Potato Dumplings Filled with Smoked Meat and Sauerkraut

Filled potato dumplings are quite popular meal in Czech Republic, and it’s very easy to prepare. The most common filling is smoked meat, which can be enriched with bacon. Interesting alternative can be pork scratching. Potatoes for  dough can be boiled a day before. But once you make the dough, try to work with it immediately. In time it begins to thin and then it would tear up and be sticky.

Ingredients

  • 1 kg of potatoes
  • 500 g of fine wheat flour
  • 2 eggs
  • tbs of salt
  • 500 g of smoked meat
  • 1 onion for topping

Sauerkraut

 

  • 1 kg of sauerkraut
  • 1 onion
  • salt, caraway
  • 1 spoon of flour
  • lard or oil

Directions

  1. Boil whole unpeeled potatoes. Let cool off, then peel them and grate finely. Add eggs, flour and salt and knead into dough.
  2. Roll into 0,5 cm thick layer and cut to squares of 10 cm x 10 cm.
  3. Put chopped  smoked meat on every square. You can season them with salt and pepper. Then put the corners together and make into a round dumpling.
  4. Boil in steam for 25 minutes. Pinch with skewer after boiling and butter up with lard or oil. Sauerkraut
  5. Fry chopped onion on lard and add sauerkraut with pickle. Season with caraway and salt. Sauté for 15 – 20 minutes. If the sauerkraut is too sour you can sweeten it with sugar. At the end thicken  with flour mixed with a little water.
  6. Fry chopped onion on lard for final garnishing.




Kyselica – Wallachian Sauerkraut Soup

They call it Wallachian Kingdom, Plumdom or Bolkovo, according to known actor Bolek Polívka (Oscar nominated Divided We Fall), who self-proclaimed himself as king of Wallachia. But the real treasure of this region resides in its cuisine. Kyselica is traditional cabbage soup of Wallachia consisting of potatoes and sauerkraut and smoked meat or bratwurst. Poor families of Wallachia had a saying “potatoes and cabbage – living on all age”. But since times changed, smoked meat found its way into the recipe. This thick soup used to be served for breakfast so men had enough strength for all-day work in woods. One portion is so hearty it can substitute lunch. Not to forget sauerkraut soup is very good for a body tormented by hangover from a New Year’s Eve or dancing ball. On the other side of White Carpathians, our federal brothers Slovaks make very similar soup called Kapustnica. While Kyselica is white, Kapustnica is red, because of adding paprika.

Ingredients

  • 300 g of potatoes
  • 400 g sauerkraut
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 6 peppercorns
  • 3 allspice berries
  • 1 onion
  • 1 bratwurst or 200 g of smoked meat
  • 100 g of bacon
  • 2 spoons of butter
  • 3 spoons of soft wheat flour
  • 250 ml of cream or milk
  • pepper
  • salt
  • caraway
  • sugar
  • sour cream

Directions

  1. Peel potatoes, cut in cubes and boil in salt water with caraway.
  2. Squeeze out juice from sauerkraut in pot. Chop sauerkraut and add to pot with peppercorns, bay leaves and allspice. Pour in water and simmer.
  3. Chop onion, bacon and sausage (or meat). Melt butter in pan and stir-fry onion, bacon and sausage.
  4. Dust with flour and pour cream. Then add to sauerkraut with boiled potatoes.
  5. Simmer for another 15 minutes.
  6. Season to taste with salt and pepper and sugar if it’s too sour.
  7. Garnish each portion with sour cream.

Wallachian Kyselica




Pork Roast with Dumplings and Sauerkraut

Pork roast with dumplings and sauerkraut is absolute classic of Czech food and is considered Czech national meal. The title “Vepřo knedlo zelo” says everything about main items on plate. However there can be few alterations, because one can prepare bread dumplings as well as potato dumplings. Other dilemma can arise when it comes to sauerkraut, because someone might prefer from red cabbage. In this recipe you’ll find potato dumplings since recipe for bread dumplings is already posted.

Ingredients

Pork roast

  • 1 kg of pork shoulder roast
  • salt, pepper, caraway
  • 3–4 cloves of garlic
  • 2 onions
  • 2 spoons of lard

Potato dumplings

  • 1 kg of potatoes
  • salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 spoon of milk
  • circa 400g of flour
  • 3 spoons of farina

Sauerkraut

  • 500 g of sauerkraut
  • 1-2 onions
  • 100g of bacon
  • salt, caraway
  • teaspoon of sugar
  • 1 raw potato

Directions

Pork roast

  1. Chop onion in baking pan.
  2. Clean meat and put on onion. Then salt and pepper meat. Spread minced garlic and put caraway on meat.
  3. Add lard and baste with glass of water.
  4. Put in preheated oven 190°C (375°F) for about 2 hours. Baste if necessary.

Potato dumplings

  1. Boil unpeeled potatoes and then let them to cool off.
  2. Peel and grate potatoes and put in bowl and season with salt.
  3. Whisk egg with spoon of milk, add in bowl and mix together with potatoes.
  4. Put on rolling board and gradually thicken with flour and farina until dough is not sticky.
  5. Divide dough in several parts and knead cylinder loaves.
  6. Boil in salted water for 20 minutes.

Saurkraut

  1. Take sauerkraut from brine, let drain and chop.
  2. Chop onion and stir-fry on oil or lard. Add cutted bacon.
  3.  Add sauerkraut and after 10 minutes season with salt, sugar and caraway.
  4. At last thicken with grated potato.