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Potato Dumplings

German Potato Dumplings

Ingredients

  • 800 g peeled potatoes, starchy variety
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 150 g potato flour or potato starch
  • ground nutmeg to taste
  • 2 slices dry bread or a roll from the day before
  • 2 tsp. butter for frying the croutons
  • parsley for garnish

Directions

  1. One day in advance, boil the potatoes in salted water and leave out to dry over night (preferred method). Or if making day of, boil until the potatoes are cooked all the way through, drain and return potatoes in the hot pot to the stove so more water evaporates. Otherwise, microwave. Either way, you want your potatoes to be as dry as possible.
  2. Peel and rice the potatoes until they are very fine mashed. You can also use a potato masher but do not use any electric devices.
  3. Set aside and let potatoes cool until just warm.
  4. While you're waiting for the potatoes to cool a bit, cut bread up into half inch cubes. Fry in fat of choice to make croutons.
  5. Next, add the egg, salt, and nutmeg to taste to the warm potatoes and mix.
  6. Gradually add some potato flour or starch and mix in until the potatoes feel like they're holding together well in a sphere form. Depends on the level of naturally occurring starch in the potatoes.
  7. Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Reduce heat so it's simmering just below a boil.
  8. Make a test dumpling: Take your potato mash, make a disc in one hand with it, press a couple of croutons in the center, form a ball. I aim for something slightly larger than a golf ball. Make them as big as you want. The larger the dumpling, the more crouton you should use. Optional: roll the dumpling in additional potato flour or potato starch.
  9. Drop your test dumpling into the simmering (NOT boiling) water. If it holds together for the first several minutes, start making the rest of your dumplings. If it starts to fall apart or lose shape, add more flour or starch to your potato mixture and try another test dumpling.
  10. Cook dumplings for about 20 minutes. It'll start floating at some point. Some people take it out at first float, I leave it in for 20 minutes or so.
  11. Remove the dumplings from the pot and serve with some parsley, bacon, speck, whatever you'd like on top.

Notes

  • General rule of thumb is to start with 10% starch or flour.
  • You can use regular wheat flour (in place of potato flour or potato starch) but that can make the dumplings tough versus chewy.

References

  • XXX

Polish Potato Dumplings (Kopytka)

Ingredients

  • boiled dumplings:
    • 2 cups mashed potatoes, cold (~1 lb of potatoes)
    • 1 large egg
    • 1 cup all-purpose flour see note
  • fry and garnish (optional):
    • 1 tbsp oil
    • 1 tbsp butter
    • 2 tsp minced garlic cloves
    • 1 small yellow onion, chopped
    • 4 slices of bacon, chopped
    • 4 white mushrooms, washed and sliced

Directions

  1. Place mashed potatoes in a mixing bowl.
  2. Add egg and flour and mix until the dough comes together. Place dough onto a floured surface and divide into two parts. Roll one part of the dough into a long log and slice into 1.5-2" dumplings.
  3. In a pot, boil water with 1 tsp of salt. Add 5 to 8 dumplings at a time to the boiling water and cook until they start to float at the top. Remove and place on a plate. Repeat with remaining dumplings.
  4. Serve the dumplings right away as a side dish, or follow the next step.
  5. In a skillet, heat up 1 tbsp of oil and 1 tbsp of butter. Add cooked dumplings and cook until golden brown. Remove onto a plate. Add 2 minced garlic cloves, 1 small yellow onion (chopped), 4 slices of bacon (chopped) and 4 white mushrooms (washed, sliced). Saute until fragrant and the bacon is crispy. Toss with dumplings and serve.