What's cooking Wednesday

No vegetarian meal this week, I'm afraid. I'm on a quest to empty the freezer so I'm slowly working my way through the meat that has been in there for... I'm not sure how long. So, for this week's What's Cooking Wednesday, I made a favourite around here, Swedish Meatballs with Cranberry Sauce. This recipe is intended as a crock pot recipe but I didn't start far enough in advance so I made on the stove instead. I've put in both instructions so you can choose.

Swedish Meatballs

1/2 dry bread crumbs
1/4 water
1 egg
1 small onion, grated
3/4 tsp each salt and pepper
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
2 lbs lean ground pork
1 tbsp vegetable oil
6 cups sliced mushrooms
1 tsp dried dill
1 can (385 ml) evaporated milk
1 cup beef stock
3 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tbsp (or more) lemon juice

In bowl, combine bread crumbs, water, egg, onion, 1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper, allspice and nutmeg; mix in pork. Roll by rounded tablespoonfuls into 1 inch balls. Bake on foil-lined rimmed baking sheet in 375 F oven until no longer pink inside, about 15 minutes. If using slow cooker, transfer to slow cooker, if cooking on stove top, transfer to large pot.

Meanwhile, in large skillet, heat oil over med-high heat; saute mushrooms, dill and remaining salt and pepper just until starting to brown and liquid is evaporated, about 10 minutes. Scrape into slow cooker or large pot that contains the meatballs.

Pour evaporated milk and stock into slow-cooker or pot. For slow cooker, cover and cook on low for 4 hours or until bubbly. For pot, cover and cook on medium-low for about 30 minutes.

Whisk flour with 1/3 cup water; whisk into slow cooker or pot. Cover and cook on high (for slow cooker) for 20 minutes or about 3 minutes in pot until thickened. Stir in lemon juice.

I always add peas to this too. It really adds something to the dish. I just stir in about 3/4 cup or so of frozen peas about 5 minutes before I serve it. I also ALWAYS serve cranberry sauce with it and serve the meatballs over egg noodles. You can also be authentic and use lingonberry sauce but I'm just not always near an IKEA to pick some up. Go figure.

Smaklig måltid!