Dumplings - the same visiting card of Czech and Slovak national cuisine, as dumplings with cherries - Ukrainian, and cabbage soup - Russian. There are a lot of ways to cook them. In fact, you can make a weekly menu of dumplings alone, eat them three times a day, and never repeat the dish. They are made from flour, potatoes and cabbage, meat and cottage cheese, just from bread crumb, with onions and spices. Make spicy, piquant, sweet - from fruits, marmalade, with poppy seeds and jam. And served with first courses or as an independent treat. In a word, Czech cuisine is a real abundance of dumplings!
Dish specifics
However, not only Czechs and Slovaks are happy to eat them. No less known are these foods in Germany and Austria. It is believed that it was the Viennese cooks who developed the first recipes, and even the Czechs improved them and brought them to the “mind”. Products are made in the form of loaves or balls, with or without filling. They relate to dough dishes, boiled in boiling water or steamed. What are the Czech dumplings, their recipe - all this you will read in this article.
Dumplings and dumplings
In Slavic cuisine, the delicacy that interests us has a “sibling” - dumplings. They are very similar in composition of ingredients, in production technology. And also applicable for all occasions of unforeseen guests or lunch breaks. This is especially characteristic of
Belarusian cuisine. Just as Czech dumplings, the recipe of which consists of meat or potato ingredients, are served with cracklings and fried onions, so Belarusians are happy to eat them with onion gravy or put in different soups. However, let's get closer to the food!
Potato dumplings
This is a wonderful treat, hearty and tasty, it’s not difficult to cook. It is a potato Czech dumplings. The recipe is designed for 4-5 servings. If you wish, you can increase the number of products and get more pieces of the product at the output. In the meantime, take 1-2 cups of flour (the dough should be cool, so how much you need for sure - you will judge as you knead), 2-3 eggs, a little salt. Make the dough, roll it into a ball, leave it for 20 minutes under a towel. And do the stuffing for now. Yes, because these Czech dumplings the recipe prescribes to cook with stuffed ones!
To do this, peel and rub 7-8 raw potatoes on a fine grater, so that the mass is tender. Melt the pork lard and fry finely chopped 2 large onions on it until golden. Squeeze out the potato mass, mix with frying, salt, pepper well. The dumplings recipe is as follows: cut the pieces from the dough, roll out the thick layers, cut them into squares of equal size, small. Put the filling, chop and cook in boiling salted water for 10-12 minutes. Serving the dish is recommended with sour cream or with cracklings, be sure to sprinkle with herbs. And ground black pepper. As a pleasant addition, the dumplings recipe recommends preparing a salad of fresh or canned cucumbers and tomatoes or vegetable caviar (cold).
Mushroom dumplings
But this is a true delicacy. The most fastidious gourmets will not refuse to try such a meal. After all, mushrooms and potatoes are an ideal combination, especially in this type of culinary products. How to cook dumplings in Czech from these products? You will need: potatoes - 1 kg, mushrooms - 500-700 gr, milk - 150-170 gr, a few tablespoons of butter, a little cheese (grated), 120-150 gr of lard (or bacon), a few handfuls of green onion (chopped finely ), sour cream for dressing, 1-2 onion heads, pickled (pickled) cucumbers.
What to do with all this? Peel the raw potatoes and grate them on a fine grater. Squeeze the juice well. Boil the milk and pour into the grated mass. Mushrooms need to be washed, peeled, finely chopped, fry well or stew in butter. Separately fry the onion (not green!) In vegetable oil until golden brown. Combine potatoes, frying and mushrooms, salt, add pepper, dried herbs (seasoning), a little crushed garlic. Mix well.
Boil water, salt. Using 2 tablespoons or hands, form round or oval Czech dumplings from potato dough and dip in boiling water. Take out with a slotted spoon as it pops up. For dressing from sour cream and salted pork, prepare a white sauce, add green onion to it, add a little dill. The dish is served hot. Crispy pickled or pickled cucumbers are ideal for it.
Liver dumplings
What else can you please lovers of delicious food with a soul? In this case, there are liver Czech dumplings. A photo of the dish will make even the most negligent housewives enthusiastically roll up their sleeves and get down to business. After all, it is rare when a culinary delight combines the ease of the cooking process with remarkable culinary qualities.
The list of products: white loaf (bread) - 400 g, liver (pork, beef, chicken - to your taste, which you like more), 50-60 g of lard, you can smoked. And also one and a half or two onions, lemon zest, 250 g of milk, 1-2 eggs, 80-90 grams of flour, 2 tablespoons of potato flour, salt, pepper, herbs to taste.
Cooking technology. Pass the liver, bread, onions, lard, greens through a meat grinder with a medium grate. Salt, pepper, mix well. Heat the milk, breed flour, eggs in it. Pour the mixture into the minced meat, cover and let it brew for about 20 minutes. Then try, if necessary, salt, put the zest. Form dumplings from minced meat, roll in potato flour, put in boiling water and cook on low heat for about 15 minutes. When removed, put on a flat plate, sprinkle with melted butter, sprinkle with crushed walnuts, caraway seeds and herbs.
Dumplings for dessert
As already mentioned, dumplings can be not only the main course, but also a dessert. For example, if they are made from cottage cheese (300 grams), 4 eggs, 100 grams of sugar, 50-70 grams of raisins. It also requires a glass of flour, lemon or orange zest (from 1 citrus), chopped nuts (for powder), a little salt. First knead soft dough (flour, 2 eggs, salt). From the remaining components, prepare a pasty filling. Roll out the dough into thin layers, coat with filling, fold in half. Cut small quadrangles, glue the edges of the slices. Boil dumplings in boiling water over low heat (about half an hour). Take out a slotted spoon, sprinkle with nuts. Serve with sour cream, whipped with sugar and vanilla.
Here they are wonderful - Czech dumplings!