My husband's paternal grandparents came to America from
Sweden; in fact they met on the boat coming to America and after settling
in their new home, soon married. I remember my husband taking me to their
home to meet them after we had become engaged. It was a Sunday afternoon
and there were several other family members present. His grandmother was
in the kitchen preparing Sunday dinner. She invited us to stay and eat
with them, but when I saw the small amount of ground beef she had in a
bowl I said I didn't want to put her out, she might not have enough and
that we'd come another time. She laughed and said, "Don't worry, darling,
there will be plenty," and convinced us to stay. After a while she called
everyone to the large dining room table and when we were all seated came
in with this heaping platter of what she called Swedish meatballs. I
couldn't believe my eyes. All of that from such a small amount of meat.
Actually, they weren't meatballs as we know them; they were ultra thin
meat patties. They were delicious and my father in law used to make them
for us years after. For many years after that I made them for my family.
If you ever need to stretch a meal, here is a recipe that can do it for
you.
Ingredients
-
½ lb. Ground beef
-
1 egg
-
1 onion (chopped fine)
-
5 slices of white bread
-
1 cup of milk
-
½ tsp Chopped parsley
-
salt and pepper to taste
-
butter
In a large bowl place chopped beef (sirloin is best),
onion and egg. Mix well and then crumble in your bread and pour in a
little milk. Mix again and pour in the rest of your milk , parsley, salt
and pepper. The consistency of the mixture should be thin, not exactly
liquid. If you need to, add more milk. In a heavy skillet place 2
tablespoons of butter and heat on a high flame. When the pan is very hot
pour in by tablespoons several meat patties. Cook fast on a high flame
till they are very brown and crisp on both sides. Keep them warm on a
platter in a 200 degree oven until all are done, before you add more
spoonfuls of meat to your pan; make sure you put in more butter. The pan
will be very messy but it will be worth it when you taste these
"meatballs".