Meat-a-balls!

This morning I made something sinfully delicious…Swedish meatballs, IKEA version. Well, what other version is there? (Just kidding, Sweden! I’m sure you have plenty other recipes for meatballs, but I was really, really craving IKEA’s)

It’s mildly frightening that I wake up at 8am on a day that I don’t have class until 1:30 just so that I have time to cook!  What does that even mean for a college student?  If only I could apply myself so diligently in other areas of (uhm) importance.

Well here is the smooth, savory, succulent (awesome alliteration!) Swedish meatball recipe I made up this morning.  I can literally taste the furniture store in my mouth. Well, not really…

Meatballs:

1 small onion, chopped finely

1 lb beef
½ lb pork
¾ cup milk
3 tbsp bread crumbs
1 egg
Cinnamon
pepper
Salt

Gravy:
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp flour

1 tsp soy sauce
Cinnamon
Pepper

*Keep the drippings from the meatballs for the gravy*

1. Chop the onion and fry it in 2 tbsp of butter in a medium size fry pan.
2. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, mix together the meat, milk, bread crumbs, egg, and spices.  You only want a pinch of the cinnamon.  It’s what gives the meatballs an unexpected taste of sweetness when you first bite in.  But you’re eating Swedish meatballs, not Irish potato balls. So keep it to 2 or 3 really quick shakes of the cinnamon shaker.
3. Roll the mixture into balls.  Size doesn’t matter here; it’s whatever your heart desires.
4. Remove the onion from the fry pan and add 3 more tbsp of butter.  Melt it and drop the meatballs in one by one.  Give them enough room so they don’t get crowded.  Flip the meatballs over with a spatula once the bottom has turned brown, about 4 minutes on medium heat.  Once the meatballs are all done, place them in a bowl.
5. Whisk a cup of chicken broth into the pan with the drippings.  Beef broth is probably preferred but I didn’t have any. Add in the milk until the gravy boils and  the soy sauce. Slowly whisk in the flour; start with 1 tbsp and then add another if it doesn’t thicken.  Add another pinch of cinnamon and pepper.  Cook for a few more minutes and you’re done!

I also have a splendid Vanilla-Sparkling Wine Pound Cake recipe that I made the other night for dessert.  I found it in the February 2010 issue of Better Homes and Gardens.

Preheat oven to 350°

3 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

1 cup sparkling wine or milk (I didn’t have a sparkling so I used a White Sangria wine)

3 tbsp sour cream

2 cups sugar

¾ unsalted butter, melted

¼ canola oil

5 cold eggs

2 tbsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven and grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan; set aside.  In a large bowl mix together flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside. Stir together sparkling wine and sour cream; set aside. 
2. In a large mixing bowl beat sugar, butter, and oil with an electric mixer until combined.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well.  Beat in vanilla and mix on medium to high 3-5 minutes, or until lighter in color.  Add 1/3 flour mixture, beat on low until just combined, scraping sides of the bowl.  Add half of the wine mixture, and repeat with the flour mixture.  With a rubber spatula, pour the batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Cool in pan on wire rack 15 minutes.  Turn out on the rack, cool completely and drizzle with glaze.

Glaze:

In a small bowl, mix 1 cup of powdered sugar with 1 tbsp wine.  Stir in an additional 1 tsp wine at a time to reach a drizzling consistency.