This recipe is based on German Food Expert Jennifer McGavino’s Recipe for Bavarian Potato Dumplings. Bavarian Potato Dumplings are a Sunday Comfort Food. You can eat them with melted butter and toasted bread crumbs. You can simply pour cold milk on the hot dumplings and eat them that way or serve them with a gravy. There are many variations of Bavarian Potato Dumplings. Kartoffel Kioesse, Rotte Kloesse and Baumnollene Kloesse. Some involve using a combination of raw mushed red potatoes that are drained threw linen cloth and are mixed with cooked potatoes. They take lots of practice before you will be successful because they are even difficult for experts to prepare. Besides incredible fluffy breakfast eggs and BBQ, the only food my father used to prepare when I was a child were similar Bavarian Dumplings….he said his mother made them for him. I took a few liberties to make the dumplings more delicious by infusing the potatoes with flavors and I skipped the extra buttered bread crumbs the original recipe called for because I never had these dumplings that way and for my taste they weren’t needed but feel free to butter up a 1/2 cup of bread crumbs if you desire. The other change I did was that I substituted polenta for farina of the original recipe but not to make a change but due to what I had in my pantry. The dumplings still came out with the same taste…..My husband never had Bavarian Dumplings before and said they came out very delicious. Try them and see what you think!

Ingredients for about 6 servings

5 or more average size russet potatoes – peeled – cooked till tender and chilled (you will need 3 1/2 cups riced)

1 hot pepper – to boil with potatoes for flavor (I used a banana pepper)

1 garlic clove – to boil with potatoes for flavor

1/2 sweet onion – to boil with potatoes for flavor

1 Tablespoon kosher salt or sea salt – to boil with potatoes

2 slices quality white bread – cut in small cubes.

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup polenta (not instant)

1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

3 1/2 cups of riced potatoes

2 eggs beaten

a few grates fresh nutmeg

a pinch white pepper

Directions

In a fry pan heat up the butter on medium high heat and add the bread cubes and let go till golden brown.

If you didn’t boil your peeled potatoes yet do so now with the hot pepper, onion garlic and 1 Tablespoon kosher or sea salt. Boil potatoes till fork tender, SCOOP the potatoes out with a slotted spoon and toss out the pepper, onion and garlic in the trash. BUT SAVE THE WATER!!!!!!!! You will use the flavored water to boil the dumplings in……The potatoes must be chilled for this recipe to work out so make sure your potatoes are good and chilled. Once chilled…

In a large bowl rice the potatoes.

In a small bowl combine flour, polenta, 1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, nutmeg and pepper and eggs. The small bowl mixture will be very thick.

Mix well and combine with potatoes.

Now get a pot on to boil with the flavored water you saved and add enough to boil dumplings.

Once pot boils turn it down to just over a simmer.

I did one smaller dumpling as a test..I rolled it into a big marble and stuffed a small crouton in it then it went into the pot..to check to see if I had enough flour in it and also checked for seasoning. I let the smaller dumpling cook for about ten minutes. I thought it came out perfect.

So then I rolled dumplings about meatball size inserting a small crouton in each.

I rolled the potato mixture into balls.

I boiled the balls 8-10 at a time for 12 minutes a batch.

When I was a child my dad would serve these similar dumplings hot with just cold milk. I served then with unsweetened butter, sliced scallions and remaining toasted bread cubes broken down to crumbs.

These are delicious. These Dumplings came out very similar to what I remember and you might want to give them a try!