Sweden

STAPLE FOOD

• Potato
• Chaneterrele (Mushroom)
• Berries
• Wheat (Bread)

Swedish Meatballs

1 tablespoon butter
3 tablespoons onions , grated
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork
1/2 lb ground veal
1 egg
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
butter or oil

Gravy

pan juices
1 tablespoon flour
3/4 cup cream (whole milk works in a pinch)
salt
white pepper

Directions:

1
Melt butter in a skillet.
2
Saute onions in the butter until golden.
3
Soak the bread crumbs in the milk.
4
To the bread mixture, add the meats, egg, onion, allspice, salt, and pepper. Mix until a smooth texture is achieved.
5
Chill mix for an hour or so, to firm it up.
6
Form mix into meatballs, using 1-2 tablespoons of meat per ball. (these should be smaller than a golf ball). If you are making these on a warm day, you might want to chill the formed balls again, so that you don't get flat sides when you fry them.
7
Heat a large skillet over medium high heat.
8
Melt a small amount of butter (traditional) or oil in the pan.
9
Add enough meatballs to fill the pan very loosely.
10
Shake the pan as you fry the balls, to keep the round shape as they cook. Continue to cook until they are evenly brown on all sides.
11
Remove each batch to a warm platter in the oven, as you fry the rest.
12
If you wish to make the gravy, deglaze the pan with a little water after each batch, and reserve the resulting drippings in a bowl.
13
For the gravy:.
14
When all of the meatballs have been fried, mix the flour and cream (or milk), and add to the reserved pan drippings in the skillet.
15
Simmer for 10 minutes.
16
If the mixture is too thick, add a bit of cream (or milk) to thin, then taste and season with salt and/or pepper as needed.
17
Pour gravy over warm meatballs and serve with boiled potatoes and lingonberry sauce.

ostkaka is their version of a cheesecake

750 g (~1.7 lbs) cottage cheese, strained*
4 large eggs
1/2 dl (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
1/2 dl (1/4 cup) all-purpose flour**
1 dl (1/2 cup) almond meal
3-4 bitter almonds, ground***

Whip the eggs until fluffy. Stir in sugar, flour, and cottage cheese. Add the almonds. Pour into a buttered pan (at least 1.5 liters in size)****, preferably flat. Bake in oven at 225°C***** for 1 hour (cover with tin-foil when starting to brown).

You want to let the cheesecake cool before serving as that is when it tastes the best. According to Mikael, ostkaka is best served cold or lukewarm.

Leela's notes:

*I have found that using cottage cheese alone results in a a cheesecake that is too wet, lumpy, and salty. My theory is that cottage cheese in the US is made differently from cottage cheese in Sweden. After a few experiments, I have come to like the flavor and texture derived from using half whole-milk small-curd cottage cheese and half whole-milk ricotta cheese. Being a bit overzealous, I even made my own ricotta using the paneer method, except I use vinegar instead of lemon juice and don't squeeze the curds so dry.

**You can also use cornstarch, potato starch, or rice flour.

***Bitter almond is commonly used in Europe, but it is banned in the US as it contains hydrocyanic acid, making them poisonous. (You have to eat a lot of bitter almonds in one sitting, though, to suffer from the cyanide effect.) Apricot kernels can be used as a substitute. Otherwise, add a tablespoon of Amaretto to the batter to mimic the distinct flavor of bitter almond.