Swedish Meatballs

My ancestors hail from Sweden, oh yes they do! I'm proud to be part Swed. I make it a point to make Swedish food every now and then so I can teach my children about their heritage. This is my own recipe. It's great served at a buffet served with toothpicks, or served 7 to a person over noodles. 

 1 1/4 pounds ground beef 

1/2 pound ground pork

3/4 cups whole wheat dried bread broken into small pieces breadcrumbs

1/2 cup milk

1 small onion chopped fine 

 2 eggs  slightly beaten 

1 teaspoon sugar 

1/2 teaspoon allspice 

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper 

1/4 cup fine bread crumbs (reserved)

1 cup beef broth 

1 cup heavy cream 

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small pot the milk over the bread pieces and let it soak in for about 10 minutes.

Sauté the onion in two tablespoons melted butter until translucent and soft.  Remove  from heat and let cool. . 

Using a kitchen aid, combine ground beef, pork, bread mixture onions and spices. Mix on low speed  just until combined

Shape into 1 1/2 balls and roll each ball into the reserved fine breadcrumbs. At this point, you can freeze the meatballs on a cookie sheet until hard and place them in a freezer bag for later use. 

When ready to cook,  Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and two tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Brown the meatballs on all sides and transfer to a shallow casserole or Dutch oven. 

 Pour the beef broth over the casserole along with the Thyme. Bake covered for 25 minutes. Add the cream and cook without a cover and bake for 15 minutes more. 

 For the sauce: 

 1 tablespoon flour 

1 tablespoon water

 1 teaspoon soy sauce 

salt and pepper to taste 

Remove the casserole from oven. Transfer the liquid to a medium sauce pan  Add the soy sauce and bring to a boil. If the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon, it's done. Whisk in the butter, and add salt and pepper to taste. If the gravy is too runny (and mine always is), whisk together the flour and water and add this to the sauce pan. Whisk the sauce until it becomes thick like gravy. Add the butter and whisk until combined. Pour sauce over the meatballs before serving.