Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Dumplings!

I am a big fan of many things German and Austrian. I think I may have mentioned this before in my ramblings through the Wood. I am trying to learn German, I have travelled through Germany and Austria and I've spent ten years of my life researching and teaching German history. I also love German and Austrian food, and I've collected a number of cookbooks on this very topic. But. But. But. Cooking German and Austrian food scares me. It looks complicated. It looks hard. It's got things like yeast in it which you have to heat and knead and cajole into doing the right thing by you. So imagine my surprise and delight when I successfully made Austrian-style dumplings on the weekend. And they were easy. Equipped with my Specialities of Austrian Cooking cookbook, I figured I'd just give it a go...no harm in trying...I can just throw them out when they don't work...and then they worked!

500g flour
40g melted butter
300 ml milk
1 egg

Mix it all together. Make little dumpling balls. Drop them into boiling water and when they bob to the surface, you're good to go. I added sliced chives to the mixture and a little bit of salt.

Love doing things I didn't think I could do. Going to try some sweet ones tonight, with apricot sauce. And sorry, no pictorial evidence...they were gobbled up in ten minutes...

6 comments:

Pina said...

Slovenia used to be a part of Austria before the I. WW and from that time we have many dishes that are common there. I just guess that younger people don't cook so much of that food anymore, because there is simply no time left for that.

feronia said...

But these dumplings are so quick - I was really surprised!...maybe not very good for the waistline though!!

Bodecea said...

Don't you need a bit of sugar for the yeast to work properly?
I like baking bread... very German fetish, too ;-).

But there are many German dishes I do not like, not only because I am Vegetarian... you know Sauerbraten? Or Haxen? Uargh!

Bodecea

feronia said...

Oooh yes, Bodecea...I hear you. We had pork dumplings in Innsbruck which were just floating around in sort of a greasy, fatty sauce, so I do have some limitations! :)

Wurst Semmel said...

Dumplings sound divine - just what I need right now. I'm hanging out for spaetzle. Can you make those also? I love German, Austrian cuisine but I do struggle a little with the meat content sometimes. When I lived in Southern Germany, the canteen offerings at work often meant I went hungry - pigs trotters, lamb brains....no, thanks. Would love to see some more cooking posts..

BTW Love the change of colour

Feronia said...

I'll see what I can do, WS...I have lots of cookbooks to get through...!