TOM: All right, Seth, this is where we're going to make our kjøttkaker or meat cakes.

That's ground beef from Wagner's in Mount Airy.

We make sure we use a local provider.

SETH: Oh, wonderful.

All right.

It looks like these are going to be very well-seasoned meat cakes here.

How do you get started?

TOM: All right, so we're going to start off with the salt.

So, a couple of minutes with this, and then we start with the potato flour.

And then we continue with some allspice and ginger and nutmeg.

Nutmeg is very common in Scandinavian cuisine.

SETH: And, uh, is this a family recipe here?

TOM: Somewhat.

Most Norwegian chefs or home cooks, they do it the same way.

SETH: Yeah.

So, there's a pretty standard kjøttkaker.

Am I saying that right?

Kjøttkaker?

TOM: Kjøttkaker.

Very, very close.

We do actually have three extra letters, and one of those is in that name.

SETH: Well, yeah, I can't be held accountable if there's letters that I've never come across before.

TOM: Oh, you're doing great.

And I'm going to put in two eggs and milk and pepper.

And this is going to blend up for a few minutes.

All right.

And we're going to form this into medium-small meat cakes.

SETH: All right, and what makes a meat cake different from a meatball?

TOM: That's a very good question!

Well, the shape is slightly different.

It looks more like an American football or an egg.

And we just form it like this.

And I'm sure in different Norwegian kitchens, they may shape them differently.

SETH: So, you're not too worried about uniform size and shape.

I mean, these have almost a little bit more of a rustic look and feel?

TOM: Yeah, it's the taste that matters.

If they're not perfect, who cares?

And they got to be drowned in our delicious gravy.

So, these are now ready to go in the oven, and I'm going to show you how to make the sauce.

SETH: Oh, that sounds great.

TOM: So, making the brown sauce, we got to put in about two tablespoons of butter.

You got to be patient with this because we want to wait till it turns brown.

The browner the better, but you don't want it to burn.

So, that's a very thin line.

Keep stirring it around a little bit and just wait till it gets the color you want.

SETH: And a dark brown sauce like this, I mean, this is just kind of part and parcel of Norwegian cuisine, right?

TOM: Yeah.

Meat and potatoes and good gravies.

I could always smell when my mother cooked, because I could always smell the gravy.

Okay, then two tablespoons of flour.

Now, we're going to put in some beef stock.

Whoo-hoo!

That's going to thicken up pretty quick.

So, this is one of our secret ingredients.

It's a Norwegian goat cheese.

SETH: Ooh.

TOM: Caramelized from the sugar in the milk.

SETH: That looks beautiful.

TOM: So, we put some of that in.

Next, we're going to put in some allspice and some Worcestershire sauce to make it a little darker.

Stir that around.

And I see the goat cheese has melted in there.

SETH: All right, this sauce is looking nice and silky.

TOM: It's looking pretty good.

Now, that our meat cakes are done, we're gonna pull them out of the oven.

And to complete the dish, we're going to ladle some gravy over the meat cakes, and we're going to garnish the dish with boiled potatoes, mushy peas.

And we're going to add sauce and lingonberries.

And then the kjøttkaker will be ready to eat.

SETH: All right, these meat cakes look delicious and a beautiful spread on this table.

Looks like a refreshing cocktail to go along with it.

What are we drinking here?

SANDY: These are our lingonberry mimosas, our signature drink here.

SETH: All right.

Cheers.

SANDY: Cheers.

TOM: Cheers and skol.

SETH: Skol.

Ooh, nice, zesty start to the meal.

All right, I'm going right in.

That is just plane delicious.

(laughter) TOM: Not too shabby.

SETH: I'm sorry.

SANDY: That was good, Seth.

SETH: The meat cakes are just so fresh, so flavorful.

And you can pick up on the spices, which give it a little bit of a sweetness, too.

TOM: Definitely pick up that nutmeg and the allspice.

SETH: What kind of peas are these, Tom?

TOM: Green peas that we just mushed together with a little bit of cream.

That's all you need.

SETH: Yeah, really nice freshness from those peas is a great counterpart to that gravy.

And, you know, I think like a lot of Scandinavian food, it's just doing its job of being warm and filling and delicious.

TOM: Yeah.

After a long day of skiing on a Sunday, when you come home and your mother has made the kjøttkaker, then you're in heaven.

SETH: And as someone who loves planes, I'm in heaven right here.

Just watching all these taxiing and taking off behind us.

And besides the kjøttkaker, are these other examples of Scandinavian dishes on the table here?

SANDY: Yes.

So, what's in front of you here are smørrebrød, which is a typical Scandinavian-type of sandwich.

Smørrebrød is an open face sandwich and there's different varieties.

Right in front of you is a crogel with smoked salmon.

It has a little bit of cream cheese, cucumber, and some caper.

SETH: Crogel?

SANDY: Yeah, it's a combination of a bagel and a croissant.

Nice crispy... Yeah.

SETH: I'm loving that crogel and that crispy buttery bread.