This is an extension of FarmerDenise's thread on her mom's potato dumplings. I got a request there for liver dumplings - so, even though they were pretty much a total failure when I made them this evening, here they are. (Maybe this should be in the "offal" thread? 
)
This recipe is from a little book of German and Middle European dumplings that I have. The Germans/Austrians/Czechs/Poles love their dumplings ... and, after a short introductory period, so do I. For all you Americans out there (all/most of you?) mid-European dumplings are not at all like the dumplings we might find on chicken stew; they are quite different.
In the interest of full disclosure I will say that 1) I haven't made liver dumplings in years (decades?), and 2) they didn't work as expected and hoped this evening. However, I was asked for the recipe, and I probably won't make them again soon, so I will relate what I did tonight, and what might have gone wrong, and let any who want to try see if they have better luck.
The following recipe is translated from my book (bought in Germany 30 some years ago); in parentheses are my comments/changes
Bayerische Leberknoedel (Bavarian Liver Dumplings) - Small, as soup additions, or large, served with Sauerkraut
3 cups/750ml stale bread (In Bavaria they would use yesterday's breakfast rolls; I use French or Italian bread, or homemade; not traditional, but something with whole grains would no doubt also work) (I cut these in cubes; next time I will probably put them through the meat grinder with the liver)
1/2 - 1 cup/125 - 250 ml) lukewarm milk
Pinch of salt
10 1/2 oz/300 g Beef liver (I used lamb liver, as that is what I had)
1 1/2 oz/ 50 g pork fat (from around the kidneys) (optional) (I used about half that of rendered lard, because I had it; could have been left out easily)
1 small onion
2 eggs
Freshly ground pepper
1 Tbls. dried marjoram
1 clove of garlic, crushed (remember, this is from Germany, many years ago! I like garlic, so used three cloves.)
Pour the milk over the bread (as much as needed), and allow to soak and soften. Add a pinch of salt. (If necessary, squeeze the bread bits to get rid of extra moisture; I didn't do that this evening).
Put the liver, onion, (soaked bread) through the meat grinder (this is called a "Meat Wolf" in German - I love it!). Mix the ground meat, eggs, and spices with the bread. Knead this a bit until well combined. (At this point I found this rather wet, so added a handful of oatflakes - some flour or breadcrumbs would also have worked).
With wet hands form the mixture into balls - about walnut sized if using with soup; quite a bit bigger if intended as the main course.
Bring a pot of water to the boil, and turn down the heat to a simmer. (This book, and other books I have, all recommend making a "trial dumpling"; if it falls apart more breadcrumbs/flour/oatflakes should be added; it is unlikely that these liver dumplings would be too firm). When the water is simmering gently add your trial dumpling (use a slotted spoon); cook for about 15 min (for soup dumplings) or 25 minutes (for larger ones). The water should only barely simmer; if it is more lively the dumplings will more easily fall apart.
Soup dumplings can be cooked directly in the soup ( a clear broth is best), though until you are sure of your technique it might be safer to do them separately. The bigger ones are nice served alongside Sauerkraut and boiled potatoes. The recipe suggests topping the dumplngs with sauteed onions.
These dumplings should be quite light - nothing at all like meatballs.
My "trial dumpling" cooked up nicely this evening. The soup dumplings were about 50% successful. I used the rest of the mass for larger dumplings (to be used tomorrow), and they all fell apart. I used the slotted spoon to gather them all back together, and will fry them up tomorrow (hash, of a sort), but that was not my original intention!
So ... long post, but maybe someone will be interested enough to try. My little book has savory/sweet/potato/flour/bread/meat/fish/fruit/main dish/soup/desert dumplings. 123 pages worth of dumplings. I'll post more if anyone would like me to.
FarmerDenise - would you like the Yeast Dumpling recipe?
)This recipe is from a little book of German and Middle European dumplings that I have. The Germans/Austrians/Czechs/Poles love their dumplings ... and, after a short introductory period, so do I. For all you Americans out there (all/most of you?) mid-European dumplings are not at all like the dumplings we might find on chicken stew; they are quite different.
In the interest of full disclosure I will say that 1) I haven't made liver dumplings in years (decades?), and 2) they didn't work as expected and hoped this evening. However, I was asked for the recipe, and I probably won't make them again soon, so I will relate what I did tonight, and what might have gone wrong, and let any who want to try see if they have better luck.
The following recipe is translated from my book (bought in Germany 30 some years ago); in parentheses are my comments/changes
Bayerische Leberknoedel (Bavarian Liver Dumplings) - Small, as soup additions, or large, served with Sauerkraut
3 cups/750ml stale bread (In Bavaria they would use yesterday's breakfast rolls; I use French or Italian bread, or homemade; not traditional, but something with whole grains would no doubt also work) (I cut these in cubes; next time I will probably put them through the meat grinder with the liver)
1/2 - 1 cup/125 - 250 ml) lukewarm milk
Pinch of salt
10 1/2 oz/300 g Beef liver (I used lamb liver, as that is what I had)
1 1/2 oz/ 50 g pork fat (from around the kidneys) (optional) (I used about half that of rendered lard, because I had it; could have been left out easily)
1 small onion
2 eggs
Freshly ground pepper
1 Tbls. dried marjoram
1 clove of garlic, crushed (remember, this is from Germany, many years ago! I like garlic, so used three cloves.)
Pour the milk over the bread (as much as needed), and allow to soak and soften. Add a pinch of salt. (If necessary, squeeze the bread bits to get rid of extra moisture; I didn't do that this evening).
Put the liver, onion, (soaked bread) through the meat grinder (this is called a "Meat Wolf" in German - I love it
!). Mix the ground meat, eggs, and spices with the bread. Knead this a bit until well combined. (At this point I found this rather wet, so added a handful of oatflakes - some flour or breadcrumbs would also have worked).With wet hands form the mixture into balls - about walnut sized if using with soup; quite a bit bigger if intended as the main course.
Bring a pot of water to the boil, and turn down the heat to a simmer. (This book, and other books I have, all recommend making a "trial dumpling"; if it falls apart more breadcrumbs/flour/oatflakes should be added; it is unlikely that these liver dumplings would be too firm). When the water is simmering gently add your trial dumpling (use a slotted spoon); cook for about 15 min (for soup dumplings) or 25 minutes (for larger ones). The water should only barely simmer; if it is more lively the dumplings will more easily fall apart.
Soup dumplings can be cooked directly in the soup ( a clear broth is best), though until you are sure of your technique it might be safer to do them separately. The bigger ones are nice served alongside Sauerkraut and boiled potatoes. The recipe suggests topping the dumplngs with sauteed onions.
These dumplings should be quite light - nothing at all like meatballs.
My "trial dumpling" cooked up nicely this evening. The soup dumplings were about 50% successful. I used the rest of the mass for larger dumplings (to be used tomorrow), and they all fell apart. I used the slotted spoon to gather them all back together, and will fry them up tomorrow (hash, of a sort), but that was not my original intention!
So ... long post, but maybe someone will be interested enough to try. My little book has savory/sweet/potato/flour/bread/meat/fish/fruit/main dish/soup/desert dumplings. 123 pages worth of dumplings. I'll post more if anyone would like me to.
FarmerDenise - would you like the Yeast Dumpling recipe?
