Michelin-Style Swedish Meatballs with Pommes Purée, Cream Gravy, Cranberry Sauce, and Dill Pickles

Ingredients

• beef short rib (Part of a 50–50 beef-and-pork mixture)
• pork belly mince (Part of a 50–50 beef-and-pork mixture)
• oil (For the meatball mixture and cooking)
• black pepper
• allspice
• 1 egg
• Dijon mustard (Added to the meatball mixture and again to the finished sauce)
• milk (Used in the meatball mixture and pommes purée; equal quantity to the cream for the purée)
• cream (Used in the meatball mixture, infused for the gravy, and combined with milk for the purée)
• breadcrumbs
• salt (To taste; Maldon salt is specified for the pickle and potato preparation)
• potatoes (For the pommes purée)
• peppercorns (For infusing the cream)
• bay leaf (For infusing the cream)
• thyme (For infusing the cream)
• rosemary (For infusing the cream)
• vinegar (For the cucumber pickle)
• sugar (A decent amount for the cranberry sauce; also used in the pickle)
• water (For the pickle)
• yellow mustard seeds (For the cucumber pickle)
• cucumbers (Pour the pickle over the cucumbers)
• butter (For the pommes purée)
• 1 shallot (Finely chopped, for the gravy)
• garlic (Added with the softened shallot)
• 1 L stock (For the gravy)
• cranberries (For the cranberry sauce or jam)
• lemon juice (For the cranberry sauce)

Steps

1. 1

   Combine the beef short rib and pork belly mince in a 50–50 mixture. Add oil, pepper, allspice, one egg, Dijon mustard, milk, cream, breadcrumbs, and a touch of salt.

2. 2

   Bring the meatball mixture together while keeping it nice and cold.

3. 3

   Shape the mixture into 45-gram meatballs.

4. 4

   For the pickle, place vinegar, sugar, water, yellow mustard seeds, and Maldon salt in a pan and bring the mixture together.

5. 5

   Pour the pickle mixture over the cucumbers and leave them to sit.

6. 6

   For the pommes purée, sprinkle salt on the bottom of a tray, place the potatoes on top, and make a couple of holes in each potato.

7. 7

   Bake the potatoes at 180°C until cooked.

8. 8

   While the potatoes cook, place the cream in a pan with peppercorns, bay leaf, thyme, and rosemary. Bring the cream to 80°C to infuse it.

9. 9

   Cut the cooked potatoes in half and push the potato through a drum sieve.

10. 10

    Put the potato skins in the oven to dehydrate and roast slightly.

11. 11

    Combine equal quantities of milk and cream in a pan. Add the potato skins and a couple of pinches of Maldon salt, then infuse the mixture.

12. 12

    Add butter to the potato preparation. Pass off the potato-skin milk-and-cream mixture, then gradually add it to the sieved potato and work it in until smooth and creamy.

13. 13

    Season a pan and place the meatballs into it. Cook them, developing caramelization on the outside and leaving the browned fond in the pan.

14. 14

    Baste the meatballs during the last 20% of their cooking time.

15. 15

    Transfer the cooked meatballs to a tray.

16. 16

    Finely chop one shallot and soften it in the pan. Add the garlic and cook it with the shallot.

17. 17

    Add about 1 litre of stock to the pan, followed by the infused cream. Use the caramelized fond to flavor the cream gravy.

18. 18

    For the cranberry sauce, place the cranberries in a pan with a decent amount of sugar, a good pinch of salt, and lemon juice. Cook until the sugar begins to caramelize around the outside of the pan and the cranberries form a sauce or jam.

19. 19

    As the cream gravy finishes its final reduction, add Dijon mustard.

20. 20

    Serve the pommes purée first, pile the meatballs on top, and add the cranberry jam and dill pickles alongside. Finish with the cream gravy.

Notes

The source does not provide full ingredient quantities for most components, exact cooking times, or the final sauce-reduction time. It refers to both Maldon salt and a text-recognized 'mold and salt'; this has been interpreted as Maldon salt. The meatball cooking temperature is not stated.

Nutrition per serving

• main
• Swedish-inspired
• European
• meatballs
• potato purée
• pan-seared
• cream sauce
• pickled