Saturday, August 23, 2008

GERMAN KNOEDEL - IT WAS FRANCOIS' IDEA. GREAT IDEA.

This is a German knödel. [knuh-dayl]  

It's like a dumpling. Sort-of. Imagine thanksgiving stuffing, without the poultry seasoning, and then you ball it up, poach it, then coat it with melted butter. Oh yeah. It's yummy. I made this from Francois @ FX's recipe. It's quite simple, and you can add other ingredients he said, such as liver, for variety. Personally, I'm going to try the liver next. We love liver here. I think I'll melt some liver pate into the mixture. I have leftover pate in the freezer because last time I made way too much.


So, if you would like the exact recipe, visit FX Cuisine. Basically, you chop hard stale bread into small cubes. And he said his were too big, so I took care to dice very small. 

I sauteed chopped shallots in butter until tender ... then added spinach. 

After the spinach was tender, I took it out and chopped it up real good (but it could have even been chopped smaller. I suggest you just pulverize it).  After chopped, put it back into the pan and add the milk.


Pour the spinach/milk/shallot mixture over the bread and mix well. It'll be pretty dry. Let this sit for 30 minutes. 

After the wait, add the eggs, salt and pepper and if you like, shredded cheese. I added a little grating of a sharp Gouda Vincent. 
 
This was the dough. Not too wet, but when you make the balls out of it, it held together quite well.  I have no idea what it's supposed to look like. Honestly, I've never had knoedel before, so I don't know what the dough is supposed to look like, and after it's cooked, I have no idea what a bad knoedel tastes like or a great knoedel. 

Boil for 20 minutes. 

They stayed together well, did not fall apart even one little bit. I was surprised. They gained a little bit of size, obviously they will soak up some water. I guess you can also steam them. 

After they are done, carefully remove with slotted spoon (do not pour into strainer). In a separate pan, melt some butter. Put the knoedels in the melted butter and carefully coat on all sides. Plate them and add a little shaving of cheese if you like. And, I like. 

We had our knoedels as a main course, as opposed to a first course, and we had it with some of those delicious sweet shrimp, simply sauteed in a pan with a little butter and salt. 

The finished product is fluffy, tender and rich. This was a very simple recipe, and it really took no time to make. It was a total hit and I'll be making it again for sure.