March 14, 2010: Mormor's Meatballs

Mormor is the name my daughters gave my mother. In Norwegian it literally means "mother's mother." Like many grandmothers, Mormor's kitchen was legendary. Although her cooking was simple, you could taste every soupcon of love she put into every meal she prepared. Her meatballs (kottboller, pronounced shut-boller) were legendary in our family lore. My father (the girls called him Poppy, a decidedly non-Norwegian name) enjoyed them so much that he insisted she serve them every time we had an Italian spaghetti dinner. No spicy meatballs for my dad! Only the finest Norwegian-style meatballs and gravy would do. Today, Mormor and Poppy are gone but my daughters and I are trying to keeping alive as much as possible from my mother's recipe box. When we are in need of a little comfort food, Mormor's meatballs fit the bill. (I still use the old cast-iron skillet she used for browning the meat.)

MORMOR'S MEATBALLS

2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 T butter (or ghee)
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
1 pound ground chuck
1 t sea salt, or to taste
1/4 t freshly ground pepper
1 t onion powder
3 T flour
2 cups hot beef stock

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, milk and bread crumbs. Let stand while you melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a skillet. Add the chopped onion and cook until translucent. Add the cooked onions to the egg mixture along with the meat, salt, pepper, and onion powder. With your hands, knead the mixture until well-combined. Refrigerate for about 1 hour. Shape the meat into golf ball-sized balls. Melt the remaining butter in the skillet and brown the meatballs evenly on all sides. Remove them to a saucepan as they are browned. When all the meatballs are browned, stir the flour evenly into the pan drippings, then gradually whisk in the hot stock. When smooth and thickened to the viscosity of heavy cream (you don't want this to be too thick or too thin), pour it into the saucepan over the meatballs and simmer for about 15 to 25 minutes. Check the gravy for seasoning. My mother liked to add a little onion powder to her gravies which I think branded them with her distinctive touch. She also liked to add a few drops of Kitchen Bouquet or Gravy Master to darken the sauce. That's not something I do today but it was routine for my mother's era.