Czech Potato Dumplings Recipes

CZECH POTATO DUMPLINGS - BRAMBOROVé KNEDLíKY

Steps:

• MAKE AHEAD: Boil the potatoes with the skin on the day before and let them cool completely overnight. Before preparing the potato dough, put a pot of lightly salted water on the stove to boil.
• Peel the cooled potatoes and grate finely on a hand grater. Add the flour, potato starch, egg, and salt.
• Process the ingredients into potato dough. Keep some flour aside so you can dip your hands in it if the dough gets too sticky.
• Divide the dough into equal parts. Roll out each on a floured work surface into a 2-3 inches (5-7 cm) thick cylinder. The length of the cylinder is determined by the diameter of the pot in which you will cook the dumplings. It is usually in the range of 8-10 inches (20-25 cm).
• Put the prepared dumplings immediately into slightly boiling water. Check after a while. If they have stuck to the bottom, use a fork to loosen them to swim carefully.
• Cook the dumplings for 20-25 minutes.
• After cooking, carefully remove the dumplings from the pot. If you do not serve the dumplings immediately, brush them with a little melted lard to prevent the surface from drying out.

CZECH POTATO DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, thoroughly combine mashed potatoes, eggs and salt. Add enough flour to form a stiff dough. It will be a little sticky.
• Place a large saucepan of water on to boil. Meanwhile, with floured hands, shape the dough into 1 1/2-inch balls. Cook 10 dumplings at a time by dropping into the boiling water. Return the water to a boil and boil gently for about 12 minutes or until dumplings rise to the surface and test done when pulled apart with two forks. Drain in a colander or on a clean kitchen towel.
• Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, combine butter with breadcrumbs and cook until golden brown and crisp. Roll dumplings in this mixture and serve immediately.​​ Note: Instead of coating the dumplings in buttered breadcrumbs, they can be placed in a roasting pan and glazed with meat drippings from a pork, beef, lamb or veal roast, or roasted chicken .

KNEDLIKY - CZECH DUMPLING WITH SAUERKRAUT (ZELI)

Steps:

• In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center, and pour in the eggs and 1 cup of milk. Stir to blend, and add enough additional milk to make a moist battery dough, not like pancake batter. Use a sturdy wooden spoon to beat the dough at least 200 strokes, rolling it over and over in the bowl until smooth and an occasional bubble appears on the surface. Add the dry white bread cubes, and stir into the dough until they disappear.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place the dough onto a cheesecloth or white cotton cloth, and form into a loaf shape. Wrap the cloth around the loaf, and tie the ends.
• Place the loaf into the boiling water, and cook for 45 minutes, turning the loaf over about half way through. Remove from the water, unwrap, and cover with a tea towel. Let stand for 10 minutes.
• Fry bacon in a small skillet over medium-high heat until evenly browned. Set aside. Place the drained sauerkraut into a saucepan, and add enough water to cover the surface. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add bacon, and season with salt, pepper and caraway seeds. Stir together the cornstarch and water; mix into the sauerkraut, and simmer for a few minutes before removing from the heat.
• Slice the dumpling loaf. Drizzle dumpling slices with some of the roast drippings from the pan. Serve with sauerkraut.

CZECH POTATO DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Peel and boil potatoes until done.
• Drain potatoes and mash.
• Do not add butter or milk.
• Cool potatoes in refrigerator until cold.
• Mix in order given.
• Mix well, and knead on a floured board until smooth.
• Divide dough in half and make each half of dough into a roll about 3 inches in diameter and about 12 inches long.
• Cut into dumplings about 2 inches long with a sharp knife that has been dipped in flour.
• While you are cutting the dumplings, bring a large stockpot about 2/3 full of water with 1 teaspoon of salt added to water to a boil.
• Once the water is boiling, add half of the dumplings to the water and stir so they don't stick to the bottom.
• Boil for 15 minutes.
• Remove from water with slotted spoon to drain.
• Place dumplings in roaster sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
• Cover and keep warm in oven set to low.
• Boil the rest of the dumplings, remove from water and add to roaster.
• Serve.
• These are wonderful eaten with butter or sauerkraut or gravy.
• I use all of my leftover mashed potatoes for this recipe.
• To freeze:.
• Place leftover dumplings on waxed paper lined baking sheets and freeze until solid.
• Remove from baking sheet and place in ziplock freezer bags to store in freezer.
• Will keep for 6 months in freezer.

TRADITIONAL KNEDLICKY (CZECH POTATO DUMPLINGS)

Steps:

• Fill a large soup pot (not sauce pan, too small) about half full of water and bring to a boil.
• Using just your hands, knead together equal amounts mashed potatoes and flour in a bowl until it forms a dough.
• Form dough into baseball/tennis ball sized balls.
• Carefully, so as not to splash, drop dumplings one at a time into boiling water. Do not over crowd pot. You only want a single layer of dumplings.
• The dumplings will sink to the bottom.
• Bring water back to a boil and then simmer.
• When the dumplings begin to float they're done. Don't take them out of the water right away, let them float for about 5 minutes before removing them.
• Remove finished dumplings from water with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl or on a serving plate.
• Serve alongside any kind of roast and top with gravy or butter and salt and pepper. Yum!
• Leftovers can be cut up into bite-sized pieces.

CZECH BREAD DUMPLINGS (KNEDLíKY)

Steps:

• Combine warm milk, sugar, and yeast in a bowl. Let sit and bloom for about 10 minutes.
• Add egg and kosher salt to the yeast mixture. Pour in 2 ¾ cups flour. Stir with a wooden spoon until it starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and forms a dough.
• Knead on a lightly floured surface until dough is smooth and slightly elastic, about 3 minutes.
• Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, flipping the dough to coat the top in oil. Cover and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
• Transfer back to your work surface; press out the excess air and form dough into a relatively uniform ball.
• Cut dough into two equal pieces. Form each piece into a uniform ball. Roll each ball into a tube, 2 to 2 ½ inches wide.
• Cover with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let proof for 20 to 25 minutes.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a steady simmer.
• Carefully pick up a risen piece of dough and transfer to the simmering water. Bring back to a simmer. Cover tightly and let simmer for 10 minutes. Uncover, flip, and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes.
• Transfer to a plate and poke all over with a toothpick or wooden skewer, which releases the steam from the center.
• Use a piece of string or thread to cut into 3/4- to 1-inch dumplings. Transfer to a serving plate.
• Repeat Steps 9 to 11 to cook remaining dough.

CZECH POTATO DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Boil peeled potatoes until soft; drain and mash as usual with butter and milk. Let cool in refrigerator. Once potatoes are cool, add in eggs and mix well. Add flour, one cup at a time and mix well. You may need to add more than the 5 cups of flour until you have a firm dough. You will need to work the last cup or so of flour in with your hands as it gets too stiff to stir with a spoon.
• Put a large kettle about 3/4 full of water on the stove and bring to a rolling boil over medium high heat. Divide the potato dough into 4 balls. Take one ball of dumpling dough, put the remaining balls of dough in a bowl and cover with a towel until ready to use. On a floured surface, roll the ball of dough into a rope about 2 inches in diameter. Repeat this step with the remaining balls of dough. You should have four dumpling rolls when you are finished.
• Take a sharp knife, dip the knife in flour and cut dough into 1 1/2 to 2 inch pieces. You may need to run the knife through the flour a few times to prevent the dough from sticking to knife.
• Place all the dumplings from one roll of dough into the boiling water and stir to keep from sticking to the bottom; they will then float to the top. Boil for 15 minutes. Remove from kettle with a slotted spoon and place in roaster sprayed with non-stick spray. Drizzle with about 1/4 of the melted butter. Place lid on roaster and keep warm on low in oven.
• Repeat until you have boiled all the dumplings. This will make a large roaster full of dumplings. These freeze well. I just lay them on a cookie sheet and freeze, then place in freezer bags. To reheat, thaw in refrigerator and warm in covered pan in the oven until heated through or put one or two on a plate and heat about 1 minute in microwave.