Skip to main content

Svenska Kottbullar (Swedish Meatballs) Soup #FoodNFlix


In September, Food'N'Flix returned after a brief hiatus. Oh, happy day. I've missed this food-loving, flick-watching group. And this month, my friend Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm is hosting. You can read Wendy's invitation here, but she's invited us to watch A Man Called Ove.* 

I had never heard of the movie or the novel that inspired it, but Wendy's enthusiasm is contagious. I watched the movie three times before returning it to Netflix...and I ordered the novel. I'm looking forward to snuggling into a beanbag with a mug of Glögg, Swedish mulled wine, and the book. Soon!

On the Screen
We've seen this story countless times before: an old curmudgeon's gloomy life is brightened by an unforeseen person or string of events. That is the certainly the case of Ove. But our familiarity with that story line doesn't change the fact that A Man Called Ove is disarmingly charming with its understated, dark humor.

The movie opens with Ove trying to use a coupon at the store to purchase flowers to bring to his wife's grave. He is baffled that a coupon - 70 krona for 2 bunches of flowers - doesn't allow him to purchase one bunch for 35 krona. "If you only buy one bunch," says the cashier, "it's still 50 krona."

That begins your introduction to - and admiration of - this character who is so stubborn and steadfast in his desire to enforce neighborhood rules that he will interrupt his suicide attempts to scold anyone breaking those rules. And the paternal relationship that spring up between Ove and his pregnant neighbor of Iranian descent just solidifies your opinion that despite all his crabbiness, Ove is a good man.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and can't wait to read the book. Thanks, Wendy, for introducing me to it this month.

In the Bowl
There wasn't too much food in the movie, so I just decided to look at all my favorite Swedish foods...or Iranian foods. Rabarberpaj is a favorite, but rhubarb is out of season. And Morotskaka is always welcome on our table, but we've been indulging in lots of cookies recently, so I didn't want to do yet another cake.

So, coming in just under the wire, I made a soup inspired by Swedish meatballs for this month's Food'N'Flix. And I had ground venison, so I used that in my meatballs. Smaklig måltid!

Ingredients

Meatballs
  • 1 pound ground venison
  • 1 onion, peeled and finely minced
  • 3/4 C breadcrumbs
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 t ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 t ground allspice
  • freshly ground salt
  • freshly ground pepper
Potatoes
  • 2 pounds marble potatoes
  • 2 T olive oil
  • freshly ground salt
Soup
  • 4 T butter
  • 1/2 C flour
  • 6 C beef broth, divided + more if needed
  • 1 C water
  • 1 C heavy cream
  • freshly ground salt
  • freshly ground pepper
  • 1/4 C chopped parsley


Procedure
Meatballs
In a large bowl, using your hands, mix together all of the ingredients until well-combined. Roll walnut-sized balls and place them on a silicone-lined baking sheet. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake for 35 minutes until well-browned. They should be firm to the touch when they are done. If you aren’t sure, you can slice open one of the meatballs.


Potatoes
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place potatoes in a medium mixing bowl. Sprinkle with salt and add 1 T olive oil. Toss to coat potatoes in oil and transfer to a roasting pan. Roast potatoes until tender on the inside and crisped on the outside, approximately 30 minutes.

Soup
Melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour until a smooth roux forms. Pour in 3 C beef broth and cream. Simmer, whisking constantly until thickened, approximately 5 minutes. Pour in remaining beef broth and water. Whisk until combined. If you think it's still too thick, add more stock.

Add in the meatballs and potatoes and warm through. Stir in parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot.

*This blog currently has a partnership with Amazon.com in their affiliate program, which gives me a small percentage of sales if you buy a product through a link on my blog. It doesn't cost you anything more. If you are uncomfortable with this, feel free to go directly to Amazon.com and search for the item of your choice.

Comments

  1. So glad you enjoyed the movie. The book is even better. Love the Meatball stew.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiful dish with those potatoes! Glad you were introduced to Ove!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Quick Pickled Red Onions and Radishes

If you've been reading my blog for even a short amount of time, you probably know how much I love to pickle things. I was just telling a friend you can pickle - with vinegar - or you can ferment - with salt - for similar delicious effect. The latter has digestive benefits and I love to do that, but when I need that pop of sour flavor quickly, I whip up quick pickles that are ready in as little as a day or two. I've Pickled Blueberries , Pickled Asparagus , Pickled Cranberries , Pickled Pumpkin , and even Pickled Chard Stems ! This I did last night for an upcoming recipe challenge that requires I include radishes. Ummmm...of course I'm pickling them! Ingredients  makes 1 quart jar radishes, trimmed and sliced organic red onions, peeled and thinly sliced (I used a mandolin slicer) 3/4 C vinegar (I used white distilled vinegar) 3/4 C water 3 T organic granulated sugar 1 T salt (I used some grey sea salt) 6 to 8 grinds of black pepper Proce

Aloo Tiki {Pakistan}

To start off our Pakistani culinary adventure, I started us off with aloo tiki - potato cutlets. I'm always game for tasty street food. I found a couple of different recipes and incorporated those together for this version. Ingredients 6-8 small red potatoes, scrubbed 1 T cumin seeds 1 T fresh chopped parsley 1/2 t ground coriander 1 t minced garlic Procedure Boil the potatoes until they are tender. Drain and let cool. Mash the potatoes. Traditionally they are mashed without their skins. I left the skins on. In a small pan, toast the cumin seeds on high heat until the begin to give off an aroma and begin to darken. Remove from heat and transfer to a plate to keep them from cooking any more. Blend all of the spices into the mashed potatoes, then shape into small patties. If you wet your hands, the potato mixture won't stick to them. Heat a splash of oil in a large, flat-bottom pan. Dip each patty into beaten egg and carefully place in the oil. P

Hot Chocolate Agasajo-Style {Spice It Up!}

photo by D For my Spice It Up! kiddos this week, I was looking for an exotic drink to serve while we learned about saffron. I found a recipe from food historian Maricel Presilla that mimicked traditional Spanish hot chocolate from the 17th century where it was served at lavish receptions called agasajos . When I teach, I don't always get to shoot photos. Thankfully, D grabbed my camera and snapped a few. Ingredients serves 14-16 1 gallon organic whole milk 3 T dried rosebuds - or 2 t rosewater 2 t saffron threads, lightly crushed 3 T ground cinnamon 3 whole tepin chiles, crushed 2 vanilla beans, split lengthwise 1 C organic granulated sugar 1 lb. bittersweet chocolate Procedure In a large soup pot that can hold a gallon plus, combine milk, dried rosebuds (or rosewater, if you are using that), saffron threads, ground cinnamon, chiles, vanilla beans, and sugar and warm over medium heat till it steams. Whisk to dissolve sugar, then lower heat an