A Summer Delight at The Ground – Veil patties, Mashed potatoes and Gravy

During a beautiful summer day, my family and I visited The Ground restaurant in Hovdala close to Hässleholm, a charming spot offering delicious food and breathtaking views. 

With outdoor benches and take-away boxes, we enjoyed a memorable meal of veal patties, mashed potatoes, served with rich gravy and tangy lingonberry jam. The kids absolutely loved it, and the simplicity of sitting outdoors, surrounded by nature, made the experience even more special. The dish was both comforting and flavorful, perfect for the season. Here's my take on this fantastic meal. 

Ingredients

For the veal patties:

500g veal mince

1 egg

1 small onion, finely chopped

50ml milk

2 tablespoons breadcrumbs

Salt and pepper to taste

Butter for frying

For the mashed potatoes:

800g potatoes, peeled and chopped

100ml milk

50g butter

Salt and white pepper to taste

For the gravy:

25g butter

2 tablespoons flour

300ml beef stock

100ml double cream

Soy sauce (optional) for color

Salt and pepper to taste

To Serve:

Lingonberry jam

Arugula 

Method: 

1. In a bowl, mix veal mince, egg, chopped onion, milk, breadcrumbs, salt, and pepper. Shape the mixture into small patties.

2. Heat butter in a pan and fry the patties over medium heat until golden brown and cooked through (about 4-5 minutes per side).

3. Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender (about 15-20 minutes). Drain and mash the potatoes with milk, butter, salt, and white pepper until smooth and creamy.

4. Melt butter in a saucepan, stir in flour, and cook until golden. Gradually add the beef stock, whisking constantly to avoid lumps. Add cream and season with salt, pepper, and soy sauce if desired. Let the sauce simmer for a few minutes until it thickens.

5. Plate patties, alongside the creamy mashed potatoes. Drizzle with the rich gravy and serve with a generous spoonful of lingonsylt on the side.

Enjoy!

 

Milk stewed macaroni and chicken meatballs - recipe

Eating pasta every week inevitably leads to requests from both my toddler and hubby for dishes that stray from the usual red sauce fare. I must admit, after a few weeks, even I start to crave something different.

So today, I decided to revisit a childhood favorite from my school days: milk-stewed macaroni (stuvade makaroner och köttbullar) and meatballs. It was a dish I adored back then, and seeing how well it was received by both my toddler and baby, I'm resolved to include it more often in our meal rotation. 

Back in school, we often enjoyed husmanskost, a term that encompasses traditional Swedish home-cooked fare. Fond memories of those meals inspire me to explore more recipes from Swedish cuisine, building a collection that I hope will be cherished by my children in the future.

Husmanskost refers to traditional Swedish home-cooked food, characterized by simple, hearty dishes made from locally sourced ingredients. These meals often include staples like potatoes, meat, fish, and root vegetables. Husmanskost dishes are typically comforting and satisfying, reflecting the rustic and wholesome nature of Swedish cuisine. Common examples include meatballs, herring, pea soup, and various potato-based dishes like hash or mashed potatoes.

Ingredients:

4-5 dl macaroni 

6-7 dl milk

1 cup water

1 dl double cream

Salt, pepper nutmeg to taste

Method:

1. In a non-stick pan, bring the milk, water, and double cream to a gentle boil. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add the macaroni to the mixture, then reduce the heat and simmer slowly until the sauce has thickened and the macaroni is tender. Stir frequently to prevent sticking.

2. Serve the milk-stewed macaroni with your choice of meat. Personally, I find meatballs and ketchup to be the perfect accompaniment to this comforting dish. It's a combination that never fails to satisfy.

Enjoy this nostalgic and comforting meal, and here's to creating more culinary memories inspired by the flavors of Swedish cuisine! 

Enjoy!

Kofta (köfta) minced meat wrap - recipe

I haven't been able to post anything for some time, but I've been feeling inspired lately and wanted to share this easy meal. Easy recipes have become essential in our household. With two kids, food needs to  be quick and require minimal effort, but still has to taste great!

While browsing the spice aisle at the supermarket, I came across a spice mix for kafta or köfte, which are meat patties. I thought, "Let's give it a try and see how it flavors the dish." So, today I grabbed the spice bag and did it. However, instead of making patties, I simply seasoned the minced meat with the spice mix as I had limited time to prepare them.

Ingredients

200 g minced beef

1 onion

1 tsp dried parsley

2 tsp kofta spice mix

1 tsp paprika powder

Oil

Serve with: onions seasoned with sumac, lettuce, tomatoes, flatbread and a minty yogurt sauce.

Method

1. Heat a frying pan with a few tablespoons of oil of your choice and fry the minced meat until browned. Add the onions and the rest of the ingredients. Continue frying until fully cooked and browned.

2. Wash and slice the tomatoes and lettuce. Serve the köfte meat mix on flatbread with the vegetables and a delicious fresh minty yogurt sauce.

The kofta spice from supermarket, Kafta (kryddor från Rosengård).

Enjoy!

Beef Escalope with a Delicious Gravy and Potatoes - Recipe and review

Today we had a such a lovely meal, beef escalope with a delicious gravy and boiled potatoes. This meal is one of my favorite and brings such great memories from my school time. I went to Swedish schools during my whole study period from grade one to uni and up to Gymnasium (high school) you get one hot meal every day at school. Many of my friends did not like the school food, but I loved it. Everything they did appealed to me and I used to eat everything they cooked. I cant really remember anything they served, that I did not like. We would get 3 different things to choose from, so that might be the case why I liked it so much. If not the food, there was always 2 different salads and knäckebröd (Swedish crisp bread), butter and always a glass of milk. At school, we used to get boiled potatoes, meatballs and gravy which is where I got the inspiration from for this meal. To finish it off, we had Lingonsylt (lingonberry jam), yummi.

I get all meat from the butchers. When I want steaks or thin fillets, I generally buy a big chunk and cut it in thin pieces myself. Then I freeze 2-3 pieces, where I layer the meat flat in the freeze bag.  So when I make this meal, all I do is defrost meat, boil potato and make this super easy gravy. 

I always use one brand, when it comes to gravy: Knorr. My favorite gravy with meat is these two, and how do I get it better? I use half half from both. They come in bags in powder form. All you need to do is heat up some butter and milk in a saucepan and then add the powder and mix for a few minutes until it becomes thick and gravy-ish in the consistency. I like it quite thick. It tastes like homemade gravy and is very flavorful. And since it takes no time to make it, it is my go to sauce every time I make meatballs or steak fillet or escalopes with boiled potato. To dip a piece of the potato in the sauce is so tasty and creamy.

Ingredients:

2-3 steak fillet

3-5 potatoes

1 egg

1 cup flour or more if needed

paprika powder

salt and pepper

bbq spice mix

frozen vegetable mix

Knorr gravy mix (gräddsås and brunsås, or one of them, cooked accordign to the package)

Method:

1. Start by hammering the steak fillets thinly and then season with salt, pepper and paprika. Dip it first in egg and then in a mix of flour, bbq spice and paprika and fry it for a few minutes on each side on medium-high heat in a nonstick frying pan.

2. Boil the potatoes and if you want, fry some frozen vegetables in a non stick pan with 1 tbsp of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

3. Make the gravy according to the package. I start by melting 1-2 tbsp of butter in a saucepan and add the two powders and mix it. As it becomes dry, I add some milk, roughly 1 cup, and mix well until I have the desired consistency. If I want it to become more creamy I add a splash of double cream.

Enjoy!