Meat forcemeat

About the dish

The basic recipe for meat forcemeat is a cornerstone of Erken's meat chapter: the same mixture is used for meat pudding, meatballs, frikadeller and timbales. The meat used to be scraped or pounded in a mortar; in 1914 the meat grinder was still relatively new in Norwegian kitchens.

How to make it

1. 1

   Trim the meat

   Cut the meat into slices along the muscle fibers. Remove sinews and membranes (boil them in the stock pot if you like). Cut the meat into cubes.

2. 2

   Grind and salt

   Grind the meat 1–2 times together with the salt, and chop it a little afterwards if you like.

3. 3

   Work in the potato starch

   Work the forcemeat well together with the potato starch for at least a quarter of an hour, in a mortar, stand mixer or food processor.

4. 4

   Thin

   Thin gradually, a little at a time, with the boiled, completely cold milk and cream. Stir in the nutmeg and the finely chopped suet. Forcemeat for pudding may be a bit looser than for balls.

5. 5

   Test ball

   Boil a small test ball in stock or water to check the flavor and consistency.

6. 6

   Meat pudding

   Grease a pudding mold, fill it with forcemeat, set the mold in a roasting pan with boiling water and bake in the oven at 175 °C (345 °F) for about 1 hour.

7. 7

   Serving

   Serve with a brown, sharp sauce, celery sauce or mushroom sauce.

8. 8

   Balls and frikadeller

   Shape balls with a spoon dipped in cold water and let them poach for 5 minutes in the stock. Frikadeller are shaped as flat, round patties, poached in stock and served in brown sauce, or browned first in butter and given a quick boil in the sauce.

9. 9

   Timbales

   Fill greased timbale molds with forcemeat, make a hollow with a teaspoon and fill it with boiled, cold asparagus, celery or peas. Lay a lid of forcemeat over, smooth with a teaspoon dipped in cold water, cover with greased paper and cook in a water bath in the oven for 20 minutes. Do not fill the molds completely full.