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Homemade Swedish Potato Sausage ♥ Recipe & Photos

Last month, twas my honor to witness something magical, a grandmother passing a family tradition along to two of her granddaughters. I took a few pictures so that readers might tag along too. Here's how to make homemade Swedish potato sausage, the classic Swedish dish, with step-by-step photos and tips.

It happened like a scene right out of Carl Larsson, the renowned Swedish painter who captured home and family scenes in the Swedish countryside in the last 1800s and early 1900s.

There we were on an unseasonably warm afternoon on the last day of November, the grandmother all organized and prepared, the kids smart from school, me bearing a camera and a tin of allspice -- all gathered in the kitchen to make one of the family's traditional Swedish recipes, an important dish for the feast on Christmas Eve.

The dish? Homemade potato sausage, 'potatis korv' en svenska. Here's how it's made, with love.

TESTIMONIALS
"We had a ball this afternoon grinding everything, cleaning the casings and just putting it all together." ~ The Larson Family
"I followed the recipe (except I used a sausage stuffer) and it turned out fantastic! My brother-in-law claimed it is the best he has ever had!" ~ Grant


(This post contains meat, a note to vegetarians.)




My neighbors across the street celebrate St. Lucia Day on Christmas Eve, not on the traditional date of December 13th. The tradition began when Max and Doris' own children were young. Now their children – and their grandchildren – help prepare for the celebration.

Doris (she's the proud grandma in the center), Erika (left) and Livvy (right) invited me over to watch the preparations. It was such a fun afternoon, watching the tradition being passed from one generation to another.
Here's how the homemade sausage looks when still uncooked. It's made from potatoes, onions and ground meat, spiced with allspice. It can be made ahead of time and then gently cooked and fried.

Get ready, it's going to be a fun afternoon making homemade Swedish potato sausage!
Cut 2 or 3 large onions into large chunks, then peel 5 pounds of uncooked red potatoes and cut them into large chunks too. Then grind the onions and potatoes. So long as the potatoes and onions aren't cut too fine, a food processor would work.
But Doris uses her grandmother’s much-beloved hand-cranked grinder, she wouldn’t consider anything else.

Who can blame her? The spirit of her grandmother, it lives on in those young hands that wo-manned the grinder that afternoon.
It’s hard work, grinding the potatoes and onions by hand.
A little boost is a big help.

(I'm just sure Carl Larsson would have loved Livvy's stool and unmatched pink socks as much as I did!)
To the onions and potatoes, stir in 3 pounds of ground meat, half ground beef and half ground pork.
Stir in salt and pepper to taste. Add a tablespoon of allspice too, one of the signature spices of Scandinavian specialties. (Don't skip the allspice, it's critical to the sausage's flavor.)
Now.comes.the.fun.part. Ask your butcher for sausage casings - if you're Livvy, you call them 'pig gut' because, well, that's what they are, the lining of a pig's intestines. I'm told you have to ask nicely, really nicely, because mostly grocery stores no longer have sausage casings. Max told me that when he got these at the Schnucks in Kirkwood, the meat person remembered, fondly, that the store once made its own potato sausage.

The casings are shimmied onto a slip of plastic (that's the red thing). A half pound of casings was two, maybe three times as much as needed for this recipe.
Who knew that a Bundt pan would be a home sausage-maker's favorite device?!

Slip the casing over the center tube, getting it as high as you can. Because the casing is quite slippery, wrap a paper towel around the center tube too, so that you're hanging onto the paper towel, not the casing itself.
Now.comes.the.squishy.part. But it's fun!

With your hands, gently press the meat mixture into the center tube. Long fingers like Erika's make it easier, Livvy's are shorter and so it was harder. I tried the end of a wooden spoon to press it in, that helped.
Make sure to hang onto the casing!

As the tube fills, the sausage will make its way into the casing. Use your hands to move it further into the casing.
Eventually, you'll end up with a looooooooooooog sausage, at least if you're as practiced as Erika. She made making sausage look so easy!
In the end, you'll have a half dozen or more of these sausages. Doris drops the sausages into a big pot of salted water with about 10 peppercorns. She starts with cold water so the delicate casings don't split, brings the water to a boil. Once the water boils, she turns off the heat and lets the sausages continue to cook gently in the hot water. She freezes the sausages in freezer bags right in the cooking water, so they stay moist.

On Christmas Eve, she'll thaw the sausages and then fry them and sprinkle with a little parsley.
On Christmas Eve, the family will sit down to a feast. Along with the Potato Sausage, there will be Smoked Salmon to start, then Swedish Meatballs (you might use my recipe for Finnish Meatballs, minus the cream sauce), Cabbage Rolls and Swedish Brown Beans. The meal will finish with bowls of creamy Rice Pudding for dessert. Some feast!
But there's more! There are costumes!

One granddaughter plays the role of St. Lucia and wears a crown of candles. Then there are Star Boys and Tomtons.

True story: I was staying with a Swedish family on St. Lucia Day in 1976. Early that morning, their blond-haired, blue-eyed daughter, Annikka, delivered sweet buns to all of us wearing a crown of candles, real candles, real flames, really beautiful!
Here's Brian (Erika and Livvy's little brother) with a Star Boy costume and Livvy who's donned a St. Lucia crown.

These kids love their family tradition! And I loved sharing it. Thank you, Doris and Max, thank you Erika and Livvy and Brian!




MORE SWEDISH RECIPES
~ Swedish Red Cabbage ~
~ Swedish Beets ~
~ more Scandinavian recipes ~
collected on Kitchen Parade, my food column




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Fast Pan-Roasted Brussels Sprouts ♥ Recipe

Fast Pan-Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Today's vegetable recipe: Brussels sprouts that reach the table in 20 minutes flat, with all the flavor of a long and slow roast in the oven. Weight Watchers 1 point and low-carb so an especially good vegetable choice during the calorie-heavy holidays.

Roasting vegetables is just so rewarding! For that hungry hour before supper, the low and slow heat coaxes out aromas and flavors, teasing us of what's to come.

The one downside? Speed. Or lack thereof. Slow Food is one thing. So is sloooooow food. But when you want dinner on the table, pronto? Roasting's not the smart choice.

But wait. Here are roasted Brussels sprouts that reach the table in 20 minutes snap. It takes two pots, one to parboil (that means to partially cook) the sprouts, another to pan-roast the sprouts. But these are delicious - way delicious, worth the wait, even if not required. Plus the two-step process has an advantage: they can be cooked, partway, ahead of time and then be finished at the last minute. This would make them a great choice for a special dinner. You could even 'gussy' them up a bit by cooking a little bacon first, then browning the sprouts in that rather butter.

RECIPE for FAST PAN-ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS

Hands-on time: 15 minutes
Time to table: 20 minutes
Serves 4

Water to cover plus an inch more, well salted (allow 1/2 tablespoon table salt for 4 cups of water)
1 pound fresh Brussels sprouts, trimmed and gnarly outer leaves removed, Xs cut into the cores with the tip of a knife

1 tablespoon butter,
1 clove garlic, smashed to remove the peel, otherwise left whole
Juice of half a lemon (about 1 tablespoon)
Salt & pepper to taste

Bring the salted water to a boil. Drop the sprouts in, cover and let cook for 3 to 5 minutes until mostly cooked. Drain. (If cooking ahead, drop the sprouts into ice water for a brief moment to stop the cooking and drain again.) Cut the sprouts in half lengthwise.

In a large skillet, heat the butter and garlic until shimmery on MEDIUM heat and let cook for about 3 minutes until the garlic flavor is infused into the butter. Remove the garlic clove and discard and increase the heat to MEDIUM HIGH. Add the Brussels sprouts and stir to coat with fat. Cook the sprouts, turning only every so often for you want the flat edges to darken, taking on almost a little 'burn' and that won't happen when stirring often. (It takes patience to not stir often but you can do it!) When the edges are browned to the desired level, sprinkle with lemon juice. Season with additional salt (if needed) and pepper (if needed). Savor and enjoy!


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Carrot Salad with Pomegranate ♥ Vegan Recipe

Carrot Salad with Pomegranate
A quick and colorful salad, grated carrot tossed in a light vinaigrette with pomegranate seeds. Low carb. Weight Watchers 1 point. Vegan.

Even without a blanket of snow, beginning somewhere in mid-November or early December, I think we all begin to crave color, perhaps because of the shorter days, the long darkness of winter nights.

And my goodness, does this quick salad ever pack a punch of color!

The recipe comes from a reader, Kathie from Los Angeles, who shares Weight Watchers-friendly recipes with me every so often. Here's how she sold me on the concept for this colorful salad, it took all of ten seconds. "Quick, delicious. I am in love with this concoction."

It goes together quickly and packs a flavor punch and a crunch punch (ha!) too.

RECIPE for CARROT SALAD with POMEGRANATE

Hands-on time: 20 minutes
Time to table: 20 minutes
Serves 4

6 carrots, trimmed
Seeds from half a pomegranate (The Quick & Easy Way to Remove Seeds from a Pomegranate)
Orange segments, optional (Kathie says she rarely adds these)
1/4 cup dried blueberries (I used on-hand and less-expensive dried currants)

DRESSING
2 tablespoons good vinegar, preferably a fruity one
1 teaspoon honey or agave
2 teaspoons olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

Grate the carrots on the 'large' holes of a hand grater or (as I have) use a Benriner to cut thin strips.

Whisk the dressing ingredients, toss with the carrots, pomegranate seeds and dried fruit. Serve and savor!

TO MAKE AHEAD
DAY BEFORE Separate the pomegranate seeds, drain and refrigerate.
DAY OF Grate the carrots. If more than about an hour before serving, drop into cold water and refrigerate. Drain well.
JUST BEFORE SERVING Combine the carrots, pomegranate seeds and fruit with the dressing.


KITCHEN NOTES
To save a little time, Kathie buys containers of pomegranate seeds at Trader Joe's.
There are seeds inside the juice sacks called arils, these get eaten too!
If you want to make this ahead, prep the components but don't combine until just before serving. Otherwise, the vinegar stains the carrots and they actually get a tiny bit soggy.

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Looking for healthy ways to cook vegetables? A Veggie Venture is home to hundreds of quick, easy and healthful vegetable recipes and the famous Alphabet of Vegetables. Healthy eaters will love the low carb recipes and the Weight Watchers recipes.
© Copyright 2009

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Thanksgiving Vegetable Recipes & Vegetarian Entrées

A Veggie Venture's favorite holiday, Thanksgiving!
2010 UPDATE
The latest collections of Thanksgiving vegetable recipes are now available!

This year, I've turned the tables a little, featuring

Favorite Recipes for Thanksgiving's Favorite Vegetables

and

Vegetarian Entrée Recipes for Thanksgiving.





For anyone hunting Thanksgiving vegetable ideas, welcome! These recipes were selected especially for Thanksgiving, so perfect and so delicious, there's real potential to upstage that ol' turkey and his dressing. The 2006 - 2008 collections of Thanksgiving vegetable recipes were hugely popular, especially what became 2006's famous World's Best Green Bean Casserole and 2007's surprise favorite, the low-carb Cauliflower Cream and my personal favorite in 2008, Creamy Brussels Sprouts Gratin.

The 2009 recipes look just as promising, only with a new focus, vegetarian Thanksgiving entrées, whether for vegetarian guests or an entire vegetarian Thanksgiving. Look for new recipes between now and Thanksgiving, recipes:

perfect for special dinners but not over the top
fresh fall vegetables prepped mostly or entirely in advance
easily multiplied for large gatherings and divided for small ones
and a little different around here, no skimping on butter and cream and cheese!

I love every single one of these Thanksgiving vegetable recipes and truly hope they inspire your own Thanksgiving gathering!

In 2009, I'm also featuring six completely different Thanksgiving menus over at Kitchen Parade, my food column. Whether you're planning a traditional Thanksgiving, a casual buffet, an entirely make-ahead Thanksgiving, a vegetarian Thanksgiving, even a lower-calorie Thanksgiving, there's a menu to inspire. I kicked off the series with a great basic recipe for Roast Turkey and then added my grandmother's sausage stuffing recipe and light 'n' fluffy homemade whole wheat rolls. Enjoy!
~ Alanna




Vegetable Inspiration for Thanksgiving Tables



Beans

Featured Recipes
2008
Make-Ahead Fresh Green Bean Casserole

Green Beans with Browned Butter & Pine Nuts

2007
Slooow Country Green Beans


2006
World's Best Green Bean Casserole

more ideas
~ Green Beans with Lemon & Pine Nuts ~
~ Green Beans with Onion & Almonds ~
~ Fresh Green Bean Salad with Asian Dressing ~
Beets

Featured Recipe










2006
Beet Salad with Lemon & Olives

more ideas
~ Those Pink Potatoes ~
~ Red Onion Beets ~
~ Harvard Beets ~
Brussels Sprouts

Featured Recipes
2008
Creamy Brussels Sprouts Gratin



2007
Brussels Sprouts with Maple & Walnut Vinaigrette

2006
Brussels Sprouts with Apricot Glaze

more ideas
~ Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta & Garlic ~
~ Wine-Glazed Brussels Sprouts ~
~ Lemony Creamy Brussels Sprouts & Celery ~
Cabbage

Featured Recipe






2006
Smothered Cabbage

more ideas
~ Alsatian Cabbage ~
~ Swedish Red Cabbage ~
~ Holy Slaw! ~
Carrots

Featured Recipe






2006
Creamy Carrot Purée

more ideas
~ Finnish Carrot Casserole ~
~ Mashed Potatoes & Carrots ~
~ Carrots Braised in Marsala ~
Cauliflower

Featured Recipes
2008
Cauliflower Mac n Cheese

2007
Cauliflower Cream

2006
Creamy Cauliflower Gratin

more ideas
~ Cauliflower Tomato Medley ~
~ Cauliflower Cheddar Horseradish Gratin ~
~ Cauliflower with Pancetta, Capers & Parmesan ~
Corn

Featured Recipe
2008
Thanksgiving Succotash








more ideas
~ Fresh Creamed Corn ~
~ Marinated Vegetable Salad ~
Greens

Featured Recipes




2007
Spinach Casserole

2006
Gratin of Greens

more ideas
~ Spinach & Artichoke Gratin ~
~ Orzo with Spinach ~
~ Spinach Puffs ~
Potatoes

Featured Recipes
2008
Perfect Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes (Party Potatoes)

2007
Twice-Baked Potatoes

2006
Mashed Potatoes with Vegetarian Apple Cider Ginger Sage Gravy

more ideas
~ Potato & Poblano Pepper Gratin ~
~ Fennel Mashed Potatoes ~
~ Confetti Potato Salad ~
Pumpkin

Featured Recipes
2008
Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Pumpkin Pecan Pie

2007
Honey Pumpkin Pie
Thanksgiving Cake




more ideas
~ Pumpkin Muffins ~
~ Pumpkin Bars ~
~ Pumpkin Truffles ~
Sweet Potatoes

Featured Recipes
2008
Sweet Potato & Banana Purée


2007
Fresh Candied Yams
Sweet Potato Casserole

2006
Maple Ginger Sweet Potatoes

more ideas
~ Sweet Potato Puff ~
~ Warm Sweet Potato Salad ~
Turnips

Featured Recipes





2007
Leek & Root Vegetable Gratin

2006
Turnip Puff

more ideas
~ Creamed Turnips ~
~ Mashed Turnip & Apple ~
~ Mashed Rutabagas & Apple ~
Winter Squash

Featured Recipes
2009
Roasted Butternut Squash & Apple

2008
Mashed Butternut Squash & Sweet Potatoes with Citrus

2007
Butternut Mac 'n' Cheese

2006
Winter Squash Polenta

more ideas
~ Squash Puff~
(my family's tradition)
Delicata Squash with Hot Pepper Glaze ~
~ Roasted Butternut Squash with Maple Glaze ~
Vegetarian Entrées






Featured Recipes
2009
Savory Bread Pudding with Butternut Squash, Chard & Cheddar

Farro Risotto with Butternut Squash & Mushrooms

Caramelized Onion Tart
Oddballs

Featured Recipes




2007
Boozy Baked Celery

2006
Autumn Sunchoke Salad

more ideas
~ Celeriac Rémoulade ~
~ Spicy Thai Noodle Salad ~
~ Easy Cheesy Zucchini ~





About these Thanksgiving recipes
'Featured recipes' are ones published 2006 - 2009 especially for Thanksgiving.
'More ideas' are favorite vegetable recipes that pair well with traditional Thanksgiving foods.
Some recipes have been published in my food column Kitchen Parade, online at KitchenParade.com, where November is also all about Thanksgiving recipes. This year, how about making an American Apple Pie? Readers say that hands, down, the recipe for Flaky Tender Pie Crust makes the best pie crust, ever! Do check out all the tips for How to Make Flaky Tender Pie Crust, many will work with your own favorite recipe, too.

About A Veggie Venture
A Veggie Venture is the home of Veggie Evangelist Alanna Kellogg and is the year-round award-winning source of free vegetable recipes, quick, easy, and yes, delicious. If you're a newcomer and would like to see what it's like around here -- except in November when it's all Thanksgiving vegetables! -- start with your favorite vegetable in the Alphabet of Vegetables or dive into all the Weight Watchers vegetable recipes or all the low carb vegetable recipes.

Never miss a recipe
Sign up for e-mail delivery of new recipes. It's automatic, it's free, it's easy!



About the Thanksgiving photograph
Many thanks to inspiring photographer Marie Freeman, who photographed the autumn barn scene for this year's Thanksgiving image. Marie publishes at Blue Ridge blog -- if you love Appalachia, love country scenes, love a happy dog, then do check it out!







Here at A Veggie Venture, vegetables are the real stars of the Thanksgiving table. So watch for new Thanksgiving recipes all November long, new additions to my collection of Thanksgiving vegetable recipes. Whether it's 2006's famous World's Best Green Bean Casserole or 2007's favorite Cauliflower Cream or a brand-new recipe which catches your fancy, this year, move vegetables to your center stage.
© Copyright 2009

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Caramelized Onion Tart ♥ Vegetarian Recipe

Caramelized Onion Tart
Today's vegetable recipe: The last new vegetarian entrée idea for Thanksgiving in 2009, a simple but sophisticated tart, rich enough to serve in thin slices as an appetizer or in larger wedges for a main dish.

In some guest room in some home in some city in some country -- is a basket of gold, that is, a basketful of vintage issues of the now-defunct and already much-missed Gourmet magazine. I only wish I could remember whose home! I do remember being unable to sleep on multiple visits, so taken with the classic recipes of another time, madly copying especially enticing ones onto 3x5 cards.

This recipe was called "Swiss Onion Cheese Flan" in the December 1967 issue of Gourmet and no where, no where, is is to be found on the Internet. (I kind of like that, don't you? Vive le paper!)

It's quite lovely, onions cooked to that golden-brown stage where they're silky and caramel-like. The crust too is especially easy, just a fork-stirred dough of cream, milk and flour, rolled in cornmeal for a crisp bite on the outside, almost yeasty inside. Delectable - and a good option for the pastry-impaired.

Happy Thanksgiving, all, see you after the holiday!

RECIPE for CARAMELIZED ONION TART

Hands-on time: 50 minutes
Time to table: 75 minutes
Serves 8 in entrée-size wedges, 16 in slim appetizer servings

CRUST
2 cups flour, fluffed to aerate before measuring or 268 grams
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup cream
1 teaspoon table salt
Fine-grained yellow cornmeal

Toss the flour, milk, cream and salt til soft and light. Form a disk and wrap with plastic, refrigerate for 30 minutes. Sprinkle a clean counter with cornmeal, with your hands, cover the outside of the dough with a light layer of cornmeal. Roll out the crust to be the size of the baking dish plus about an inch. Arrange in the baking dish, then the extra dough hanging over the side to the inside and pinch to form an attractive edge. If the filling is ready, great, otherwise freeze until ready.

FILLING
2 tablespoons butter
3 medium brown-skinned yellow onions (which brown better), chopped

2 eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup cream
4 ounces Parmesan, grated or even just roughly chopped
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, optional

In a large skillet, melt the butter on medium until shimmery. Add the onions and stir to coat with fat. Cook, stirring often, until the onions turn golden and then brown. Let cool.

Preheat oven to 425F.

In a bowl, whisk the eggs, then whisk in the milk, cream, Parmesan and thyme. Turn in the cooled onions. Turn the mixture into the prepared crust. Bake for 15 minutes.

Turn the heat down to 325F, bake for about 25 minutes or until the center is set and crust golden and crusty.

TO PREP AHEAD
DAY BEFORE Make the dough and refrigerate. Cook the onions and refrigerate.
DAY OF Roll out the dough and, if need be, refrigerate. Mix the egg mixture and refrigerate. Just before baking, preheat the oven, combine the onion and egg mixtures and turn into the pie crust. Bake and serve.


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