{"id":2026,"date":"2023-04-10T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-10T06:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/?p=2026"},"modified":"2024-02-09T11:48:20","modified_gmt":"2024-02-09T10:48:20","slug":"narnish-breen-also-known-as-kottbullar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/10\/narnish-breen-also-known-as-kottbullar\/","title":{"rendered":"Narnish Breen, also known as K\u00f6ttbullar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Every <a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/artemis-2-moon-mission-astronauts-meet-the-crew\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"space-faring race\">space-faring race<\/a> in the galaxy has a dish identical to Breen, a delicacy on the Narn Homeworld.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Babylon 5 - Swedish Meatballs\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/n9wJi-QPuTo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I have been reluctant to make Swedish meatballs. Every time someone else has made them for me, I have been disappointed at the lack of flavor&#8211;especially when they&#8217;re served with a floury slurry on the side. When a conversation turns to meatballs, acquaintances often rave about a certain flat-pack furniture warehouse; I find their sauce even blander than the Americanized cream-of-soup variant.  I have fonder taste memories of the school paste with the brush in the orange lid.<br><br>Then one day, I impulse-purchased some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.adamah.at\/Produktdetailseite\/ErdpfelLilyRosefestkochend_67306\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Lily Rose\">Lily Rose<\/a> potatoes at the market, asked Mr Radish what he thought should go with mashed potatoes, and heard &#8220;Swedish meatballs!&#8221;  After wondering briefly what I did to deserve this, I decided to view the request as a challenge. A well-rounded (heh) meatball enthusiast needs a Swedish in her repertoire.  <\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/LilaKartoffeln1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2044\" width=\"561\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/LilaKartoffeln1.jpg 748w, https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/LilaKartoffeln1-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/LilaKartoffeln1-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 561px) 100vw, 561px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>April 2023<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>I selected <a href=\"https:\/\/www.moeyskitchen.com\/2017\/04\/schwedische-koettbullar.html#\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"a German recipe\">a German recipe<\/a>, as I do not read Swedish.  Due to supply chain disruptions, I was unable to obtain <a href=\"https:\/\/babylon5.fandom.com\/wiki\/Breen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Breen\">Breen<\/a> and substituted ground beef.  A pork-beef mixture may work better; the beef balls were a bit dry.<br><br>The flavor in the sauce&#8211;and it is glorious!!&#8211;comes from the secret ingredient in all German sauces: <em>Mittelscharfer Senf<\/em>, or &#8220;yellow mustard.&#8221;  There is also a shot of lemon juice, nutmeg, black pepper, and parsley.  (I don&#8217;t know how authentic mustard and lemon are to Swedish cooking, but at least it&#8217;s not cream-of-soup.)<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"667\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/NarnishBreenPan.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2045\" srcset=\"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/NarnishBreenPan.jpg 667w, https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/NarnishBreenPan-267x300.jpg 267w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 667px) 100vw, 667px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Secrets in the the sauce.<br>April 2023<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>If you are minimizing dairy fat for health reasons, you should skip this one: there is nearly a cup of full cream in the sauce alone. It&#8217;s a basic <em>Mehlschwitze<\/em>, a roux; the key is to get your meat broth hot before whisking it slowly into the pan.<br><br>The balls themselves are flavored with <em>Piment<\/em>&#8211;which is the German word for allspice, which I recently learned from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.br.de\/br-fernsehen\/sendungen\/landfrauenkueche\/kulinarische-schaetze-2023-alle-rezepte-100.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"a television cooking contest show\">a television cooking contest show<\/a>. An American woman living in Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg made Pumpkin Pie (correct name!) for her dessert course.  I had somehow always assumed <em>Piment<\/em> were those things in olives, and when I checked my <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.leo.org\/german-english\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"W\u00f6rterbuch\">W\u00f6rterbuch<\/a><\/em> to see if she was insane or if I am, I received an ontological shock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Allspice.  The recipe says &#8220;as desired&#8221; so I just dumped in a well-rounded (heh) half-teaspoon.  I could taste it in the final balls, but next time I go up to a full teaspoon just to be sure.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/NarnishBreenRaw.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2046\" width=\"491\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/NarnishBreenRaw.jpg 655w, https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/NarnishBreenRaw-262x300.jpg 262w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 491px) 100vw, 491px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>I added extra parsley, too.<br>April 2023<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>There is also cream in the balls.  This recipe starts by soaking the breadcrumbs (&#8220;best self-made&#8221;, it says; <a href=\"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/2022\/10\/24\/sweet-garlic-ginger-meatballs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"I am all over that\">I am all over that<\/a>) in the beaten egg and 50mL of cream.  Here I think it might be OK to substitute regular milk, because as I mentioned previously, the balls were a little dry.  (I also think that may have been because my pan was too big for the volume of sauce.  Double batch next time!)<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/NarnishBreenEgg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2041\" width=\"332\" height=\"375\" srcset=\"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/NarnishBreenEgg.jpg 664w, https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/NarnishBreenEgg-266x300.jpg 266w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 332px) 100vw, 332px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Disgusting but tasty.<br>April 2023<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>While all this is going on, I was working out my pink <em>Stampf<\/em>&#8211;with more cream.  The trick here is to warm the cream before adding it to the potatoes (we watch a lot of cooking shows in German television).<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/LilaKartoffelnStampf.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2047\" width=\"512\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/LilaKartoffelnStampf.jpg 683w, https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/LilaKartoffelnStampf-273x300.jpg 273w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Mampf mampf mampf.<br>April 2023<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Finally, dished up a plate with <em>Preiselbeeren<\/em>, the German cousin of the Swedish lingonberries.  English-language menus often translate them as &#8220;Cranberry&#8221;, but don&#8217;t be fooled!  The only similarity is the color.  <em>Preisel<\/em>&#8211; and <em>Lingonbeeren<\/em> grown on bushes like cultivated blueberries.  Recommended by Hildegard von Bingen, <em>nat\u00fcrlich<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"603\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/NarnishBreenPlate.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2048\" srcset=\"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/NarnishBreenPlate.jpg 603w, https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/NarnishBreenPlate-241x300.jpg 241w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 603px) 100vw, 603px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>If it makes you feel more comfortable, please imagine a green salad off to the right instead of the beer.<br>April 2023<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote has-medium-font-size\" style=\"border-style:none;border-width:0px\"><blockquote><p><em>All of life can be broken down into moments of transition or moments of revelation. This had the feeling of both.<\/em><\/p><cite><em><strong>Book of G&#8217;Kar<\/strong><\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Secrets in the sauce.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2048,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[149,25,147],"class_list":["post-2026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-meatballmonday","tag-babylon-5","tag-meatballs","tag-potatoes"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2026"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2026\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2054,"href":"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2026\/revisions\/2054"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}