Frosty with a chance of meatballs.

For those of you who are concerned, YES I am still eating - just not blogging as regularly. An unusually quiet night gave me some time to catch up, so here's a recipe from over the holidays. It's been cold and snowy in the Boston area (and many others), and I'm already ready for spring. In the last couple weeks, I've been cooking a lot with my trusty Dutch oven (the source for all things warm and cozy during the coldest months of the year), and I've made quite a few meatball-based recipes. There's something satisfying about squishing your hands into a mess of ground meat, breadcrumbs, egg, and herbs...and they make a lovely base for soups and stews.

This recipe was a holiday snack we made at home over Christmas...they were delicious (made extra special by using some ground buffalo meat which my parents had - Texas has its perks). I couldn't resist the temptation to compare them to IKEA meatballs (my only other exposure to Swedish meatballs, in fairness), especially with the fruit glaze, but they were far and away better than their cafeteria equivalent.

Daniel Boulud's Swedish Meatballs
Makes 40-50

Meatballs
3 T olive oil
½ c minced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 lb ground meat (duck, pork, veal, lamb, or any, really)
1 egg, beaten
⅓ c dried currants (we used raisins)
¼ c fine white bread crumbs
2 T chopped parsley
¼ t ground juniper berry
¾ t ground coriander
1½ t salt
¾ t finely ground white pepper

Sauce (we made about double this recipe)
½ c orange juice
1 T Dijon mustard
2 T currant jelly
½ c unsalted chicken stock
1 T freshly grated orange zest

Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a small sauté pan, heat 1 T olive oil over medium heat; sauté onion and garlic until the onion is translucent, then transfer the mixture to a large bowl and let cool. Add remaining meatball ingredients to the bowl, and mix until well combined (but not pasty). Roll the mixture into approximately 1" diameter meatballs. Heat the remaining olive oil in a large pan, and add the meatballs in a single layer (you may need to work in batches). Sear on all sides, then transfer to a baking sheet. Bake the meatballs until just cooked through, 3-5 minutes.

For the sauce, using the large pan, reduce the orange juice to a syrup. Stir in the mustard, jelly, and stock, and simmer until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Return the meatballs to the pan, add the orange zest, toss to coat, and serve hot.