Well ... I did a layout about Christmas dinner just last week:
We eat "smörgåsbord" (usually called "julbord" (i.e. "Christmas table" on Christmas). Lots of small dishes and every family probably have their own version. The main things are potato, ham, meat balls, pickled herring and sausages. The photos on the layout are my vegetarian version. I've added a couple of other stuff over the years.
Here's a recipe for Swedish meat balls for you all. I usually quadruple this for Christmas.
Swedish meatballs
4 servings
14 oz ground beef
1 1/2 oz breadcrumbs
6 -7 fl oz milk
1 -1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper (traditionally white pepper, but I use black)
2 tps chopped and lightly browned onion or 1 tbs grated raw onion (I use onion powder)
7 fl oz stock
1 1/2 tbs flour
1 3/4 cold water
1 3/4 -3 1/2 fl oz cream (optional)
Soak the breadcrumbs in the milk for about 10 min. Mix the meat with the soaked breadcrumbs and the milk, salt, pepper, and onion. Blend the mix thouroughly. Using your hands, dipped in cold water, or two spoons, form the mixture into small meatballs of uniform size. Place them on a carving board, rinsed with cold water. Brown the meatballs, a few at a time, in a little butter in a frying pan. Shake the pan so they brown evenly. When browned, transfer the meatballs to a saucepan. Deglaze the frying pan with the stock and pour the gravy into the saucepan. Simmer until the meatballs are done, 8 -10 min. Strain the gravy into a saucepan and add enough water or stock to make up 1/2 pint. Mix tha flour with the cold water. Beat this thickening into the boiling gravy. Simmeron low heat, 3 -5 min. Add the cream. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with the sauce, boiled potatoes and a salad.
Lingonberry jam is often used too. That is the traditional way to serve meatballs, but it is used in many other ways. Served with macaroni, or mashed potatoes, it is all childrens favorite. I seldom do the sauce, and I often use more spices. Garlic and cayenne pepper is delicious. Meatballs can be served with everything ... =
... Cold meatballs are also perfect for open sandwiches, often with a salad made of beet root.
For Christmas dinner you don't make the gravy, that's just when you make meat balls for dinner. For Christmas there are so much other stuff, the gravy isn't needed. The beet root salad is a perfect match. That's the pink thing you see on my layout. Here's a recipe:
Beetroot Salad
1 apple
1 pickled cucumber
6 medium-sized pickled beetroots or 14 fl oz diced pickled beetroots
3 1/2 fl oz whipping cream or 1/4 pt sour cream
1/2 -1 tbs grated horseradish
Finely dice the peeled and cored apple, the cucumber and the beetroot. Mix all together. Chill for a few hours before serving. Mix the salad with whipped cream or soured cream seasoned with the horseradish.
