Dumplings
Much has already been written and said about this glorious round delight. Endless variants, wonderful companions or leading actors. The history of dumplings goes way back.
The Late Middle High German word Knödel comes from the Old High German chnodo, Middle High German knode (“knot”) and is said to be the diminutive, i.e. “small knot”. The Czech knedlík, the Italian canederli and the French quenelle are also borrowed from Knödel. In northern Germany, this spherical delicacy is known as a ‘Kloß’: shaped balls of dough made from a wide variety of basic ingredients (e.g. crushed potatoes, stale bread, quark, semolina), which are cooked in boiling water and eaten as a hearty side dish, soup accompaniment or sweet dessert.

Interesting
The first pictorial representation of dumplings is in the chapel of Hocheppan in South Tyrol. The fresco is dated to the 12th/13th century and the lady depicted is simply referred to as a “dumpling eater”.
Dumplings come in sweet and salty versions. The first dumplings were made from grain, later potatoes and curd cheese were added. Already early on Dumplings were filled with meat, fish (also as a fasting food) and offal.
Sweet dumplings are – one assumes – the basis of the rumor that dumplings come from Bohemia. The Bohemian cooks brought many ‘Knedlsk’ recipes with them from their homeland. Today, plum or apricot dumplings are part of the good repertoire of every traditional Austrian Gasthaus.


Ingredients
8 pieces
– 250 g bread roll from the day before or bread cubes
– 2 eggs
– 220 ml of milk, depending on the dryness the roll (cube)
– 70 grams of butter
– 60 grams of onions
– Salt
– Parsley, chopped
– Breadcrumbs to correct

Refining
Here you can let your imagination run wild.
In principle, you can adapt the basic recipe with coloring ingredients such as beetroot, wild garlic, spinach and of course vary the taste. If the ingredients contain a lot of liquid, reduce the milk accordingly.
Kaspressknödel: Add 150 g strong grated mountain cheese.
Wild garlic dumplings: add 100 g fresh, chopped wild garlic.
Beetroot dumplings: 100 g boiled and diced beetroot.
Spinach dumplings: 250 g strained spinach.
Tyrolean dumplings: add 150 g fried bacon cubes

CULINAMUS
We use ready-made dumpling bread and cook in the steamer, which turns out perfect every time. As a side dish, 80 grams per dumpling is a comfortable size, and 30 grams per dumpling are enough as a soup ingredient.
You can freeze dumplings individually and use them as needed.
Sliced dumplings from the day before and fried in a pan – with egg, spinach – wonderful
Preparation
20 minutes
– Chop the onions very finely.
– Finely chop the parsley.
– Prepare milk.
– Beat the eggs and add the parsley and salt.
– Place the breadcrumbs in a large bowl.
– Prepare ‘refinement ingredients’.

Important:
the right consistency depends on the dryness of your breadcrumbs. Ready-to-eat dumpling bread is drier than stale rolls you cut yourself. If the mixture is too dry, make it more liquid with milk, if there is too much liquid, correct it with extra breadcrumbs.
Cooking
1 hour
– Heat butter and sauté onions in it.
– After 5 minutes (the onions should not take on any colour), pour in the milk and heat up.
– Before the milk begins to boil, remove from the heat and add to the breadcrumbs. stir.
– Add egg mixture
– Add finishing ingredients (bacon, spinach, cheese) and mix well.
– If the consistency is not right, correct it with milk or breadcrumbs.
– Let the dumpling mixture stand for 20 minutes.
– Form even dumplings with wet hands. Squeeze properly.
– Simmer in lightly salted hot water for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the size of the dumplings. Caution: do not overcook, otherwise there is a risk that the dumplings will fall apart.


TIP
The preparation in a steam cooker is guaranteed to succeed. Steam at 100 degrees for 20 minutes and the dumplings are perfect. Alternatively, you can also prepare the dumplings in a steamer insert in the saucepan.
and together with that:
Dumplings and beer are best friends, maybe even siblings. We find a Nivard from Engelszell Trappist Abbey to be a divine combination. Those who prefer white wine should choose a light wine that is easy to drink. The yellow muscatel (Gelber Muskateller) from Fassold in Straden immediately comes to mind.
CULINAMUS!

