Food Thread - Obsidian Gormand's Edition

[Keyrock]

First attempt at Swedish meatballs, completely from scratch:

So delicious! Eat your heart out, IKEA!

Edited January 24, 2023 by Keyrock

[Gromnir]

we were informed by an expert on such things that our swedish meatball recipe were actually norweigan meatballs. so we asked what is difference tween swedish and norweigan. answer: swedish meatballs is tending to be smaller and more spherical.  we observed that our meatballs were smallish and spherical. the chef nodded in agreement.

euros.

...

*shrug*

also makes us wonder at the european bafflement regarding american biscuits and gravy when swedish meatballs involves greasy meat slathered in a creamy gravy and served over a rib-sticking  starch.

ikea

is kinda surprising as is no nutmeg in the ikea offering. we thought a signature flavour o' swedish meatballs were the nutmeg.

Gromnir nordsweedballs in a brown gravy:

preheat oven to 400F

2lb meat (usual 1/2 ground beef and 1/2 pork)

3/4C grated onion

1/4C half-n-half

2T cornstartch

1 egg

1t kosher salt

1/4t each fresh ground nutmeg, allspice, black pepper

combine above ingredients being careful to not overmix. in the past we used panko breadcrumbs. meh. skip 'em. also, as am braising, we don't need vigorous mix and as a result our meat is more tender and less gummy than is most skillet durable meatballs.

use a 2T cookie scoop to form into balls and place 'em on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. am knowing is raw meat, but taste and decide if your mix needs more salt. am always tending to start with less salt so am able to add more if needed.

in batches, brown the balls in a skillet with 2T butter and 1T olive oil. remove browned balls to a dutch oven.

drain off oil from the skillet and deglaze with 3 1/2C beef broth. combine whish to combine 1/2C room temp or cold beef broth, 3T flour and 1T better than bullion base. add your flour slurry to the skillet with the broth and cook over medium for ~ five minutes or until you got appropriate gravy consistency. skim off excess fat and foam and add salt and pepper as needed.

aside: if your gravy is not a deep and rich brown, do not hesitate to add 1/2t or a smidge more o' kitchen bouquet. 

pour the gravy over the meatballs in your dutch oven and then place in a preheated oven for 35-40ish minutes. you wanna braise the meatballs.

remove from oven and serve meatballs and gravy over noodles or mashed taters or whatever.

the version we offer is admitted not the dairy gravy one most recognizes from ikea and other swedish meatball recipes, but it is our current go to recipe.

HA! Good Fun!

 

Edited January 24, 2023 by Gromnir

[Keyrock]

37 minutes ago, Gromnir said:

ikea

is kinda surprising as is no nutmeg in the ikea offering. we thought a signature flavour o' swedish meatballs were the nutmeg.

Yeah, my meatballs have both nutmeg and allspice.

My recipe is very similar to yours except all beef and I also added garlic (not a lot) and parsley to the balls and used flour instead of cornstarch for the sauce thickener.

Also, I don't have a proper dutch oven, but I do have a 12" cast iron skillet with a cast iron lid that serves as a halfway decent dutch oven substitute.

Side note: Cast iron is the greatest. No enamel, nothing fancy, just a big, heavy hunk of iron seasoned all the way around.

Edited January 24, 2023 by Keyrock

[majestic]

  I'm just going to leave this here:

I managed to live four decades without seeing an image of Swedish meatballs by the way, and now I wish I had managed for longer. Needless to say, I also never ate at an IKEA store, and after looking it up, I certainly am not going to.

Repost:

There there, don't you worry none, we'll never add cream based gravy to you. Or any gravy, for that matter. Hush now. Off you go, into my mouth.

 

[ShadySands]

3 hours ago, Gromnir said:

also makes us wonder at the european bafflement regarding american biscuits and gravy when swedish meatballs involves greasy meat slathered in a creamy gravy and served over a rib-sticking  starch.

I was just thinking the same thing 

I've also had a cream gravy at a German restaurant a time or two, wish I could remember the name.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

I can say that I've never had swedish meatballs, and that I have no desire to change that. But all this talk of meat and gravy makes me want a chicken fried steak. Since that's not very healthy and somewhat expensive, I'm going with more roasted brussel sprouts and some chicken thighs instead tonight.

[ShadySands]

Thanks, KP. Now I want a chicken fried steak.

[Gromnir]

3 hours ago, ShadySands said:

I was just thinking the same thing 

I've also had a cream gravy at a German restaurant a time or two, wish I could remember the name.

perhaps rahm sauce... rhamsauce... or something close to that? have made once long ago but saw it a few times. kinda butter colored? may have a pinkish hue 'cause a small amount o' tomato paste is added, which in itself is also kinda strange seeing as how tomatoes is a new world berry/vegie/fruit/whatever, so is difficult to imagine the original recipe calls for tomato. pairs with all kinda german recipes including their version o' meatballs.

edit: we thought the german cream sauce (not necessarily what shady recalls) were fine the handful o' times we partook, but our travelling companion during our first extended stay in europe referred to it as "vomit sauce." a snarky spanish girl forever ruined the sauce for us.

HA! Good Fun!

Edited January 25, 2023 by Gromnir

[Keyrock]

Continuing my streak of cooking new things, I made Rouladen:

Super delicious! The pickles and mustard work shockingly well. This is one of the best foods I've ever made. It's a 2+ hour job but so worth it.

Edited January 26, 2023 by Keyrock

[Gorth]

On 1/25/2023 at 5:13 AM, Keyrock said:

First attempt at Swedish meatballs, completely from scratch:

So delicious! Eat your heart out, IKEA!

Horse meat?

[ShadySands]

On 1/24/2023 at 11:12 PM, Gromnir said:

perhaps rahm sauce... rhamsauce... or something close to that?

I don't think so because I don't remember it having tomato in it but I could be misremembering 

[Azdeus]

On 1/24/2023 at 8:13 PM, Keyrock said:

First attempt at Swedish meatballs, completely from scratch:

So delicious! Eat your heart out, IKEA!

 

On 1/25/2023 at 12:08 AM, Gromnir said:

we were informed by an expert on such things that our swedish meatball recipe were actually norweigan meatballs. so we asked what is difference tween swedish and norweigan. answer: swedish meatballs is tending to be smaller and more spherical.  we observed that our meatballs were smallish and spherical. the chef nodded in agreement.

euros.

...

*shrug*

also makes us wonder at the european bafflement regarding american biscuits and gravy when swedish meatballs involves greasy meat slathered in a creamy gravy and served over a rib-sticking  starch.

 

9 hours ago, Gorth said:

Horse meat?

Thank you for schooling them Gorth, this is an integral part for proper Swedish meatballs that cannot be substituted.

..

On a more serious note, I've never seen a recipe online that matches the one our family makes for christmas, with oatmeal for one instead of breadcrumbs, and finishing them off in an oven is really important aswell.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

I've starred buying this skyr stuff that's better than the greek yogurt I was eating for breakfast. A serving with that, a red banana, and a (damn fine) cup of coffee made a good breakfast that's relatively healthy and doesn't require much work.

On 1/24/2023 at 10:03 PM, ShadySands said:

Thanks, KP. Now I want a chicken fried steak.

You're welcome. Maybe you could have one with some eggs if egg prices get lower than the stratosphere. That would be a great breakfast, and now I want it more.

45 minutes ago, Azdeus said:

 

 

Thank you for schooling them Gorth, this is an integral part for proper Swedish meatballs that cannot be substituted.

..

On a more serious note, I've never seen a recipe online that matches the one our family makes for christmas, with oatmeal for one instead of breadcrumbs, and finishing them off in an oven is really important aswell.

The times I would see oatmeal used instead of bread it is usually in a meatloaf instead of meatballs, but it would work for the later as well.

Suffice to say, horse meat and whatever that sauce is doesn't really appeal to me, so I'd pass on those meatballs. If I put sauce on meatballs, I go for either a tomato sauce or more of a glaze with some sweetness.

[Azdeus]

9 minutes ago, Space KP, Baby said:

Suffice to say, horse meat and whatever that sauce is doesn't really appeal to me, so I'd pass on those meatballs. If I put sauce on meatballs, I go for either a tomato sauce or more of a glaze with some sweetness.

I intensly dislike cream sauce and similar so yeah, for christmas I usually eat it with beetroot sallad or red cabbage, if I eat it outside christmas it's usually ketchup on my macaroni or mayo on the sandwich. Or beetroot sallad.

[Gromnir]

@Azdeusrolled oats is an extreme common filler/binding ingredient for meatballs and meatloaf and similar stuff. am guessing is not difficult to find on-line recipes with rolled oats included. the thing is, we do not keep rolled oats or quick oats in our pantry, so IF am needing such, then am far more likely to use panko or other breadcrumbs, but the thing is, the oats/breadcrumbs is not gonna change taste to any significant degree. 

how much time do you finish in the oven? as we note, we prefer to braise, but unless you are using a meat improbable lean, a meatball braise in cream sauce is likely gonna break it, resulting in pooling grease as 'posed to a velvety smooth texture. is unlikely you are talking braise when you speak o' finishing. are you using radiant heat from the oven to warm the meatballs and sauce to same temp? again, shouldn't change taste but am gonna note oven radiant heat is how we warm the dish personal, but am doubting even this guy would quibble over such a step in the process.

aside: we do have young cousins who love oatmeal cookies. maybe once a year we got rolled oats on hand when am making snacks for the kids, but don't make cookies for self so tins o' steel cut oats is what we got. steel cut oats don't work as well in meatballs and meatloaf. 

edit: it is possible we have eaten horse meat while travelling in aisa w/o even being aware o' the fact.  am understanding eating horse meat regular may interfere with the efficacy o' stuff such as tetanus shots and anti venom as those is using horse serum... or at least they was back when Gromnir were young. 

@ShadySands rahmsauce is often the color o' butter, so depending on what it is served over, the small tomato addition might be overlooked, but if is another german cream sauce, that it only makes the curious european dismay regarding biscuits and gravy all the more odd as it suggests a bit more ubiquity for similar euro fare, no? 

HA! Good Fun!

Edited January 27, 2023 by Gromnir

[ShadySands]

It was some kind of German, I think they said it was a classic German dish, boiled meatball covered in a cream gravy that had a few capers in it and served with a side of boiled potatoes. 

Searching for it I've found other sauces but maybe it doesn't have it's own name, just a gravy you make out of the leftovers from your meat.

e: maybe Konigsberger Klopse???

Edited January 27, 2023 by ShadySands

[Azdeus]

12 minutes ago, Gromnir said:

@Azdeusrolled oats is an extreme common filler/binding ingredient for meatballs and meatloaf and similar stuff. am guessing is not difficult to find on-line recipes with rolled oats included. the thing is, we do not keep rolled oats or quick oats in our pantry, so IF am needing such, then am far more likely to use panko or other breadcrumbs, but the thing is, the oats/breadcrumbs is not gonna change taste to any significant degree. 

how much time do you finish in the oven? as we note, we prefer to braise, but unless you are using a meat improbable lean, a meatball braise in cream sauce is likely gonna break it, resulting in pooling grease as 'posed to a velvety smooth texture. is unlikely you are talking braise when you speak o' finishing. are you using radiant heat from the oven to warm the meatballs and sauce to same temp? again, shouldn't change taste but am gonna note oven radiant heat is how we warm the dish personal, but am doubting even this guy would quibble over such a step in the process.

aside: we do have young cousins who love oatmeal cookies. maybe once a year we got rolled oats on hand when am making snacks for the kids, but don't make cookies for self so tins o' steel cut oats is what we got. steel cut oats don't work as well in meatballs and meatloaf.

HA! Good Fun!

They're probably around, but the recipes that usually come up (In Swedish) have potatofiber, potato starch or breadcrumbs. I much prefer the oats for the consistency. I suspect the fact that oatgruel being a common sort of breakfast and oats being used in popular pastries such as chocolate balls and oatmeal cookies. I suspect this also has to do with my sister has celiac disease and gluten free bread being ****, we used oats instead and I'm used to it.

Having them boil apart isn't much of an issue since I don't make any sauce or such for them. It depends alot on what meat and size I'm using and how I intend to use the meatballs. If I'm going to eat them immediately, iirc, they should be about 15-25 minutes in the oven at 175C, if I'm using beef instead of 50/50 mix I go for the lower amount, it's a whole lot of guesstimates involved unless one has a way of standardizing their size, I mostly look for the colour I want. I'm really bad at remembering recipies, I've got it written down but I can't find the recipe book at the moment. I'm generally pretty **** at cooking, so it's possible that the oats are what influences cooking time and such, I wouldn't be able to tell since I dare not mess with recipes. Unless we're talking spice, then I just add in 3-4 times the normal amount and a few fistful of chilipeppers.

I'll be honest, I haven't actually thought much about how we make oatmeal here, but after looking through wikipedia it seems the correct translation would be rolled oats

[Gromnir]

18 minutes ago, Azdeus said:

Having them boil apart isn't much of an issue since I don't make any sauce or such for them.

well that makes more sense. is general a superior method to be cooking your meatballs in an oven as 'posed to a skillet over the stove-- retain shape better, cook more even and cook on a rack means you have ain't cooking bottom o' the balls in grease. however, the reason for cooking meatballs in the skillet is precise 'cause o' the sauce you aren't making, but Gromnir and others is anticipating. am generating fond by cooking the meatballs in a skillet or dutch oven. am needing the fond for a fantastic sauce.

unrelated: ny times recipe

that's a whole lotta sage. sage, garlic, lemon and gin to be flavoring chicken sounds delicious so am gonna need try at least once. am s'posing we got a bit o' gin somewhere. is an extreme small number o' juniper berry recipes in our arsenal, so we usual have a bit o' gin too.

HA! Good Fun!

Edited January 27, 2023 by Gromnir

[Azdeus]

37 minutes ago, Gromnir said:

well that makes more sense. is general a superior method to be cooking your meatballs in an oven as 'posed to a skillet over the stove-- retain shape better, cook more even and cook on a rack means you have ain't cooking bottom o' the balls in grease. however, the reason for cooking meatballs in the skillet is precise 'cause o' the sauce you aren't making, but Gromnir and others is anticipating. am generating fond by cooking the meatballs in a skillet or dutch oven. am needing the fond for a fantastic sauce.

unrelated: ny times recipe

that's a whole lotta sage. sage, garlic, lemon and gin to be flavoring chicken sounds delicious so am gonna need try at least once. am s'posing we got a bit o' gin somewhere. is an extreme small number o' juniper berry recipes in our arsenal, so we usual have a bit o' gin too.

HA! Good Fun!

Honestly, I've never met anyone here that makes meatballs in a sauce, what is typically done here is that you take the meatballs out of the skillet and then make a sauce from the gravy in the pan and then pour it over the dish afterwards. I find those sauces pretty icky though, mashed potatoes, meatballs and cream sauce? Nah, I'm good, I'll take mashed potatoes, meatballs and ketchup. Then again, I typically eat chicken ramen near daily, or soups/stews of different kinds. It has to be some sort of really thin sauce for me to be able to really like it.

There's a paywall on that article sadly, but from what you write there it sounds like it could be interesting

[Gromnir]

as is paywall, am not gonna cheat, but we will post ingredients:

24 sage leaves
3 large skin-on chicken breasts
6 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons cold butter
¼ cup gin
¾ cup chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus wedges for serving

9 minutes ago, Azdeus said:

I'll take mashed potatoes, meatballs and ketchup.

...

see, this is where you folks lose us. @majestic shows pictures o' a steak being served with ketchup and you apparent prefer meatballs with ketchup... and am assuming you are older than eight. 

HA! Good Fun!

[Azdeus]

13 minutes ago, Gromnir said:

as is paywall, am not gonna cheat, but we will post ingredients:

24 sage leaves
3 large skin-on chicken breasts
6 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons cold butter
¼ cup gin
¾ cup chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus wedges for serving

...

see, this is where you folks lose us. @majestic shows pictures o' a steak being served with ketchup and you apparent prefer meatballs with ketchup... and am assuming you are older than eight. 

HA! Good Fun!

Hahaha! Technically thirty-eight is eight, so I'm most definetly excused! \o/

The ketchup isn't there for the meatballs though, they're good enough on their own, but it's for the mashed potatoes. Also something I'm not overly fond of, but it'll do in a pickle. Well, no, the gurkin needs pickling, mashed potatoes most definetly need ketchup. Lingonberries mixes well with meatballs though, if you ever get hold of some proper frozen lingonberries to make your own lingonberry jam, it's pretty amazing, especially with potato pancakes (Raggmunk)

Thanks, that does read like a very promising recipe, I'm going to see if I can find something similar but for free

Edited January 27, 2023 by Azdeus

[Keyrock]

I'm just not a fan of ketchup in general. I use it as part of the sauce for meatloaf and... ... ... I'm drawing a blank. I think that's it. I don't put it on hot dogs, I much prefer chili, mustard, relish, or, better yet, diced onions and pickles with a couple half slices of tomato *chef kiss*. I don't put it on fries, I mostly just put salt & pepper on fries, but if I do dip fries in something it's either a cheese sauce or tartar sauce.

[Gromnir]

8 minutes ago, Azdeus said:

mashed potatoes most definetly need ketchup.

this is so not helping.

edit: at our table, you may add whatever you want to a food and we won't sneer or judge. individuals have individual tastes and am not gonna make somebody feel bad 'bout their choices. 'course the internet allows us to be all judgy with folks we will likely never meet.

regardless, returns us to the original observation from way back where we observed how defined exotic is gonna change quite a bit given regional tastes and preferences.

HA! Good Fun!

Edited January 27, 2023 by Gromnir

[Azdeus]

26 minutes ago, Gromnir said:

this is so not helping.

You clearly don't have good ketchup then

I do remember Sweden was the top consumers of ketchup some year, a while ago, so clearly we know best!

26 minutes ago, Keyrock said:

I'm just not a fan of ketchup in general. I use it as part of the sauce for meatloaf and... ... ... I'm drawing a blank. I think that's it. I don't put it on hot dogs, I much prefer chili, mustard, relish, or, better yet, diced onions and pickles with a couple half slices of tomato *chef kiss*. I don't put it on fries, I mostly just put salt & pepper on fries, but if I do dip fries in something it's either a cheese sauce or tartar sauce.

The only thing I buy ketchup for is macaroni to be honest, I never make mashed potatoes myself, but I do enjoy it on hotdogs, with mustard, dried onion and bostongurka ("Boston gurkin", has absolutely nothing to do with boston)

My fav burgerjoint closed a few years ago after changing owners (And ditching ground chuck for just normal ground beef) but I think it was chili-mayo dip they had, or something very close to it. It was ****ing fantastic. I miss them so much

Edited January 27, 2023 by Azdeus

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

39 minutes ago, Keyrock said:

I'm just not a fan of ketchup in general. I use it as part of the sauce for meatloaf and... ... ... I'm drawing a blank. I think that's it. I don't put it on hot dogs, I much prefer chili, mustard, relish, or, better yet, diced onions and pickles with a couple half slices of tomato *chef kiss*. I don't put it on fries, I mostly just put salt & pepper on fries, but if I do dip fries in something it's either a cheese sauce or tartar sauce.

If I'm using it as a condiment I mix in some sriracha or hot sauce. It's very good that way, like the spicy ketchup from whataburger but better.

29 minutes ago, Azdeus said:

The only thing I buy ketchup for is macaroni to be honest

I hope this is just a case of us having very different ideas of ketchup, because that sounds nasty.