Finnish meatballs with vodka-dill gravy, mash and slow-cooked red cabbage

As with old school British cooking, a handful of - from a modern viewpoint - truly scary dishes (hello, haggis and steak and kidney pudding) are accompanied by several others that, cooked well, remain delicious decade after decade. Such as meatballs, for example. This recipe, adapted from Jane Lawson's brilliant 'Snowflakes and Schnapps', closely follows vintage Scandinavian recipes...with a few unexpected twists and an accompaniment of drool-inducing slow-cooked red cabbage. 

Ingredients: enough for 2 immense portions, or 4 medium ones.

For the balls:

500g of pork or beef mince - whichever you prefer

1 onion, very finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, very finely chopped

Breadcrumbs - a good handful

Cream - a few glugs

Allspice - a generous pinch

Nutmeg - a good grating of

Salt

Black pepper

(optional: dried and chopped forest mushrooms)

For the gravy:

A knob of butter

Flour - 1 tablespoon

Chicken or beef stock - half a pint or so, depending on how thick you want the gravy to be

Cream - to taste

A glug of vodka

A generous bunch of dill, finely chopped

For the mash:

Potatoes (surprise!) - peeled and quartered

A knob of butter

A good glug of milk

A generous pinch of white pepper

Black pepper

Salt

For the red cabbage:

Half a head of red cabbage, roughly chopped

1 - 2 apples, roughly chopped

Oil and/or butter

1 onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

A generous glug of balsamic vinegar

How to cook:

Firstly: don't panic! I realise that's a massive list of ingredients, but all this is easier than it looks. The cabbage and potatoes will take care of themselves after initial preparation, and the gravy could barely be any easier if it cooked itself.

Start with the Balls. Mix all ingredients in a bowl and, hands freshly washed (hint: pour a bit of oil on your mitts prior to sticking your hands in the dough to avoid excessive stickiness), stir and squeeze for a good few minutes, until you have a truly appetising mess of meat and other ingredients, all of it mixed well together. After this, roll the mixture into evenly sized meatballs. Place the balls on a baking tray and place in the fridge for at least an hour so the flavours have time to develop.

In the meantime, peel and quarter your potatoes and place in a large pan, ready for boiling.

Move on to the cabbage. Chop the red cabbage, onion and apple(s). Approximately 30 minutes before your Balls are ready to go on the pan, place all three ingredients in a roomy pan with a good glug of oil or a knob of butter (I prefer a combination of both). Chuck in the fennel seeds, a pinch of salt and black pepper and a good glug of balsamic vinegar, and leave to simmer on low heat for approximately an hour, stirring regularly - if at appears too dry, pour in more vinegar. The result is well worth the wait, I promise!

Just before you're about to start cooking the Balls, put the potatoes on boil.

Heat a good glug of oil, a knob of butter or a bit of both on a large frying pan. Once hot, place the Balls in the pan. Be careful not to overcrowd them - you may need to do this in two batches. Cook the Balls for about 10 minutes, depending on size - the bigger they are, the longer you'll need. The aim is to get them nicely browned on all sides.

Once this is done, let the Balls rest in a bowl. In the meantime, place a knob of butter on the pan you cooked the Balls in. Once the butter's melted, add the flour and make sure you scrape in any leftover meatball scraps from the bottom of the pan. Stir thoroughly, and gradually pour in your stock and cream. Keep stirring. Add a glug of vodka (when in Finland, do as the Finns do...) and a good handful of fresh, chopped dill, and bring to boil. Keep stirring until the gravy has thickened a bit. Add the Balls that have been resting for a while, and keep simmering on a soft boil for approximately 15 minutes, or until the Balls are fully cooked and you have a nice, thick gravy.

By now, your potatoes should have boiled. Drain them thoroughly in a colander and place back in the pan. Add the spices, butter and milk, and mash until you have a nice silky (as in 'unlumpy'!) texture. Put a lid on to keep them warm.

And that's it, really - you're ready to plate up. I can guarantee that the outcome will be worth the effort - these are strictly not factory-made Ikea meatballs! Enjoy.