Norwegian Meatballs with Creamed Cabbage (main course)

Spør nordmenn hva som er den typiske norske tradisjonsretten. De fleste vil svare kjøttkaker. Hvis du har mors eller mormors oppskrift, bør du oversette den og introdusere den på kjøkkenet. Alle nordmenn blir glade for å finne kjøttkaker på bufféen. Det er en trygg rett å servere til lokale gjester også (bortsett fra indere). Kjøttkaker går helt fint til en sitdown middag og egner seg veldig godt i en baines marie på bufféen. Nok til minst 12 ved sitdown. Mange foretrekker å blande opp farsen mer med brødsmuler eller lignende. Dette er min favorittoppskrift.

Ingredients – Meatballs

Ingredient	Amount	Preparation
Ground beef (two times ground)	1,5 kg
Salt	4-5 tsp
Black pepper	1 1/2 tsp	Freshly ground
Nutmeg	1 ½ tsp	Freshly ground
Ginger	1 ½ tsp	Dried/ground
Onions	3 small	Finely chopped
Potato flour	8 tblsp	Or two large peeled and grated potatoes (the large holes) + 2-3 tablespoons of breadcrumbs
Egg	3
Milk – full cream	5 dl
Butter		For frying

Ingredients – Brown sauce

Ingredient	Amount	Preparation
Plain flour	9 tblsp
Milk – full cream	6 dl
Stock or broth	12 dl	Can be made from cubes
Onion (optional)	1	Finely chopped or minced in a liquidizer , added to the boiling stock
Black food colouring, soy sauce and/or ketchup	To taste	For colour
Salt/seasoning/brown sugar	To taste

Ingredients – Creamed cabbage

Ingredient	Amount	Preparation
Cabbage	2 kg	Coarsely sliced, parboiled untill soft in 6 cups of water and 1 tea spoon of salt
Butter	3 tblsp
Plain wheat flour	6 tblsp
Milk – full cream	12 dl
Salt	1 ½ tsp
White pepper	To taste

Description

There are different schools here, but I prefer to have the brown sauce ready before I fry the meatballs. After frying the meatballs, I make the creamed vegetables or stewed peas, while the potatoes are boiling. The meatballs keep warm in the sauce.

Preparation

1. Work the salt into the ground beef until it becomes tenacious. Stir in spices, the onion and potato flour (or grated potatoes/bread crumbs).  Mix in the eggs. Dilute with the milk, a little at the time. Work the farce until it well mixed easy to work with. The best tool is your hands. Leave to set while doing the brown sauce.
2. Heat 8 dl of stock/broth or boil the same amount of water and dissolve stock cubes to taste. Make a thickening by mixing plain wheat flour and milk in a tight glass or micro mixer and mix/shake it until it is lump-free. Bring the stock/broth to boil and pour in the mixture slowly as a trickle. Stir constantly to avoid lumps.
3. Stir until the sauce boils and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. The sauce can be coloured with a bit of black food colouring/caramel, ketchup and/or soy sauce. Season with salt and any other spices you like. Maybe a pinch or two of brown sugar?
4. Form the farce into round cakes in your palm, with the help of a tablespoon dipped in cold water.  Bake them for a few minutes on each side in butter in a skillet over medium heat.
5. Having finished one round of fried meatballs, drop them into the simmering brown sauce to cook through. The add a litt more butter to the skillet and bake another round until all the farce is used.
6. Coarsly slice the cabbage and boil it in salted water until soft. Drain.
7. In the meantime prepare the white (Béchamel) sauce for creamed cabbage. Melt the butter and stir in the flour in a saucepan over medium heat. Gradually add the milk and whisk constantly so that the sauce is completely smooth. Season with salt and mix in the parboiled cabbage. Adjust the seasoning with salt and white pepper.

Variation 1: Minced meat of venison or lamb also tastes great in meatballs.

Variation 2: Instead of creamed cabbage, you can serve creamed carrots. Peel about 1 ½  kg carrots and cut into slices or chunks. Cook the carrot pieces barely tender in lightly salted water, drain well and mix with the Béchamel sauce.

Variation 3: There is not much colour in this dish. Instead of creamed vegetables, you can serve the meatballs with stewed green peas. Boil 1 kg of frozen green peas in a little water with a stock cube. Run swiftly in a blender or use a hand blender. Add  4 tablespoons of salted butter and 1 tea spoon of white pepper.

Presentation

Serve the meatballs with the creamed cabbage, cranberry sauce and boiled potatoes.