This one's for
Lydia. I do hate typing out recipes...but not quite as much as I hate tackling an over run kitchen and dining room in the middle of the afternoon heat, so here I am, typing out an old family recipe, for an old family friend. ;)
This is a super basic recipe, by the way--one of those that may not make sense to someone who hasn't done it a million times before. I'll try to clarify where I can-but let me know if you have questions.
For the dough:
1 24 ounce container Cottage Cheese
1 stick margarine/butter
6 eggs
4 heaping serving spoons of Cream of Wheat (Sorry! This is how my mom always measured it out, I know it's kinda vague-but the dough's pretty forgiving, really-just go with what feels right in your bones.) ;)
6 heaping serving spoons plain bread crumbs
9-10 heaping serving spoons flour
1/4 tsp salt
Ok- start by blending the cottage cheese 'till smooth in a food processor or blender (in a pinch). Add the margarine/butter and eggs to the smooth cottage cheese and blend it all 'till its nice and creamy.
Next, pour it into a bowl and add the dry ingredients. You'll want the dough to turn out sticky, but mold-able. I usually add the cream of wheat and breadcrumbs, and then just add flour till it feels right.
Toss the whole thing in the fridge while you prepare the breadcrumbs for the outside. It should chill for at least 1/2 hour or so.
For the breadcrumbs:
(I don't even have a recipe for this-so here goes!)
Melt some (like maybe 3/4 stick) butter into a large skillet over medium heat.
Add some (like maybe 3/4 to a full package) of bread crumbs to the butter and brown them slightly. Think toast.
Take off the heat, and add plenty (like at least a cup-probably way more) white sugar and a healthy dose of cinnamon (maybe 2 tablespoons for starters.) Keep tweaking it (by adding more cinnamon or sugar) 'till it tastes like something scrumptious you'd like to coat your dumplings in.
Set aside.
Wash and dry your fruit of choice. (You can use any pitted fruit-peaches, apricots (Mutti always pits the apricots and puts a cube of sugar where the pit used to be to make 'em extra tasty), nectarines, plums...whatever. My personal favorite is nectarines.)
Put a giant pot (or several large pots) filled 3/4 full of water on the stove to boil. Bring 'em to a GENTLE boil-just over a simmer. (You can do that while you're forming the dough-it's just good to get it started so you're not standing around waiting for a pot to boil.)
Pull out your dough, and lay down a good layer of flour on your work surface. Keeping your hands well floured as well, pull about a fist size piece of dough out to cover a medium sized fruit (like a nectarine). Pat it onto the floured surface, flattening your ball and making a kind of 'nest' for your fruit to sit in. Place your fruit in, and gently shmoosh the dough over the fruit, 'till it's totally covered. You should have about 1/2 inch of dough all around the fruit. Make sure to really make a good closure where the dough comes together to keep it from falling apart during the boiling. Lastly, lightly dust the whole outside of the dumpling with flour to help it seal together.
For the 'babies' all you have to do it make tsp/tbsp size balls out of the dough. Just remember to keep those hands floured so the dough doesn't stick to you.
Next, add the dumplings carefully to the gently boiling water. Make sure you don't over crowd one pot-they shouldn't be sitting on top of each other. You can push that rule a bit with the babies, but the fruit filled dumplings are much more picky and delicate. Use a wooden or plastic spoon (so you don't accidentally cut the dumplings) to be sure they don't stick to the bottom of the pot. Don't ever let your water get over a LOW (just over simmering) boil. Otherwise, your dumplings will fall apart. It's best to watch them carefully through the boiling process. (Now is not the time to get that load of laundry in.) When your dumplings are floating and you can easily push a fork right through to the pit, they're done. (Usually about 20 minutes or so.)
Using a slotted spoon, take the dumplings out of the water one by one, and roll each one in the breadcrumbs you've previously prepared. Then set into a cake pan or cookie sheet or whatever you'd like. For the fruit filled ones, I usually just kinda cover them with the breadcrumbs, and pat them onto the the dumplings, rather than rolling the dumplings around-just 'cause they're still pretty delicate fresh out of the water.
Eat 'em hot or chilled-both ways are SCRUMPTIOUS! We always serve them with milk.
Ta da! I know this could be a potentially frustrating recipe. Let me know if there's anything I can clarify for you-or if you want me to be on stand by on the phone while you make 'em, we could set that up too. ;)
