SWEDISH(ISH) MEATBALLS
Like crack on a plate.
This one by request. I LOVE THIS DISH. There are 2 varieties of swedish meatballs. The dinner and the appetizer/hors d'oevres. This is the dinner. For the appetizer, cut every ingredient in half and use extra meat balls, no egg noodles. Serve them with toothpicks. These also make a great toasted meatball sandwich, suggested cheeses to melt over the meatball is a mixture of swiss and provolone. Suggested bread is a french loaf, preferably herbed.
4 tblsp butter
4 tblsp flour
3 cups milk
2 cups beef broth
1 big can cream of mushroom soup
1 small can cream of potato soup
1 cup sour cream
1 medium sized bag of egg noodles
a buncha small meatballs
1 1/2 tsp oregano, basil, parsley, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
Bake the meatballs until almost done while you're doing this, and boil the water for the egg noodles. Add a single beef boullion cube to the noodle water before boiling, in lieu of salt. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. The taco's favorite cooking tricks #3: boil your pasta in herbs or a light broth. It gives the dish more depth, and adds a bit of flavor without having to risk overseasoning.
So, we're starting this (as with many of my favorite things to cook) with a Bechamel Roux. Medium low heat. Melt the butter, add the flour, toast the flour, add 2 cups of milk. Add spices and reduce, stirring well. add the cream of mushroom soup, and the beef broth. mix well until mushroom soup is fully broken down. Then, add the cream of potato soup and the sour cream. (protip: for a bit of zing, add a tsp of worchestershire sauce at this point. 1/4 cup of tomato sauce wouldn't go badly, either.) Mix and allow to cook for approximately 5 minutes or so. Thin it down a bit with milk, if you feel it's too thick.
When the meatballs are near done, let's say about 3 minutes early, toss them into the sauce and allow them to cook for another 3-5 minutes. The egg noodles should be done just about now, so toss those in after the meatballs have went for a bit. Reduce the heat to low and cook an additional 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, to get the flavor of the sauce into the noodles.
Serve hot.
If you want it extra-flavorful, make this the day before you want to eat it, and refrigerate it, covered, overnight. This lets the flavors meld and when you reheat it the next day you'll notice no loss in texture, but an incredible increase in taste.
Variation: mix up a mirepoix paste and add about 1/4 cup to the very beginning, right when the butter is melted. You may need to add a bit more water to compensate for it, at the end. This is the version I do, but the mirepoix isn't fully required.
Again, I'm aware it's not authentic. I also know a lot of people look down on canned soups in recipes. I say try it, if you doubt it. The canned soup is a time saver, and the real cream soup would be quite a bit more expensive to make, which is counter-intuitive to the point of the blog.