Delicious Reading: The IKEA experience

My husband and I recently visited the new IKEA store in St. Louis for the first time. The preparation I did for this trip was not unlike the planning I do leading up to a Disney World vacation. I had heard too many tales of arguments and exhaustion, of boxes not fitting in the back of the car. I looked up the items we wanted to purchase and made a shopping list online. We compared the listed dimensions of the boxes to the size of our trunk (and folded-down back seat). We headed up Interstate 55 with a game plan. In addition to getting “grown-up” bedroom furniture to put together for our son, the plan included lunch in the IKEA cafe to have the famous Swedish meatballs.

The store is very well designed. Right after you have wandered through the massive collection of kitchens, bedrooms, offices and family rooms, and perhaps are starting to feel a bit weary and peckish, you arrive at the cafe. We parked our cart and got two orders of meatballs with mashed potatoes and lingonberry jam. They were delicious and refueled us. We were ready for picking up some new towels in the marketplace and for loading those boxes into the car!

After we were home and assembling things, I thought back to those meatballs. IKEA sells them, frozen, in their marketplace, but I was afraid they would defrost on the trip home. (I did, however, bring home a pan of their cinnamon rolls!) So, I turned to the internet. I found a variety of copycat recipes, and several different bloggers used pretty much the same version I am sharing with you here. I made the gravy a bit thicker, which I felt more closely matched the consistency of the IKEA sauce. I served them over mashed potatoes (sans jam) and my kids loved them. I thought I had made Swedish meatballs for them before, but maybe not in recent memory. Or maybe these are just better! Thanks, Sweden, for your well-priced furniture and your well-received meatballs.

Swedish meatballs

Meatball ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 onion, diced

1 pound ground beef

1 pound ground pork

1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs

2 large egg yolks

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Gravy ingredients:

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/3 cup all-purpose flour (I also added a couple tablespoons of cornstarch)

4 cups beef broth

3/4 cup sour cream (I doubled this because I wanted a thicker gravy)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions:

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 2 or 3 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine ground beef, ground pork, Panko, egg yolks, allspice, nutmeg and cooked onion; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Using a wooden spoon or clean hands, stir until well combined. Roll the mixture into 1 1/4- to 1 1/2-inch meatballs, forming about 24 meatballs.

Add remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to the skillet. Add meatballs, in batches, and cook until all sides are browned, about 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.

To make the gravy, melt butter in the skillet. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in beef broth and cook, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, about 1 or 2 minutes. Stir in sour cream; season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Stir in meatballs and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through and thickened, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.

About Brooke

Brooke Clubbs is a Jackson mom of three, a freelance writer and a communications instructor.