Swedish Meatballs

Swedish Meatballs Recipe

Recipe adapted from Beatrice Ojakangas

Yield: approximately 40 meatballs (6-8 servings)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup soft bread crumbs
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup minced sweet onion
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1/2 lb lean ground pork
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2 Tablespoons AP Flour
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1/4 teaspoon or more Oakridge BBQ Jah Love Jamaican Jerk Seasoning (optional)
• 1/8 cup sour cream (optional)

Instructions

Take about a quarter of a fresh baguette and blitz in a blender to create soft bread crumbs.

In a large bowl of your electric mixer, soak the crumbs in half-and-half (about 10 minutes). Mince one half a large sweet onion and measure out one-half cup.

In a 12" Lodge cast-iron skillet over medium heat, melt one tablespoon of butter, add onion, and sauté until softened.

Stir cooked onion into bread crumb mixture. Add beef, pork, egg, parsley, salt, and spices. Beat at high speed until the mixture is fluffy and light pink in color.

Preheat your Yoder Smoker YS640s to 250°F.

Using a small cookie scoop, portion out and shape meatballs.

Brown meatballs in pan with two tablespoons butter, working in small batches to avoid overcrowding the pan. Once browned, set aside meatballs to rest to make the gravy.

Make gravy with pan drippings by adding 2 tablespoons of flour, constantly whisking to hydrate and cook the flour. Slowly add beef broth and bring to a boil while constantly stirring. Cut the heat. As an option, add Oakridge BBQ Jah Love Seasoning and sour cream and stir until just melted through. Return the meatballs to the pan.

Place the cast iron pan with meatballs and gravy onto the top rack of the smoker, uncovered for roughly one hour. Return every 15-20 minutes during that hour to gently stir and redistribute the meatballs with the gravy, allowing for the smoke to adhere to more than just the surface. Once the meatballs temp around 160°F, they are ready to serve immediately.