German Potato Dumplings

 

  I saw this recipe in a Taste of Home magazine that my mom recently received in the mail. I had never heard of potato dumplings but thought they looked interesting. Since then I’ve discovered that they are often made with leftover mashed potatoes. So besides making potato cakes, I now have a new use for mashed potatoe leftovers (Barry makes them frequently and still thinks he’s cooking for the customers at the Kirby House).

     For this recipe, I did cook and mash potatoes. I made just one third of the recipe as posted below and that smaller batch yielded 5 nice sized potato dumplings. I did make a few adjustments to the recipe as noted in the step-by-step directions.

Barry made Pork Schnitzel and Dill Sauce to go with the potato dumplings. With a side of Red Cabbage and German Apple Cake for dessert, we relived our trip to Germany! 

German Potato Dumplings    8 Servings    Prep: 40 min. Cook: 10 min.              

3 pounds medium potatoes (about 10), peeled and quartered

1 cup all-purpose flour

3 eggs, lightly beaten

⅔ cup dry bread crumbs

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

12 cups water

Browned Butter Sauce           

½ cup butter, cubed

1 tablespoon chopped onion

¼ cup dry bread crumbs

1. Place potatoes in a Dutch oven; add water to cover; season with salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cook, uncovered, 15 to 20 minutes or until tender. Drain; transfer to a large bowl.
   
2. Mash potatoes.
   
3. Stir in flour, eggs, bread crumbs, salt and nutmeg.
4. Shape into sixteen (2-inch) balls. At this point I refrigerated the balls and then boiled and finished them right before dinner.
5. In a Dutch oven, bring 12 cups water to a boil. Carefully add dumplings. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 7 to 9 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of dumplings comes out clean.
   
6. Meanwhile, in a small heavy saucepan (I used a skillet), heat butter and onion over medium heat. 
7. Heat 5 to 7 minutes or until butter is golden brown, stirring constantly.
8. The last step in the magazine’s recipe instructs the cook to add the bread crumbs and serve the sauce with the dumplings. But, I sprinkled the bread crumbs over the surface of the drained dumplings, added them to the skillet of butter sauce and lightly browned them. The dumplings absorbed much of the sauce for added flavor, and this additional step created a light crust on their surface. I poured remaining sauce over the dumplings before serving.
   

Recipe without photos . . .

German Potato Dumplings    8 Servings    Prep: 40 min. Cook: 10 min.               

3 pounds medium potatoes (about 10), peeled and quartered

1 cup all-purpose flour

3 eggs, lightly beaten

⅔ cup dry bread crumbs

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

12 cups water

Browned Butter Sauce            

½ cup butter, cubed

1 tablespoon chopped onion

¼ cup dry bread crumbs

1. Place potatoes in a Dutch oven; add water to cover; season with salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cook, uncovered, 15 to 20 minutes or until tender. Drain; transfer to a large bowl.
2. Mash potatoes.
3. Stir in flour, eggs, bread crumbs, salt and nutmeg.
4. Shape into sixteen (2-inch) balls. At this point I refrigerated the balls and then boiled and finished them right before dinner.
5. In a Dutch oven, bring 12 cups water to a boil. Carefully add dumplings. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 7 to 9 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of dumplings comes out clean.
6. Meanwhile, in a small heavy saucepan (I used a skillet), heat butter and onion over medium heat. 
7. Heat 5 to 7 minutes or until butter is golden brown, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in bread crumbs.
8. The last step in the magazine’s recipe instructs the cook to add the bread crumbs and serve the sauce with the dumplings. But, I sprinkled the bread crumbs over the surface of the drained dumplings, added them to the skillet of butter sauce and lightly browned them. The dumplings absorbed much of the sauce for added flavor, and this additional step created a light crust on their surface. I poured remaining sauce over the dumplings before serving.