This was an interesting choice by my daughter for Christmas dinner, but it came out great! It’s definitely not diet food, however, as you’ll see. We cooked up some twice-baked potatoes and stir-fried broccoli to serve on the side.
Lingonberry jam can be found at better supermarkets or you can easily buy it online.
Using gluten-free breadcrumbs and GF soy sauce are the only changes you need to make this dish GF-friendly. (See bottom of blog.)
For the meatballs…
4 tablespoons breadcrumbs
1/2 cup half-and-half
2 eggs (whisked, in a bowl)
2 tablespoons beef stock
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 lb ground beef (preferably grass-fed)
1 lb ground pork (preferably pastured)
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons salt
more unsalted butter and oil for frying
In a bowl, mix together the breadcrumbs, half-and-half, eggs, and beef stock. Set it aside.
Fry the onion in some butter and then add it to the breadcrumb mixture.
Place the ground beef and pork in a large bowl, and add the salt and pepper to it. Add the contents of the breadcrumb and onion mixture, and mix everything together gently with your hands.
In the pan you fried the onions, add more butter and a little oil, and heat it to medium.
Roll the ground meat into meatballs, adding them to the pan. (If the meat mixture is mushy, just add more breadcrumbs until you get a consistency you can work with.) The meatballs might be sticky, so wet your hands every once in a while to make your job easier.
Fry the meatballs until they’re golden brown and cooked through completely, then remove them from the pan and set them aside.
For the sauce…
2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons corn starch
2 cups beef stock
3 teaspoons soy sauce
2 oz unsalted butter
4 tablespoons lingonberry jam
In a bowl, whisk together the cream and the corn starch. Then add the beef stock and soy sauce, mixing well. Pour this into the pan you cooked the meatballs, and bring up to medium heat. Let it boil for a couple of minutes, to activate the corn starch, which will thicken the sauce.
Reduce the heat, add salt and pepper to taste, and the lingonberry jam. Stir it all together, then add the meatballs back to the pan. Let them cook for a few minutes, basting them in the sauce.
Serve with potatoes and more lingonberry jam, if you like.
Gluten-free note: As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, I have family members that are gluten-sensitive, so I only use gluten-free soy sauce. It’s easy to find in any supermarket and there’s no difference in taste. The brand I buy is La Choy.
And the best gluten-free breadcrumbs are ones that I make myself. I buy a loaf of Udi’s frozen GF bread and toast it. Then I place the toasted slices in my food processor. No one can tell the difference from breadcrumbs with gluten!
Live the Live ™ 