Meat soup with vegetables and dumplings

(Oksekødssuppe med kødboller og melboller)  This is a good dish for the end of November - before the Christmas season starts.

4-5 lb (2-2 ½ kg) stewing beef (lean breast or tail)

2-3 marrow bones

5-6 pints (3-3 ½ l) water

Salt

1 peeled onion stuck with 2 cloves

1 small celeriac

3-4 carrots

1 parsley root

3-4 leeks

1 bunch herbs (celery tops, bay leaf, parsley, thyme, lovage and leek top)

Boil a clean linen cloth and wring dry. Wipe the meat and bones clean and cover with cold water.

Bring slowly to the boil, removing the scum.

Add the bunch of herbs and the prepared vegetables, except the leeks. Remove the vegetables as soon as they are tender, excepting the herbs and onions.

Simmer until the meat is tender (about 2 ½-3 hours), but not too long, otherwise it will become tough.

Boil the bones in the soup an extra 45-60 minutes, and sieve through a scalded linen cloth or cheesecloth.

If the soup still requires clearing, leave it to cool, beat 3-4 egg-whites together with a little cold water and beat into the soup.

Bring slowly to the boil, beating constantly, and simmer for 10 min., then the egg-white will have collected all the impu­rities and formed a layer on the surface.

Remove this layer when cool and use it for pet-food.

Leave the soup to stand until the next day and re­move any fat globules by drawing a piece of kitchen paper over the surface.

Heat it up again and add the well-washed, finely sliced leeks and simmer for 3-4 min. until tender.

Add the remainder of the sliced vegetables and serve the soup with meat balls and dumplings.

The meat balls (kødboller) are made of forcemeat:

1 firm white cabbage (2-3 lb or 1-½ kg)

1 lb (½ kg) lean pork

1 lb (½ kg) beef or veal

About ¾ pint (4 dl) milk or water

1 egg

2-3 tablesp. (75 g) flour

1 large onion

Salt and ground black pepper

Mince the meat (if not already minced) together with the onion and beat all the ingredients together in a mixer, if available.

When beating by hand it is easiest to beat the egg and liquid separately, afterwards add­ing it to the meat alternatively with the flour and spices.

Leave the forcemeat in a cold place for at least 20 min.

Drop the forcemeat with a teaspoon into salted boiling water.

Dumplings (melboller)

4 oz (120 g) butter

4 oz (120 g) flour

¼-½ pint (2-2 ½ l) water

4 eggs

Salt

Make a light roux of the butter and flour, adding as much water as the dough can take - it should be smooth and slip the spoon when removed from the heat.

Cool and beat in the eggs one at a time. Season to taste.

Drop the dumplings - not too many at a time - into plenty of salted boiling water.

Leave in the nearly boiling water for 3-4 min. and then plunge them into ice-cold water.

As soon as they fall to the bottom, they are done.

Dumplings should never be allowed to boil, or they break up, and thus should never be boiled up in the soup.

This portion gives about 100 dumplings, but since they are very suitable for freezing, it is an excellent idea to make an extra large quantity and freeze some down.

Horseradish sauce (Peberrodssauce)

The beef the soup is made from deserves to be eaten with horseradish sauce.

2 oz (50 g) butter

2 oz (50 g) flour

1 ¼ pint (¾ l) soup

3 oz (75 g) currants

1-1 ½ tablesp. vinegar

Sugar to taste

Salt and freshly grated horseradish

Make a white sauce with the butter, flour and soup.

Add the vinegar to taste, and the sugar, salt and horseradish.

The sauce should be strongly flavoured.

Finally, add the washed and scalded currants.

Slice the meat and warm up in the sauce, which should not be allowed to boil once the horseradish has been added.

Serve with boiled, preferably rather floury, potatoes.