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

Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé #Winophiles

This month the French Winophiles group is looking at affordable wines from Burgundy.  Host Cindy of Grape Experiences wrote: "Burgundy, or Bourgogne, is known for its wines of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir... as well as Aligote, Gamay, Sauvignon, César, Pinot Beurot, Sacy, Melon in lesser quantities. Many of the well-known wines are quite expensive, but there are plenty of values to be found." Read her invitation here. And there won't be a Twitter chat for this event, so you will have to dive into the articles themselves to read about our pairings and findings. Here's the line-up... Wendy Klik from A Day in the Life on the Farm enjoys Domaine Chevillon Chezeaux Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits, 2018 Paired with a Maple Pecan Chicken . Camilla Mann from Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares her love of Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé. Jeff Burrows of FoodWineClick! explains why we should Look t

Meyer Lemon Custard-Filled Matcha Turtles #BreadBakers

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our  Pinterest board  right here. Links are also updated after each event on the  Bread Bakers home page .  We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. This month Stacy of Food Lust People Love  is hosting and she wrote: "Your bread can be large, as in one big animal, or small - animal-shaped rolls. Use your imagination! Points for flavor and shape!" If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to Stacy at foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com. Here's the animal-shaped bread basket from the #BreadBakers... Beef and Sweet Onion Dim Sum Pandas from Karen's Kitchen Stories Bird Bread Rolls from Ambrosia Easter Bunny Buns from Cook with Renu Ham and Cheese Elephant Rolls from Food Lust People Love Hedgehog Bread from Making Mir

Homemade Lorna Doone Cookies #SundayFunday

Today the Sunday Funday group is celebrating childhood favorites. Thanks to Stacy of  Food Lust People Love , Sue of  Palatable Pastime , Rebekah of  Making Miracles , and Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm  for coordinating this low-stress group. Today Stacy is hosting and she's given us the following prompt: "Childhood favorites. Did you have a favorite dish growing up? It could be something your family cooked or a restaurant dish, even a Chef Boyardee canned good or packaged ingredients like Rice-a Roni or mac and cheese. Recreate THAT dish from SCRATCH for this event."  Here's the #SundayFunday childhood favorites line-up... Chili Mac from A Day in the Life on the Farm Ham and Mushroom Breakfast Burritos from Making Miracles Homemade Lorna Doone Cookies from Culinary Adventures with Camilla Homemade Wonder Bread from Karen's Kitchen Stories K-Mart Sub Sandwiches from Palatable Pastime Kempakki Dosa from Sizzling Tastebuds Meat Chilly Fry by Sn