Danish Meatballs with Parsley Sauce

How to make it

1. Mix the ground veal and pork together with the grated onion, egg, flour, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add the milk a little at a time while stirring vigorously, until the mixture is smooth and glossy and clings together around the spoon. ⏱ 10 min
   Chef's tip Stir until the mixture turns glossy and pulls at the spoon — that's the salt-dissolved meat protein binding the milk. Add the milk too fast and it won't absorb; the mass stays slack and the frikadeller turn dense and weep fat in the pan.
2. Cover the bowl and refrigerate the mixture for 30 minutes, so it firms up and becomes stiff enough to hold its shape in the pan. ⏱ 30 min · passive
3. Peel the potatoes and cut the largest ones in half so all the pieces are roughly the same size and cook through at the same time. Put them in a pot and cover with cold water. Stir the salt into the water, since potatoes are only seasoned from within, through the cooking water. ⏱ 10 min
   Chef's tip Starting in cold water lets the centre catch up with the surface as the pot heats. Dropped into already-boiling water, the outsides go mealy and start breaking up before the middles are done.
4. Bring the potatoes to a boil and let them cook, covered, for 18-20 minutes, until a knife slides into the center without resistance. Drain the water and let the potatoes steam dry in the hot pot. ⏱ 20 min · passive
5. Shape 16 oblong frikadeller from the cold mixture using a tablespoon, dipping it in cold water between each one so the mixture doesn't stick. Melt the butter for frying in a large skillet over medium heat, until it has stopped foaming.
   Chef's tip Wait for the butter's foaming to subside — that hiss is water boiling off, and until it's gone the pan surface can't climb much above 100°C, so the meat steams instead of browning. Move on before the butter browns and smells nutty.
6. Place half the frikadeller in the pan with plenty of space between them, since an overcrowded pan will steam the meat instead of browning it. Fry them for 6-7 minutes without moving them, until the underside is deep golden brown and releases from the pan on its own.
   Chef's tip Let the crust decide when to turn: a browned surface releases from the pan by itself, while one prodded too early tears and leaves protein stuck to the metal. You should hear a steady sizzle throughout — silence means the pan cooled too much.
7. Turn the frikadeller and continue frying for 6-7 minutes over slightly lower heat, until they feel firm to the touch and are cooked through all the way in (internal temperature 75°C). Fry the second batch the same way in the fat left in the pan. ⏱ 20 min
8. Melt the butter for the sauce in a saucepan over medium heat and stir in the flour to make a smooth roux. Let it bubble for 3 minutes, stirring, until it smells lightly nutty and the raw flour taste is gone.
   Chef's tip Those 3 minutes of bubbling cook the starch in the flour through, so the raw flour taste disappears. Keep the roux pale and smelling of nuts — let it go too dark and the flour loses some of its thickening power.
9. Add the milk a little at a time while whisking constantly, so the sauce stays lump-free. Let it simmer over low heat for 6-8 minutes, stirring regularly, until it's thick enough to coat the back of a spoon in a thin layer.
   Chef's tip The first splash of milk is the critical one: whisk until the mixture is completely smooth again before adding any more, or you won't be able to whisk the lumps out later. The sauce doesn't really thicken until it comes to a boil.
10. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the finely chopped parsley, so it keeps its fresh green color. Let the sauce sit for 1 minute, then season to taste with salt and pepper.
11. Place the fried frikadeller on flat plates with the steam-dried potatoes alongside. Spoon some of the parsley sauce over the potatoes, and put the rest of the sauce on the table in a bowl, so everyone can help themselves to more as they eat.