed potatoes, homemade pickles and lingonberry jam and, while I do agree to a degree with Barry because I did like the pickles and the capers. I like this dish with the pickles on the side.
BARRY: The lingonberry is like a Scandinavian cranberry sauce, but not quite as sweet or tart.
Swedish Meatballs (Köttbullar)
1 pound ground veal
1/2 pound ground pork
1/2 pound ground sirloin
The Sauce (recipe below)
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
3/4 of 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 cup breadcrumbs
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoons allspice
Salt and pepper
The Sauce
1 tablespoon flour
1 can beef consume
2 tablespoons demi-glace (available in packet at groceries)
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Remaining yellow onion
1/4 cup vodka
Black pepper
Thoroughly mix the meatball ingredients by hand into a large bowl. Roll the meatballs by hand into 1 1/2-inch balls. In a large cast-iron skillet, heat about 1 tablespoon of oil. Once hot, add the meatballs and brown on all sides. Do not crowd the meatballs when cooking. It may take up to four batches, so add a little oil for each batch if needed. Makes about 40 meatballs.
Once all the meatballs are cooked, don’t clean the pan. Add the butter and sauté the remaining onions. Add flour and cook for about a minute.
Add your consommé and half a can of water. Reduce heat and simmer for about 2-3 minutes, then add vodka and demi-glace. Cook for about 5 additional minutes, then add sour cream, dill and pepper. Add meatballs to coat with the sauce. Serve with pickles and lingonberry sauce.