Mom’s Musings

Norwegian Meatballs

(This recipe is from the 1978 edition of the Sunset Cook Book of Favorite Recipes, but modified a bit by me)

2 pounds ground beef

1 pound ground pork (seasoned as for breakfast sausage)

2 eggs

Salt and pepper to taste

¼ to ½ teaspoon each mace and ground ginger

2 slices bread

Butter

1 medium-sized onion, sliced

¼ cup flour

Hot water (I use about 3 cups)

1 Tablespoon beef concentrate or bouillon concentrate

Combine beef, pork, egg, salt, pepper, mace, and ginger. Remove and discard crusts from bread, if desired (I leave the crusts on); moisten slices with water, tear in pieces, and add to meat.

Knead the mixture thoroughly with your hands, about 5 minutes. Wash hands and wet them with cold water; roll meat mixture in walnut-sized balls.

Melt a small amount of butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat; add meatballs and brown them on all sides. Remove with a slotted spoon and place in a casserole. Cook onions in the drippings, adding more butter if necessary and stirring frequently, until they are golden brown; remove with slotted spoon and distribute over meatballs in the casserole.

Make a brown gravy by adding flour to the butter remaining in the pan. Add a bit more butter if needed, to equal about ¼ cup; cook, stirring, over low heat until the flour has turned golden brown. Pour in hot water gradually and stir until gravy is thick and smooth (scrape all browned particles from pan into gravy). Add the beef concentrate, and season with salt (about 1 teaspoon) and pepper.

Pour gravy over meatballs, cover, and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes.

You can also leave the meatballs and gravy in the skillet, and continue cooking them at a simmer until tender and done.

Another option would be to put everything in the slow cooker at this point and cook on low for 4 or 5 hours. Serves 8 to 10.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 15th, 2008 at 7:53 pm and is filed under Homemaking, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.