I decided that the occasion called for a dinner of remembrance. This would be a meal for personal thanksgiving to those in my own family tree. A great-aunt on my father’s side of our family just turned 101 on October 28th. She’s been on my mind a lot this week. This side of my family is of Scandinavian descent and mostly Norwegian. In honor of Aunt Opal I made meatballs and so here is my attempt to do her and my ancestors proud and yet - well…not use meat “uff da”!! I served these meatballs with what we call Scandinavian Potatoes. I sautéed some kale and scooped up some lingonberry preserves I had purchased from IKEA. Yummy!!!
If you want to make the roasted potatoes it is sooo easy. I do these in my iron skillet, but if you don’t have an iron skillet, just use a pan that can be used at high heat. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Peel russet potatoes and then slice them crosswise without going all the way to the bottom of the potato into 1/8-inch cuts. It should look like an accordion.
Put 2 T. of canola oil in the bottom of skillet or pan and roll potatoes. Place potatoes in with cut side up and wedge a few dots of earth balance between a few of the accordion fans. Salt and pepper the potatoes.
Bake for 25 minutes at 450 degrees. Take out of oven and sprinkle top of potatoes with equal amounts of breadcrumbs and finely ground almonds or walnuts. I had walnuts ground for the meatballs so I used walnuts. Moisten crumbs with a couple of glugs of oil. Just dust potatoes lightly with the crumbs.
Cover with foil and cook for another 25 minutes. Remove foil and cook for another 10 minutes to brown the crumbs and edges of potatoes. Potatoes should be tender inside and crisp on the outside. Total cooking time is about 1 hour for medium sized potatoes. Finish them with fresh chopped parsley to serve.
While potatoes were baking I made the meatballs.
I boiled some red potatoes that needed to be used up. Potatoes again?? I know it seems like a lot of starch, but this is a special meal that we don’t do a lot and the potato is spread out so it really isn’t that much potato - hey - you only eat a few meatballs. You could also use a russet, but I just needed to use up these small reds. So place the potatoes into cold water peel left on and boil gently until a fork or knife pierces easily into potato.
Rice or mash potato – you will need 1 heaping cup – it was about 4 small red potatoes. The great thing about using a ricer is you don’t need to peel. Just place potato inside ricer and out comes the white fluff leaving behind the peel in the ricer. So easy!!
Grate 1 small onion. Yes, grate it. Especially for this meatless version I like the onion to be a flavor and not a texture.
In a large bowl combine:
12 oz. package of smart ground meatless crumbles
½ roll or approximately 7 oz. ground sausage style roll meatless (Gimme Lean)
3 T. grated onion
2 cloves garlic (or to your taste) grated
1 cup riced or mashed potatoes
Cut all of this in to combine well the sausage style roll and potatoes with the crumbles
Measure ½ cup of almond milk or your choice of non-dairy milk.
To the milk add:
1 T. flaxseed meal
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ginger
1/8 tsp. allspice
¼ tsp. black pepper
½ tsp. kosher salt
1/3-cup fresh breadcrumbs
1/3 cup finely ground walnuts
Allow spices, flaxseed meal, and crumbs to absorb some of the almond milk soaking liquid. I like putting my spices in the liquid so they are evenly dispersed without having to over mix the “meat”. Gently mix all into “meat mixture”.
Using small spoon, or better yet a small scoop (for even sized meatballs) form into balls. I place them on parchment or a silpat so they do not stick to baking sheet. (Save out two scoops of mixture to be used for gravy) Roll meatballs lightly with hands.
Spray all the meatballs with favorite cooking spray so each meatball has been sprayed. This helps to form a crust and gives it a meaty texture.
Bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Turn meatballs over and spray again with cooking spray. Bake another 10 minutes or until underside is firm to touch and browned.
To make gravy: In a large skillet brown the 2 scoops of meatball mixture held back in 1 T. of oil.
Once the crumbles are brown add 4 T. of earth balance vegan stick. Once melted add 4 T. of unbleached flour and stir to cook flour with the earth balance.
Whisk in 2 cups of vegetable broth and whisk vigorously to smooth out gravy.
Season with:
¼ tsp. pepper
½ to ¾ tsp. salt or to your taste preference
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. allspice
To finish gravy add ½ cup soy creamer. Allow sauce to thicken and cook. If it thickens too much before serving, add some more broth to thin to the consistency you like for gravy. Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking.
Place meatballs into gravy and coat. Finish with fresh parsley.
The kale isn’t really Scandinavian, but I had it in the refrigerator and it was green and broke up the potato thing I had going. Here is what I threw together:
2 T. oil I used canola
2 cloves of garlic sliced thinly
Good pinch of red pepper flakes (we put them in everything)
1 large bunch of kale sliced without the tough rib – just the leaves
3 T. vegetable stock
1 T. red wine vinegar
1 T. brown sugar
1/8 tsp. onion salt
Additional salt and black pepper to taste as desired
1 T. finely chopped walnuts and a drizzle of walnut oil for serving
Sauté` garlic in oil and add red pepper flakes. Add washed and cut kale. Add remaining ingredients except for walnuts and walnut oil.
When kale is cooked (it only takes about 20 minutes or so) and you are ready to plate, drizzle some walnut oil over the surface of the kale and sprinkle with the finely ground walnuts.
Here is what our remembrance meal looked like. It was family comfort food...yes it was!!:)
Really - “Uff da” ! If you cannot find ligonberry you can always cook up some cranberries. It is a similar - a sweet yet tart flavor that is a perfect pairing to cut the richness of the meatballs.
Thoughtful living moment today: Remember and gain strength in the faith and grace of those saints living and dead, known and unknown to you. All are witnesses to bring encouragement for your life.
Fast falls the eventide…Peace to all!!
