by zan@zeliciousrecipes.com | Favorite Recipes, Meats, Paleo, Sauces
I love to have bone/meat broth on hand at all times. Especially, when my husband makes his Italian Risotto. This broth is truly the key to the most hearty, deep and rich risotto. We also use the broth occasionally to flavor pasta, rice, or even broccoli. It’s also great for sauces! The little Italian ladies in the country-side of northern Italy would make this for my husband, when he came down with a cold so it has some amazing health benefits: containing minerals, healthy fats, collagen, amino acids, and more.
Ingredients:
- 3 beef bones (soup bones)
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 large chopped onion (or 2 medium)
- 8 chopped carrots
- 8 chopped celery stalks
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tsp of salt (more if desired)
- 1 whole fryer chicken
- 1 ½ lb. beef (I used top round steaks)
Begin by roasting your soup bones. I like to set my oven to 375ºF and bake my bones and meat for about 30 minutes, or until they begin to brown. In a 20 quart stock pot add in olive oil and chopped onions, cook for 2 minutes, then add in the carrots and celery. Stir to coat with oil and cook for 5 minutes. Add in salt and bay leaves. Add in 12 cups of water (preferably filtered). Scrape the roasted bones into the pot along with any juices. Add in the chicken and beef. Add more water if necessary to cover bones, meats and vegetables. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Skim off any scum. Reduce heat to a very low simmer and cook with lid slightly ajar, skimming foam and excess fat occasionally, for at least 8 but up to 24 hours on the stovetop. The longer you simmer it, the better your broth will be. Add more water if necessary to ensure bones and vegetables are fully submerged. Once the broth has cooled down, you’re ready to strain it and store it! Strain it through a fine sieve. Your broth will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator, or a few months in the freezer.
by zan@zeliciousrecipes.com | Meats, Sauces
This is probably one of the best Swedish Meatball recipes that I have ever tasted.. mainly because it comes from an authentic Swede… My mom! Who was born and raised in Gothenburg, Sweden! I sometimes make this recipe in large batches and store the mixture (prior to cooking) in the freezer. It’s a little time consuming but well worth it. The meatballs can be eaten with ketchup or you can go for gold… and make the cream sauce to go with it.
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. ground beef (I prefer the 90% grass-fed)
- ½ lb. ground pork
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp milk
- ⅓ cup plain bread crumbs (unflavored)
- ½ cup pureed onion
- ⅓ cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley (leafs only)
- 1 tsp salt to taste + 1 tsp for flour
- ½ cup flour
- butter (1 tbsp per batch of 20 meatballs)
Materials:
- Food processor with S-blade
- large plastic bag
- measuring cups
- Tsp and Tbsp
- 12″ Iron Skillet
- Small Sauce pan
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees
- Mix the egg together with the milk, stir in breadcrumbs and let sit for 5 min.
- Place onion in food processor till pureed
- Stir the onions into the milk and breadcrumb mixture
- In a separate bowl, blend the two meats using hands or fork to mix
- Add the chopped parsley to the meats – mix well
- sprinkle in salt and mix well
- Add meats and onion/breadcrumb mixture together
- In a plastic bag, add ½ cup flour and 1 tsp of salt – shake well
- Make round balls of the meat mixture no bigger than 1 inch for each ball
- Place 10-14 meatballs in the bag with flour and gently turn bag to coat meatballs
- Remove each meatball by rolling in hand to remove any excess flour
- Place the coated meatballs a large platter
- Repeat above steps to complete entire batch of meat
- Heat 1 tbsp of butter in a 12″ iron skillet at medium high heat
- Add 14-16 meatballs at a time, making sure not to crowd the pan
- Roll the meatballs in the pan every minute so that they keep their round shape and don’t get burnt on one side
- Fry until cooked through and evenly browned
- Remove meatballs to a oven proof platter and scrape the drippings into a separate sauce pot
- Repeat about directions to cook each of the 14-16 meatballs
- with the last batch of meatballs – remove the meatballs and add in the reserved scrapings from saucepan
- Place meatballs into the oven while you make the sauce
Now for the Swedish Cream sauce!
Ingredients:
- ⅓ cup Crème Fraîche
- 16 oz beef stock
- 1 tbsp “Better than Beef Boullion” paste
- 1 tbsp flour
- ¼ cup beef stock
- drippings from saucepan
Combine the drippings from sauce pan back into the iron skillet and add the beef stock, and bouillon paste. Cook down for 5 mins stirring occasionally. Add in the Crème Fraîche stir until well incorporated. In a cup, add the flour and slowly stir in the ¼ cup beef stock to form a paste. Add the flour paste to the iron skillet and whisk constantly to make sure there are no clumps of flour. This will thicken the sauce. Cook for 3 more minutes. Remove the meatballs from the oven and pour the sauce over them. You can sprinkle with a little chopped parsley for decoration. You are now done and ready to enjoy my mom’s traditional Swedish Meatballs. (Goes well with traditional mashed potatoes).
