Sliced Bread Swedish Meatballs

The gauntlet was thrown when my daughter's future in-law's Swedish Meatballs recipe was declared to be "the best in the world." Here's my valiant attempt to uphold the honor from OUR side of the family. A good electric skillet makes this as easy as can be. (I often DOUBLE the gravy recipe, and add a bit of dill weed, nutmeg, and caraway seeds 8-)

• Ready In: 30 mins
• Serves: 6-8
• Yields: 26 meatballs

Ingredients

• Meatballs

• 2  slices  white bread, without the crusts, torn into pieces
• 1⁄4 cup  whole milk or 1⁄4 cup half-and-half
• 3⁄4 lb ground beef
• 3⁄4 lb ground pork
• 1  small red onion (grated or very finely chopped)
• 1  egg
• 1⁄8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1⁄8 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1⁄4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1⁄4 teaspoon garlic powder, granulated
• 1  tablespoon parsley, dried
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper (freshly ground black)
• 2  tablespoons butter or 2  tablespoons  vegetable oil

• Gravy

• 2  cups low sodium beef broth
• 2  tablespoons flour
• 1⁄4 cup heavy cream
• 1⁄4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1⁄4 teaspoon garlic powder, granulated
• 1  tablespoon dried parsley
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper (freshly ground black)
• 1⁄4 cup fresh parsley

Directions

1. In a small bowl, soak the bread in the milk until soft. In a large bowl, combine all the meatball ingredients except the butter and oil, and add the soaked bread. Mix thoroughly until smooth, it's best to use your hands for this. Shape into small, golf-ball size meatballs (by dipping your hands in cold water, the meatballs won't stick to your hands.).
2. Heat butter and oil in a large electric skillet or saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs without crowding, and gently brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. Shake the skillet now and then so meatballs stay round and brown evenly. Place them on a heated baking pan in a low oven to keep warm.
3. To make gravy, deglaze the skillet with 1 cup of the stock, letting it simmer for 5 minutes while scraping the bottom of the skillet with a spatula. Strain the gravy into a clean saucepan and add the remaining 1 cup of stock. In a small bowl, mix the flour with 1/4 cup of cold water until smooth. Whisk flour mixture into warm gravy, and let simmer, whisking constantly to prevent lumps, until thickened slightly, about 3-5 minutes. Add the cream and season with salt and pepper.
4. To serve, arrange the meatballs on a serving platter, pour hot gravy over them, and garnish with parsley. Traditionally served with boiled new potatoes, lingonberry sauce, and lefse. I just put over buttered noodles or cooked rice, and sprinkled with parsley.