Potato Dumplings Recipe

[michaelswarm]

Potato Dumplings Recipe

This is a work in progress. Challenges include no egg, whole wheat flour, and falling apart.

Uses
- Soup with Dumplings
- Potatoes Dumplings and Sauerkraut
- Goulash with Dumplings

Key Techniques
- Mashed potatoes help distribute water evenly and handle like dough.
- Flour mix of 50-50 oat flour and whole wheat flour helps lighten color and taste.
- Baking wrapped in parchment and foil steams gently without falling apart. Wrapper still contains lots of moisture when removed.

Makes 2 small loaves (2 x 1 cup loaves).

MAIN
- 1 cup steamed potatoes, mashed and cooled
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup oat flour
SPICE
- 1/8 tsp salt

Peel and steam potatoes, drain and while still warm mash with fork. Allow to cool. Mix flours and salt. In bowl with mashed potatoes, slowly add flour 1-2 Tbsp at a time and work flour into dough. Divide dough into 2 parts, and shape into small loaves. Wrap loaves in parchment paper and foil, and fold ends. Bake 350F 40m. Allow to cool and remove from wrapper.

[debknott]

How do you serve these? Do you slice the loaves, and each slice is a dumpling? It's hard for me to picture these.

[michaelswarm]

How do you serve these? Do you slice the loaves, and each slice is a dumpling? It's hard for me to picture these.

Slice the loaf, then cut or tear into smaller bite sized pieces.

Every Easter my grandmother used to cook pork roast, potato dumplings and sauerkraut. The dumplings were rolled into large balls and boiled in water. The dumplings were difficult to get right. Not too hard. Not so soft they fall apart in the water. The day after we would have leftovers of pork, dumplings and saurkraut, fried in a pan. Now I make something similar, except without pork, by combining potatoes, both cubed and mashed, potato dumplings and sauerkraut, baked in a casserole dish. Most of the same flavors, without the pork and pork fat.

I’m still looking for improvements on the basic dumpling, but it’s simple: 1 part mashed potato : 1 part whole wheat and oat flour, combine, wrap and steam in the oven.

[Mom+Me]

Every Easter my grandmother used to cook pork roast, potato dumplings and sauerkraut. The dumplings were rolled into large balls and boiled in water. The dumplings were difficult to get right. Not too hard. Not so soft they fall apart in the water. The day after we would have leftovers of pork, dumplings and saurkraut, fried in a pan. Now I make something similar, except without pork, by combining potatoes, both cubed and mashed, potato dumplings and sauerkraut, baked in a casserole dish. Most of the same flavors, without the pork and pork fat.

Ahh...reminds me of growing up. Sounds like you are of Czech descent, too?

Thank you for posting this; I will definitely have to try them! Do you think if you added potato flour (like Egg Replacer) that that might help to keep them together?

Do you make your own sauerkraut? If so, would you mind sharing the recipe?

[michaelswarm]

Yes, my ancestors came from Czech Republic in 1890s.

My vinegar sauerkraut reciple.
https://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=60114&hilit=Sauerkraut

Don’t know whether different egg replacers would help hold together. And I’m not sure it’s necessary. My belief is that dumplings were traditionally boiled because most homes did not have ovens. Breads were baked in towns by bakers with wood burning ovens, and bringing a wood burning oven to the correct temperature was alot more difficult than thermostat controlled electric and gas ovens of today. But every home had a pot of water. Today dumplings can easily be steamed, without challenge of how to hold together. Whether eggs add anything significant in taste and texture is open question for me. My basic recipe is for me a starting point. I’m keeping my eyes open for WFPB recipes from Eastern Europe.

It’s difficult to immagine what dumplings were hundreds of years ago. What grains were used? What milling? White flour may have only been last couple hundred years, for example. Potatoes were available only after Columbus, so earlier dumplings might have been only flour or maybe another root vegetable was used?

[Lyndzie]

I must admit I was really confused with your recipe at first, because my exposure to dumplings were either pot stickers, matzo balls or pierogis. I did a little googling and came across this Wikipedia article:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumpling

Slices of Czech knedlík
In Czech cuisine dumplings have two main forms:

Knödel is called in Czech knedlík and in Slovakia knedľa. It can be either houskový (bread) or bramborový (potato) knödel. These dumplings are boiled in loaf shape and then cut in slices and are part of many Czech national dishes such as Vepřo knedlo zelo or Svíčková na smetaně.

...

Thanks for teaching me something new!

[VegSeekingFit]

Thanks so much for this thread!!

It warms my heart and brings back memories....

My great-grandma came from Bohemia / Czech Republic around 1900 and one of my favorite childhood memories of holidays is DUMPLINGS!!!

She brought them in what looked like a circular loaf of bread to my great-aunt's and they were wonderful!!!

My favorite food was the dumplings, corn, and crudites that we would eat (for Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas). Sometimes the dumplings weren't all gone and she would send the leftovers home with me...

I am going to try this recipe / template for sure!!!

Now, if you can McDougallize colachky??

Cheers,
Stephanie

[Mom+Me]

Yes, my ancestors came from Czech Republic in 1890s.

My vinegar sauerkraut reciple.
https://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=60114&hilit=Sauerkraut

Don’t know whether different egg replacers would help hold together. And I’m not sure it’s necessary. My belief is that dumplings were traditionally boiled because most homes did not have ovens. Breads were baked in towns by bakers with wood burning ovens, and bringing a wood burning oven to the correct temperature was alot more difficult than thermostat controlled electric and gas ovens of today. But every home had a pot of water. Today dumplings can easily be steamed, without challenge of how to hold together. Whether eggs add anything significant in taste and texture is open question for me. My basic recipe is for me a starting point. I’m keeping my eyes open for WFPB recipes from Eastern Europe.

It’s difficult to immagine what dumplings were hundreds of years ago. What grains were used? What milling? White flour may have only been last couple hundred years, for example. Potatoes were available only after Columbus, so earlier dumplings might have been only flour or maybe another root vegetable was used?

michaelswarm, thank you for your reply and link to your recipe. I look forward to making both! Also like your ideas of what people did for many, many years before us. We certainly have it easy in this day and age!

For some years, on and off, I have thought it would be neat to try to healthfully replicate some of the Czech meals my ancestors made. I have my mom's recipe box, but nearly every single recipe is in shorthand. Some day when life slows down a little, I'll have to try to translate the shorthand by getting an old book on it, or find out more on-line.

I'd have to look it up the exact date, but I believe my great grandparents came from Prague probably around 1915. Of course it was just known as Czechoslovakia back then. Nice to meet a fellow Czech!

[Mom+Me]

I must admit I was really confused with your recipe at first, because my exposure to dumplings were either pot stickers, matzo balls or pierogis. I did a little googling and came across this Wikipedia article:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumpling

Slices of Czech knedlík
In Czech cuisine dumplings have two main forms:

Knödel is called in Czech knedlík and in Slovakia knedľa. It can be either houskový (bread) or bramborový (potato) knödel. These dumplings are boiled in loaf shape and then cut in slices and are part of many Czech national dishes such as Vepřo knedlo zelo or Svíčková na smetaně.

...

Thanks for teaching me something new!

Neat link, Lyndzie; thank you! Yes, it makes sense that it could be confusing! Mmm...my mom made a mean plum dumpling, kind of like one I saw on Wikipedia.

[Mom+Me]

Thanks so much for this thread!!

It warms my heart and brings back memories....

My great-grandma came from Bohemia / Czech Republic around 1900 and one of my favorite childhood memories of holidays is DUMPLINGS!!!

She brought them in what looked like a circular loaf of bread to my great-aunt's and they were wonderful!!!

My favorite food was the dumplings, corn, and crudites that we would eat (for Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas). Sometimes the dumplings weren't all gone and she would send the leftovers home with me...

I am going to try this recipe / template for sure!!!

Now, if you can McDougallize colachky??

Cheers,
Stephanie

Thank you for sharing your memories, Stephanie, and "Hello!" from a fellow Czech!
Oh boy, a McDougall approved kolacky would be nice! Not only do the traditional ones have butter, margarine, and/or shortening, but egg yolks, too. I think my arteries just closed a little just typing those artery-clogging "ingredients".