Food & Drink

Swe-Dishes: SwedishFood.com’s Wallenbergare

With Labor Day weekend around the corner, a burger recipe seemed like the right thing to do. Today, we bring you a recipe for wallenbergare, a decadent veal burger that’s sure to upgrade your cookout game, from John Duxbury of SwedishFood.com.

Wallenbergare is a classic Swedish dish, and unlike traditional beef burgers, it’s light and luxurious thanks to the addition of egg yolks, cream and breadcrumbs. While you can serve these up like American hamburgers, Duxbury recommends serving with peas, carrots, potato puree and lingonberries.

Enjoy!

Tips

• Use freshly ground veal. If you can’t get good veal mince, grind it yourself.
• Make sure all the ingredients are really cold when you start mixing, otherwise the mixture is likely to separate.
• It is worth using good quality homemade breadcrumbs for this dish.
  
• Add a couple of pinches of epice riche if you have some.

 Ingredients

• 3 slices of white bread, crust removed
• 1 lb. veal mince
• 1 tsp. salt
• Freshly ground white pepper
• Pinch epice riche
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 c. heavy cream
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 2 tbsp. oil for frying

Directions

1. Use a food processor to make bread crumbs. Divide the breadcrumbs between two large plates or two sheets of baking parchment.
2. Mix the veal mince, salt, white pepper and epice riche (optional) in a bowl with a fork or a food processor.
3. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition.
4. Slowly add the cream, with the motor running if you use a food processor. You will end up with a loose mixture, different than an ordinary beef burger mixture.
5. Chill the mixture for 30-60 minutes (this makes it easier to shape).
6. Heat two frying pans and add a tablespoon of oil and a tablespoon of butter to each pan.
7. When the frying pans are hot, divide the mixture into four portions and spoon one portion on to one of the plates with breadcrumbs on. Use a knife to shape into a burger, about ½-inch thick. Top the burger with breadcrumbs from the other plate. Place in one of the frying pans.
8. Repeat with the other three portions.
9. Fry the burgers for about 3 minutes per side until they are golden brown, but don’t overcook them.
10. Serve with potato puree, peas and carrots or mushrooms and a spoonful of lingonberries or lingonberry jam.

John Duxbury enjoys cooking Swedish food and went to the trouble of learning Swedish so he could read Swedish cookbooks. The love affair with Swedish food started as a result of numerous visits to Sweden when he was working with Swedish students. When he retired from teaching he decided to set up http://www.swedishfood.com so other people with an interest in Swedish cooking could benefit from his work.