Swedish Cardamom Meatballs

Total Time: 1 hr 20 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• Servings: 12
• 2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup milk (i use buttermilk)
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 lb ground lamb
• 3 eggs
• salt & pepper (to taste)
• 1 tablespoon ground cardamom
• 1 1/2 cups yellow onions, finely chopped (divided use)
• 1/2 cup butter (divided use)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 cups beef broth
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons gravy mix
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 -4 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup lingonberry preserves or 1/4 cup lingonberry jam

Recipe

• 1 soak bread crumbs in milk or buttermilk in large mixing bowl for 5 minutes. add meat, eggs, salt & pepper, cardamom and 1 cup chopped onion. mix well and roll into 1-1/2" meatballs. it helps to wet your hands as you roll.
• 2 saute meatballs in 1/4 cup butter approximately 20 minutes. remove browned meatballs and set aside.
• 3 in same skillet, saute 1/2 cup chopped onion with 1/4 cup butter, sugar and pepper unti caramelized, about 10 minumtes.
• 4 add beef broth to onion & sugar mixture, scraping up any browned bits from the pan. briefly cook over high heat.
• 5 add cream, gravy maker and all other spices and bring to a simmer.
• 6 make a slurry of the cornstarch & water and whisk the slurry into the mixture to thicken.
• 7 if you're going to serve the meatballs right away, add them to the sauce and simmer another 20-30 minutes. otherwise, cool and refrigerate sauce & meatballs, either together or separately. (i do this separately, as i often freeze the meatballs without the sauce.).
• 8 combine all ingredients for the lingonberry sauce and mix well.
• 9 serve meatballs in a chafing dish with sauce and lingonberry sauce on the side as a dip.