Nana's Swedish Meatballs

Good evening! Tonight's recipe comes from my grandmother's kitchen!

This is my lovely grandmother!  

This is one of my favorite recipes! It comes together quickly, and it tastes delicious! It tastes good with potatoes, with noodles, with corn, or whatever you want... the gravy is the perfect topper for pretty much any side dish.

The following recipe is based off of 1 lb of ground beef. We doubled it because we love leftovers, which made about 30 meatballs. It's your call as to the proportions!

Ingredients:
Meatballs:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon grated onion 
• 1/2 cup plain bread crumbs

Gravy:

• 2 tablespoonsful flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups milk
• Gravy master (we find this in our supermarket near the spice aisle, where they usually also have the gravy packets!)

Directions:

Mix all of the meatball ingredients thoroughly. 

I decided to be lazy chef tonight and try it in the kitchen aid mixer with the paddle attachment. Now if only it would shape them into balls too! (First world cooking problems?)

Then, shape them into meatballs.

Melt butter in a frying pan on medium-high, and then fry the meatballs.

Remove them when all sides are browned and set them aside.

In the same pan that you browned the meatballs in, mix together the flour, salt, pepper, and milk. Whisk well to avoid flour lumps. 

Cook over medium heat until bubbles.

Add gravy master to thicken and darken, as desired. Mix thoroughly.

Add the meatballs back to the gravy and bring to a simmer to thicken. Cook until warmed through!

Enjoy!

P.S. This meal seriously needs crusty bread. I know I often recommend this, but it tastes great when sopping up gravy from your plate! YUM! :)

Slow Cooker Ribs

I love slow-cookers.
I love that I could prepare this dinner at 11 in the morning, and that I had a delicious dinner waiting for me when I got home from work tonight.

Look at them. All cozy in there :)

 Ingredients:

• 3 lb baby back ribs
• Salt and Pepper
• 1-2 yellow onions
• BBQ Sauce

It is at this point that I would like to add that you can use any BBQ sauce you want, or you can make your own. I have historically not been a fan of sauces that are too ketchup-y or molasses-y. I like a sauce that is more smokey, and so I used Bull's-Eye Hickory Smoke BBQ Sauce.

The smokey flavor was not too sweet, but delicious!

Directions:

First thing you need to do is admire your beautiful ribs.

YUM. Yumyumyumyum.

Then you need to take off the gross membrane from the bottom side. This is the stuff that gets stuck in your teeth when you eat ribs! It peels off pretty easily, you just have to get the tip of your knife under the membrane, and then it should just peel right off! (Grab it with a paper towel for a better grip!)

I should note that this hand is not mine. I do not have man-hands. :)

Then, cut the ribs into 3-4 rib sections. Pat them nice and dry, season with salt and pepper, and place on a broiling pan (or a cooling rack on a baking sheet).

Put under a broiler for about 15-20 minutes on each side, until they start to brown up a little.

While the ribs are broiling (and your house begins to smell DELISH!), slice up an onion or two into rings. Put these along the bottom of your slow cooker as a soft comfy bed for your ribs to go on!

When the ribs are done broiling, baste them with BBQ sauce, make sure they get covered, and throw them in the slow cooker. Then go ahead and throw some more sauce on to make sure they are EXTRA covered!

Cook in the slow cooker on high for an hour, then set it to low until they are done (typically anywhere from 8-10 hours total cooking time).

See-you can even SEE how good it smelled!

These ribs came out delightful, literally sliding off the bone! And because there was no membrane, they were not stringy at all. Instead, they fell apart into a plate full of deliciousness!

Served with french fries, corn, or whatever other sides you like!

Importantly, tonight this was served with a Shipyard Pumpkinhead Beer.

I love fall. :)