My mom…not only is she the best mom in the world. (Well, I guess everybody feels that way about their mom). She is also the best grandma to my kids. I could say she wins hearts by always being ready to take care of my kids when they are sick, or being the matriarch who cooks dinner for the whole family almost every Sunday. And this is no small feat as we are 11 people and my mom makes everything herself so the rest of us can relax.
However, all of this is nothing compared to the love my family bestows on her because of her cooking. Actually she is a real pro when it comes to cooking: she trained as a nutrition expert and used her eduction to make dietry food for sick people in the hospital. (Her diet expertise though, I must admit, was a little lost on us. We were more interested in consuming all the nice food she made rather than dieting.)
The crown jewel in her collection of freeways into my kids’ heart is ‘frikadeller’. She always has some stowed away in the freezer so that any grandkid who stops by is not left wanting.
I always make a large portion too (maybe 4 or 5 times the one below), and there are always less left after dinner than I expected. Try it yourself and you will also find that these little babies are hard to say no to.
I serve the frikadeller with potato salad with sour cream and pickled cucumbers, Danish style, but you can also just serve them with bread, pickles or a salad.
‘Frikadeller’ or classic Danish meatballs (serves 3-4)
Ingredients
1 medium-sized onion, blended
1/2 cup/1.5 oz (50 g) all-purpose flour
1 tsp sea salt
7 oz (200 g) ground beef (no more than 12% fat)
10 oz (300 g) ground pork (no more than 12% fat)
2 eggs
3/4-1 cup milk
Margarine
Pepper to taste
Instructions
1. First peel the onion, dice it and blend it till no large pieces are left. Mix all the ingredients including the blended onion. Stir (don’t whisk) thoroughly for 5 minutes by hand. If you have the extra time, the mixture will benefit from resting in the fridge for 1 hour, and then stir again before use. If you do so, add a little extra milk the second time you stir it. The mixture should not be too liquid, rather like the consistency of rice pudding.
2. Put a fairly large pan over medium to high heat. Melt a portion of the margarine so that the whole pan is covered by it about 1/4 inch (0.5 cm) deep. Dip a tablespoon in the melted margarine and use the spoon to take a topped off spoonful of the mixture and place it on the pan. Do so repeatedly until the whole pan is covered. Keep track of the first frikadeller you put on the pan, so that they don’t blacken.
Once the first frikadelle starts to obtain a brown crispy surface you should turn it and make sure the frikadelle has the same texture and color on the other side. Put them in an ovenproof dish until all are browned. Be aware that the frying tends to go faster in the middle of the pan, so it’s a good idea to shift the position of the frikadeller during the browning.
3. Preheat the oven to 400 Fahrenheit (200 Celsius) and once you finish browning all the frikadelle put the ovenproof dish in the oven for about 30 minutes, and voila, you’re ready to serve these mouthwatering meatballs to the hungry crowds.
Enjoy!
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