Sunny Cove Chef
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Recipes
    • Appetizers
    • Cakes
    • Cookies
    • Desserts
    • German Food
    • Holiday Cooking
    • Ice Cream
    • Jam
    • Main Dish
    • Miscellaneous
    • Party Favorites
    • Pasta
    • Salad
    • Sauces
    • Seafood
    • Seasonal Cooking
    • Side Dishes
    • Soup
    • Vegan
    • Vegetables
    • Vegetarian
  • Food Philosophy
    • About
  • Wanderlust
    • Austria
    • Australia
    • Canada
    • France
    • Germany
    • Italy
    • Morocco
    • Sweden
    • Switzerland
    • USA
    • Cruising

Monika's Kartoffelklösse-German Potato Dumplings

1/12/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Its been a while since I posted and I do apologize. After breaking my ankle in Budapest, my spunk and motivation left me. During my recovery, I was entertained by your blogs and reading them helped me a great deal. Speaking of recovery, I am walking again and I am thankful for every tiny step I take. The last part of my recovery seems to be the hardest, as I am impatient by nature and eager to move on. But I can’t. I have to take it easy, because if I don’t, I am back in bed with my foot elevated, watching Netflix or YouTube. I also had some emotional issues to deal with, like a post-dramatic depression, upon realizing the danger I had been in and its possible consequences. ​
Picture
Goose and dumplings, a lunch I had in Potsdam a couple of years ago
But it is a new year, a new decade, and with it comes new beginnings. I am ready to move on. I am starting to cook again and I am enjoying it. I had planned to make a goose for the holidays, but instead my dear friend and neighbor, Susanne, invited me for Christmas dinner. She made her famous Rouladen (stuffed rolled beef), a German tradition for the holidays. I was in culinary heaven.
Picture
I have wanted to make homemade potato dumplings for years, but have always opted for the pre-made packaged ones. The one time I tried, when I prepared a goose years ago, it turned into an inedible potato soup. So this year, it was a project I wanted to tackle, so I started to watch German YouTube videos and tried one recipe. I didn’t like them—honestly the pre-packed ones made by Pfanni were better. But I didn’t give up. My girlfriend, Monika, from Germany makes them every year with her goose for Christmas. She uses a recipe from an old German cookbook from Schlesien (or Silesia) that is now in southwestern Poland. Both she and her husband came from this region. I love the quote in the cookbook saying that a Sunday dinner without dumplings is like a sky without stars. They were served with every roast, cooked cabbage or any other vegetable. In the cookbook, they are described as an easy-to-make recipe, but there are tricks to follow to avoid the dumplings falling apart or being hard as a rock.
Picture
I made them twice now and both times they got the approval from my friend, Susanne. Each region in Europe has their own version of potato dumplings. The Bavarian ones are made with half-raw and half-cooked potatoes. Leftover dumplings are perfect sliced and then fried in butter, the ultimate German comfort food. When making the dumplings, you can stuff them with small croutons. I think they need some kind of sauce to be truly enjoyed—like a mushroom sauce or gravy from a roast. I don’t have any photos of our Christmas dinner, but a week later, I served my second batch of potato dumplings with some of my friend’s leftover beef brisket from Hanukkah.
Picture
Picture
My friend Monika sent me this photo from her Christmas dinner
Picture
Leftover dumplings, fried and sliced
recipe for Susannne's Rouladen
recipe for red cabbage
I recommend that you follow the recipe and make no modifications. Or you will end up with potato soup. I used two russets and two yellow fin potatoes. It is also important to make a test dumpling before cooking the rest. I made a small one and tasted it, and both times it was okay. To avoid bland-tasting dumplings, don’t reduce the salt. If the dough is sticky, add some more flour. Don’t over mix the potatoes. If you don’t have a potato press, you can use a potato masher. Don’t skimp on the salt because you are flavoring the water—first to boil the potatoes and then to cook the dumplings.
Print Recipe
Ingredients:

(makes approximately 10-12 dumplings , depending on the size)

1 lb. (2) russet potatoes 
1 lb. (2) yellow fin potatoes
2 scant cups of all purpose white flour (250g or a little less than 8 3/4 ounces) 
plus extra flour to roll in the dumplings before cooking
1 egg
1 tsp. salt to boil the potatoes 
1 3/4 tsp. salt for the dough
2  tsp. salt for the water to boil the dumplings.

Croutons: (optional) 

a cup of day-old bread cut into ½ inch pieces
2 TB olive oil 
garlic salt

Parsley butter sauce:
​

4 TB butter
3 TB of finely chopped parsley
Directions:

Peel the potatoes in halves or quarters (according to size). Cover them with cold water and add 1 tsp. salt, bring them to a boil and cook for 15-20 minutes. They are done when you poke them with a small paring knife and they are soft. It is better to undercook them, so you don’t turn them into a potato mush by overcooking them. When the potatoes are done, pour off the water and return the pot to the stove, shake the potatoes in the pot over low heat until all the moisture has evaporated. Cool the potatoes.

While the potatoes are cooling, fill your largest pot with water and bring it to a boil. Add 1½ tsp. salt. When the potatoes are cool, press them through a potato press or use a potato masher. I used my potato press. Add the egg, 2 tsp. salt, and the flour. Mix with a fork and then with your hands, until you have a dough that isn’t sticky. According to the German recipe, you are supposed to add more flour when it is sticky. (I didn’t have to do it the two times I made the dumplings.) Do not over mix the dough. Form a small test dumpling and simmer it in the water for several minutes. If it doesn’t fall apart, you are in business. Otherwise, according to the book you are supposed to add more flour.  Mine came out perfect both times, I did increase the amount of salt in my second batch. Form the dough into a 2-inch thick logs and cut into 10-12 pieces. Roll the pieces into round balls. If you add croutons, put the dough in your hand, then put the crouton in the middle and form it into a dumpling.

Put a couple of tablespoons of flour onto a plate. Roll each dumplings in the flour and add them to the boiling water. Reduce the heat to a low simmer and cook the dumplings for about 18 minutes, uncovered. Make sure your dumplings don’t stick to the pot and make sure the water stays at a low simmer. Eventually, the dumplings will float to the top. The dumplings are at their best right after they are cooked. I talked to my girlfriend and she told me that she reheats the dumplings the next day by putting them back in simmering water for 10 minutes. She also told me that she freezes them. The only thing I have done with leftover dumplings is to slice and sauté them in butter. It is a special treat.

Each time I made dumplings this year, I made a parsley butter sauce for them. I melted the butter in a frying pan and added the finely chopped parsley. Then I poured the sauce over the dumplings. 
​

Guten Appetit!
recipe © Sunnycovechef
​
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    WELCOME TO SUNNY COVE CHEF

    Thank you for visiting my blog.  My two passions are cooking and traveling. Traveling exposes me to a wide variety of food and experiences. I walk around cities looking for markets, restaurants, bakeries, shops, you name it, and if it is related to food you will find me there, tasting, smelling, talking to vendors, and having a great time.

    ​
    If you  have tried any of my recipes, snap a photo and tag me @sunnycovechef I'd love to see your creations!​


      ​STAY UPDATED!

      Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.
    Subscribe

    Categories

    All
    Appetizers
    Australia
    Austria
    Cakes
    Canada
    Cookies
    Cruising
    Desserts
    France
    German Food
    Germany
    Holiday Cooking
    Ice Cream
    Italy
    Jam
    Main Dish
    Miscellaneous
    Morrocco
    Party Favorites
    Pasta
    Salad
    Sauces
    Seafoods
    Seasonal Cooking
    Soup
    Stories
    Sweden
    Switzerland
    USA
    Vegan
    Vegetables
    Vegetarian
    Wanderlust

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    October 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    April 2013

     
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Recipes
    • Appetizers
    • Cakes
    • Cookies
    • Desserts
    • German Food
    • Holiday Cooking
    • Ice Cream
    • Jam
    • Main Dish
    • Miscellaneous
    • Party Favorites
    • Pasta
    • Salad
    • Sauces
    • Seafood
    • Seasonal Cooking
    • Side Dishes
    • Soup
    • Vegan
    • Vegetables
    • Vegetarian
  • Food Philosophy
    • About
  • Wanderlust
    • Austria
    • Australia
    • Canada
    • France
    • Germany
    • Italy
    • Morocco
    • Sweden
    • Switzerland
    • USA
    • Cruising