Travel the World without Leaving Your Kitchen--Czech Potato Dumplings by Connie Vines

 Since we are all home-bound during the Pandemic, we are all seems going back to basics.

Served with sauerkraut or gravy

Yes,  we are all trying to save money and beef-up nutrition, while spending quality kitchen time with the children and family members

We all have family recipes passed down from generation-to-generation. Each week I've tried prepare one recipe from my childhood. I also send my grands family photos from 'the old country' and a bit of family-lore to share when they are adults and families of their own.

This week it was Czech Potato Dumplings.  
My maternal grandmother's family emigrated from Czechoslovakia in the late-1890s.  My great-grandmother was from Bohemia (the westernmost and largest historical region of the modern-day Czech Republic).  Bohemians, like all Czech are Slavic. Bohemia was recognized as the Dutch of Bohemia around 870 AD.  She, her husband and children boarded a ship to cross the Atlantic to Ellis Island, settling in the Czech area of Chicago, IL.

Potato Dumplings, peach dumplings, Koláče, and yeast breads, were the foods when my grandmother and aunt came for an extended visit.

Ingredients

The dumplings are potato based and boiled on the stove top.  I'd suggest making 1/2 the amount unless you are cooking for a crowd because these dumplings are 'heavy and filling',  Not the southern chicken-and-dumpling fare.

I will post the ingredients and a link to a YouTube link for a detailed demo by a Czech home-cook. Spoken in English.

Her recipe differs from mine a little (I don't use Wonder flour) but there is no difference in taste.

YouTube Potato Dumplings Cooking Demo

She has 5 or 6 potatoes for her dumplings.  ( I would 1/2 the recipe if you are cooking for 3 or 4 people)

3 T., unsalted butter

2 eggs

3 cups of Wonder flour

Salt

1/4 cup of milk

The potatoes are boiled in a pot of salted water, drained (unpeeled, uncut) and after cooling, kept covered in the refrigerator over night (or until cooled).

The video is 1:33 minutes in length.

after refrigeration over night ingredients are lightly kneed l

Then formed in to 2 large dumplings

Sliced and served on a large platter

Click here to listen to Anton Lada (my relative) and the "Louisiana 5"--the first band ever to go on tour. 

https://secondhandsongs.com/artist/78812/works



Click here to listen and watch traditional Czech music and dance

I hope you enjoyed today's mini-vaca from the warmth of your own kitchen.

As the Czechs say: Rodina je jedním z mistrovských děl přírody. - 


"The family is one of nature's masterpieces."