Swedish Party Recipes

Here are some traditional Swedish recipes to help bolster your holiday menu.

Courtesy of the Swedish Women’s Educational Association (SWEA) of New Jersey.
To purchase a cookbook, visit swea.org/newjersey

SWEDISH GLOGG
(Mulled Wine)

Ingredients:

1 bottle dry red wine
¾ cup sugar
1 stick cinnamon
5 cloves
5 cardamom seeds, crushed
Rind of one lemon, peeled in a
single piece
1 cup aquavit or brandy, optional
4 oz. almonds, blanched and peeled
3 oz. raisins

Preparation:

In a saucepan, combine wine, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and lemon peel. Cover and let set for at least 4 hours, without heating. (You can let it ferment in the saucepan for as long as 2 days.) Prepare heat-proof glasses or mugs by putting a few almonds and raisins in each one. Heat glogg mixture gently, making sure that liquid does not boil. Shortly before serving, add the brandy or aquavit to the warm wine mixture. Light glogg with a match (if you wish) and pour into mugs while the alcohol is still burning. Perfect for a blustery winter night!

Recipe contributed by Ulla Jenkins, SWEA NJ

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MARINATED SALMON
(Cured Gravlax)

Ingredients:

2 ¼ lbs raw salmon, preferably center section of one filet, fresh and of the highest quality
2 tsp. vegetable oil
4 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. salt
1 tsp. white peppercorns, crushed
1 large bunch dill with stalks, chopped

Preparation:

Scale fish and wipe with paper towels. Ask fishmonger to remove bones (or draw finger down thickest part of filet to locate bones and remove any bones with tweezers). Remove fat, but do not remove skin. Rub fillet with oil. Combine sugar, salt, pepper and rub into fish. Place half of chopped dill in a glass dish just large enough to hold fish. Place fish in dish, skin side up. Top with remaining dill. Cover with a small cutting board and place a weight on top to lightly weigh down fish. Refrigerate 12 to 24 hours. Turn fish several times (if it marinates too long, it will become hard. Scrape off seasonings and, without cutting through skin, cut into thin slices on the diagonal, or into 1 ¼-inch thick straight slices. Any pink fish, such as char or trout also can be prepared this way. Serve with mustard and dill sauce.

Recipe contributed by Birgitta Odqvist, SWEA NJ

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SWEDISH MEATBALLS

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground meat (2/3 ground beef and 1.3 ground pork)
1 large potato, boiled and mashed
1 egg
1 medium onion
¼ cup juice from picked red beets
salt and pepper to taste
butter or margarine for frying
cream
flour
cranberry jelly

Preparation:

Put potato, egg and onion in a blender and mix well. Combine ground meat, potato, onion mixture and juice from pickled beets. Season with salt and pepper. Briefly mix, ensuring that mixture is not too firm. If needed, add a bit more juice from pickled beets. Make one trial meatball and fry it to test seasoning. Make small or large balls with wet hands or use a spoon. Fry meatballs in butter or margarine until they are thoroughly cooked. Serve with mashed potatoes, lingonberry jam and sauce (below).

MEATBALL SAUCE

Ingredients:

1 cup cream
1 tbsp. flour, suspended in water
2 tbsp. cranberry jelly
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

For sauce, rinse the meatball frying pan with a bit of water and add drippings to clean saucepan. Add cream and bring all to a boil. Thicken with flour and adjust thickness as necessary, using either more flour or more cream. Stir in cranberry jelly and season with salt and pepper.

Recipe contributed by Margareta Stromer, SWEA NJ

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JANSSON’S TEMPTATION
(Potato Casserole)

Ingredients:

1 can (3 ½ oz.) anchovy fillet, reserve the juice
6 medium potatoes
2 medium yellow onions
2 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. plain breadcrumbs
½ to 1 cup cream, to taste

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400 – 425 degrees. Peel and julienne raw potatoes; keep them under a towel so they do not discolor. Slice onions. In a well-greased, oven-proof dish, layer potatoes, onions and anchovy fillets, ending with a potato layer on top. Pour anchovy juice over the casserole and add half of the butter. Bake for about 30 minutes. Then pour cream over the casserole and continue baking until potatoes are soft. Total baking time will be about 1 to 1 ½ hours. Cover gently with aluminum foil if the potatoes start to brown.

Recipe contributed by Gun Eklund, SWEA NJ

Click here to read about a traditional Swedish Christmas celebration.

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