Photo by Rich Hayssen

The 20th Annual Winter Wineland Arrives This Weekend

This weekend the 20th Anniversary Winter Wineland event will be held in northern Sonoma County.  This event is a fun mix of wine, art and education. We will also have live music, barrel tasting with our Wine Educator Dale Cullins, CSW, CS, and an educational display that showcases our Highland Estates Cabernet Sauvignon.

And of course we’ll have food. Here at the Kendall-Jackson Wine Center, we will be serving Duck Cassoulet paired with the Highland Estates Alisos Hills Syrah.

At the Kendall-Jackson tasting room in Healdsburg, we will be serving Mama Frischkorn’s Swedish Meatballs with Egg Noodles paired with Jackson Hills Cabernet Sauvignon.  Chef Eric’s mom is an amazing cook and she has been nice enough to let us borrow her recipe and to also share it with you.   Hope to see you this weekend.

Mama Frischkorn’s Swedish Meatballs
Paired with 2007 Kendall-Jackson Jackson Hills Cabernet

My mother has made these meatballs every Christmas since the 1970’s and they are fantastic. After preparing the mixture, you might think there is something wrong with the consistency, but this is the key to the recipe. The looseness of the mixture will result in one of the moistest meatballs you’ve ever had. – Chef Eric Frischkorn

Yield 30 meatballs

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup Panko breadcrumbs
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 egg
  • 12 oz. ground beef
  • 4 oz. ground pork
  • ½ yellow onion, minced and sweated
  • 1/8 cup parsley, minced
  • 1 Tbsp. kosher salt
  • 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/8 tsp. ginger
  • Freshly ground nutmeg
  • 6 cups vegetable oil
  • 2 Tbsp. butter
  • 2 Tbsp. flour, plus extra for dusting the meatballs
  • ¼ cup red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon
  • 1¼ cup veal stock (Swanson’s beef broth may be substituted)
  • 2 Tbsp. strong black coffee

Method

  1. In a large bowl, add the bread crumbs and heavy cream and let stand for 15 minutes. Mix in the egg followed by the beef, pork, onion, parsley, salt, pepper, ginger and a pinch of nutmeg. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour prior to forming the meatballs.
  2. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spoon out approximately 30 portions of the meat mixture. While working quickly, roll the portions into balls. Refrigerate the meatballs for an additional 30 minutes.
  3. Preheat oven to 325⁰F.
  4. In a 4-quart heavy duty stainless-steel pot, add the oil and heat to 350⁰F. Lightly dust the meatballs with flour and fry in batches, approximately 2 to 3 minutes per batch. Once the meatballs are golden brown, remove them from the oil and place on a baking sheet lined with paper towels.
  5. In a large sauce pan over medium heat, add the butter. Once the butter has melted, whisk in 2 tablespoons flour. Brown the flour slowly for approximately 5 minutes. Slowly whisk in the wine, stock and coffee. Add the meatballs to the pan and toss to coat. Transfer the meatballs and sauce to a casserole dish and bake, covered, for approximately 30 minutes. Serve immediately over egg noodles or mashed potatoes.