I love old school recipes.  One from my childhood is Swedish meatballs.  Not because we had any Swedish heritage – it was just one of those dishes my mother would make for us.  Over the years I have tweaked a basic recipe to suit me.

The weather has finally turned crisp and fall-like so I thought tonight would be a good night to dust off the recipe and prepare Swedish meatballs.  My recipe is NOT made with heavy cream and I add mushrooms and a couple of other herbs/spices. But the flavors work and you get that old school Swedish meatball flavor…enhanced.  Some add caraway seeds to either the gravy or meatballs, I add celery seed to the gravy

I also do something that I doubt anyone else does – I will prepare the meatball mix ahead of time the day I am cooking and refrigerate until it is time to make the meatballs.  That allows the spices to meld and perfume the meat mixture better.

Panko bread crumbs are superior to regular bread crumbs in my opinion, but the most important thing to remember is to use PLAIN breadcrumbs. This is not the recipe for flavored breadcrumbs.

Some use mashed potatoes, I like wide egg noodles.

I hope you enjoy my recipe if you try it. Watch the salt you add because of the sodium in most broths.

Swedish Meatballs My Way

• 1 pound meatloaf mix
• 1 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
• ½ teaspoon ground allspice
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ cup onion, finely chopped x 2 or 1 cup
• ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
• ⅛ teaspoon White Pepper
• ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried mustard powder
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon celery seed
• Splash of buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon dill
• 8 oz package baby bella mushrooms slices thin
• 1 egg
• 6 tbsp. olive oil
• 5 tbsp. butter
• 3 tbsp. flour
• 2 cups beef broth or bison broth
• 1 cup evaporated Vitamin D canned milk (also great for homemade macaroni and cheese) or half and half
• 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
• salt and pepper to taste

1. In a medium sized bowl combine ground beef, panko, parsley, allspice, nutmeg, onion, garlic powder, white pepper, cumin, paprika, mustard powder, dash of buttermilk, salt and egg. Mix until combined. Put in refrigerator and chill a couple of   I do this because meat mixture flavor deepens.
2. Roll into  20 + small meatballs. In a large dutch oven heat olive oil and 2 Tablespoons butter. Add the meatballs and cook turning continuously until brown on each side and cooked throughout. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil.
3. Quickly sauté ½ cup minced onion and baby bella mushrooms
4. Add 4 Tablespoons butter and flour to skillet and whisk until it turns brown. Slowly stir in beef broth and milk. Add Worcestershire sauce and Dijon mustard and dill and bring to a simmer until sauce starts to thicken. Salt and pepper to taste. Add a small dash of nutmeg (I mean small!) and celery seed.
5. Add the meatballs back to the skillet and simmer for another few minutes. Serve over egg noodles or as the Brits call it, a “good mash” or plain mashed potatoes. I prefer egg noodles.