This is another of those recipes that we have to add to this otherwise exclusive sandwich blog. These Danish meatballs are great for sandwiches, and will be used in some of our other posts. They also happen to be the national food of Denmark, and is consumed by everyone by bulk. They are great with mashed potatoes (Which in turn is great on mashed potato sandwiches), or as a side to a salad. Total cooking time is about 50 minutes, some of which is spent waiting for the meat to cool down before frying. Simple.Easy.Good.

While this recipe is ingrained as part of the danish culture, we notices that some american blogs have also gotten a hold of it, most noticeably the excellent simply recipes which we love to read. It’s nice to see these easy and excellent frikadeller spreading out in the world.

Frikadelle Recipe

• 1/2 pound of ground beef
• 1/2 pound of ground pork
• 1/2 onion, cut into pieces, but not too small
• 1.75 oz wheat flour
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 egg
• 2 tbs fennel seeds
• 2 garlic
• 4 large sweet basil leaves
• 1 tsp sweet curry
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tsp garam masala (Optional)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tbs butter

Mix the meat with the salt for about 1 minute, then add the egg, onion pieces, curry, paprika, fennel seeds and garam masala. Cut the garlic into tiny pieces and blend it into the mix. While mixing, stir in the milk little by little. The mix should not be too wet, and the right balance usually comes between 3/4 and the full cup of milk. If it looks too wet, stop.  Keep mixing the ingredients until they are all evenly blended in. Cut the basil leaves into small pieces, and blend them into the mix. Place the finished mix in the fridge for half an hour to rest.  If the mix becomes too solid while in the fridge, you can add a little more milk later.

Heat a frying pan on high, and let the butter melt and start bubbling. With a large spoon, pickup a spoonful of the meat-mix , and shape it with the spoon and your hand. Place it in the hot pan. Fill the pan with the shaped meatballs. After about 2 minutes, turn them over and press them down a little so they become flat. They should be golden brown already. After 2 more minutes, turn the heat down to medium and let the meatballs fry for another four minutes. Repeat until you’re out of mix.

Feel free to improvise with your own spices, more onion.