A recipe: Swedish Meatballs

Okay... so I know I just said this is mostly going to be about house stuff, but I wanted to share this recipe that I picked up from the Decatur Farmer's Market (when I lived in Atlanta) from a book called, Cooking for Two. I made this dish for the first time last night and we both really loved it so I thought I would share. I have really liked everything that I have made in the cookbook, and it is perfect as they have small portions -- perfect for two!

Swedish Meatballs

Ingredients
1/3 lb. gr. beef
1/3 lb. gr. veal (I substituted these two ingredients for a lb of the Wegman's mixed stuff and it worked great)
1 large egg
2 med. shallots (I substituted frozen chopped onions)
3 T. plain bread crumbs
2 T. of milk or heavy cream
3/4 t. salt
1/2 t. ground nutmeg (I actually think I forgot this ingredient - oops)
1/2 t. pepper
1 T. flour (I would actually suggest a little more)
1/4 t. all spice
1/8 t. ground cloves
1 14-oz. can of beef stock
2 T. butter
2 T. sour cream (or eyeball it)

1. In a med. bowl, mix the two meats (if not already mixed). Mix in the egg, shallots, bread crumbs, milk, 1/2 t. of the salt, nutmeg and 1/4 t. of the pepper until just combined (make sure it doesn't get mushy). Form this mixture into about 20 balls and set aside.

2. In a small bowl, mix the flour with the remaining salt and pepper, all spice, and cloves.

3. Bring the beef stock to a boil (concentrates the flavors) for about 5 minutes. Set aside and keep warm.

4. Melt the butter in a large skillet over med. heat. Add the meatballs and saute until browned (about 4 minutes). Sprinkle the flour mixture over the meatballs and shake the skillet to mix the flour with the fat in the pan (do not stir as this can break apart the meatballs). . Continue to cook for 1 minute while shaking the pan (yea I didn't really shake it quite that much) then pour in the stock over the meatballs. Shake the pan to combine the flour and stock. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes, basting the meatballs often with the sauce. Stir in the sour cream, cover and remove the pan from the heat. Let stand 5 minutes before serving (yea - I didn't do that step, but it wasn't as thick as I would have liked).

I also served this over egg noodles, which was really good. I would suggest cooking the egg noodles during the simmering part.

Servings: 2 (But we had left overs)