Conference turris::cooks

    Look in the gourmet section of your grocery store for a box mix.
    It's good.  Also, check the Joy of Cooking cookbook - I think it's
    in there.  Otherwise send me a note because I do have a recipe from
    a German cookbook I can post.
    

spaetzel is a form of dumpling actually, and is really simple.  You don't
need a pasta machine as my grandmother simply "cut" the dough off the end
of a chopping board into gently boiling water and cooked the little lumps until
they floated.  Drain, toss with butter, or serve with favorite gravy.

Nana's recipe had no actual measurments, but I've come close to duplicating
it by using the recipe for dumplings on the back of the Bisquik box
(yeah, I know - its got lard in it, but it works real well for this)
and mixing with an extra egg and enough more bisquik to make a stiff
dough.  place dough in a long narrow piece on a flat board or on a plate.
Hold the plate over a large pot of GENTLY boiling water - very important
to not boil too hard or the dumplings will disentegrate on you - and
cut off small chunks of dough about the size of the tip of your little
finger and push into the water with a sharp knife.  Don't add more than
what can float on the water at one time, and don't let the water stop
boiling...so you have to pace yourself when cooking these little devils.
When they float, they are done.

	WARNING - WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT DIET FOOD HERE!

    
    
    	I recently bought a device called a Spaetzle maker. It is made
    by a company called Rowoco. It cost $6.88 at a local kitchen tool
    store. The spaetzle maker looks like grater with one side and a
    little container sits on top of it and slides back and forth. The
    recipe for the noodles is
    
    	3 whole eggs beaten & frothy
    	3 cups sifted flour
    	1 cup milk
    	3 tablespoons
    	1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
    	Salt
    	Boiling salted water or chicken broth
    
    	In an electric mixer beat flour a bit at a time into the eggs.
    Add salt and nutmeg to taste. Beat milk in a little at a time and
    beat until well blended. About 5 minutes. Now use the spaetzle maker
    or cut into small noodles. Put into boiling water or chicken broth
    and stir to keep from sticking. When they are done they float. Drain
    in a strainer and toss with butter and serve.
    
    
    I have never tried this recipe yet so if you do let us know how
    it works out.
    
    							jim

    I make my own spaetzle by putting 2 cups flour in a bowl and adding
    an egg and mixing up a bit until it gets fairly well mixed and adding
    water to make a fairly stiff dough and dropping it into a meatball
    and gravy mixture.  To make this I make meatballs and brown in deep
    2 to 3 quart pan and when browned add 1 package of dry onion soup
    mix and water to reconstitute and bring to boil and then cut spaetzle
    dough into the meatball mix and let cook as said in the other replys.
    Yummy Yummy!!!

    
    	I made the Spaetzles againg last night but instead of using
    white flour I used wheat flour. They turned out just as good. I
    did cut down on the amount of flour and added one more egg whether
    really affected the outcome our not I am not sure. Anyways they
    were good.
    
    					Jim

This is from Mimi Sheraton's, *The German Cookbook*, New York: Random House,
1965, pp. 34-5.  I've used this recipe several times -- it's authentic as
I remember the soup from my years in Germany.

"This is the favorite midnight snack of the Bavarians.  It is served in
bowls or in individual pewter casserole-porringers in the crowded Munich
beer halls.  To be at its best, this soup should be made the day before 
you intend to serve it.

                                                     4 to 6 servings

1 pound beef (chuck, shin, neck)      1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoons fresh lard or ren-      1 tablespoon caraway seeds
    dered beef fat, or bacon fat     1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1 large onion, diced                  1 clove garlic
1 heaping tablespooon Hungarian      1.5-2 quarts water
    sweet paprika                     3 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and
salt and pepper                           diced
2 tablespoons vinegar (I use white
    wine vinegar)

Cut beef into 3/4" to 1" cubes.  Heat lard or beef fat in 3-quart saucepan
and saute' onion until golden.  Sprinkle with paprika and saute' a minute
or two, stirring constantly over very low heat.  Add beef and stir around well 
in paprika and onion mixture.  Let meat sear and brown very slightly.  Sprinkle
with salt, pepper, and vinegar and stir in tomato paste.  Simmer 3-4 minutes,
then add caraway seeds, marjoram, garlic and water.  Bring to boiling point,
cover and simmer gently 45 minutes, or until meat is almost done.  Add diced
potatoes and cook slowly 15-20 minutes longer, or until meat and potatoes are
thoroughly cooked.  Check seasoning and serve in deep bowls."

          SEMMELKNOEDEL      (BAVARIAN BREAD DUMPLING)
    
    6-8 hard rolls, stale if possible; sliced very fine
    1 c boiling milk    pour over sliced bread cover all this to let
        it steam,  don't let them get too wet!
    
    while your waiting, braise in a bit of butter finely diced onion,
    parsley and grated lemon peel. This mixture also gets poured into
    the bread,add 1-3 eggs,salt pepper and maybe a spoonfull of flour
    if to wet.  MIx all of this with a fork as not to squoosh it together
    and then form light balls the size of your hands.  These have to
    be cooked in boiling salted water.  Just simmer not a rolling boil,
    'till they come to the top of the water and sort of dance around
    Takes about 8-10 min.
    
    Serve wiuth a lot of gravy, etc.
    
    if in trouble ,do not hesitate to let me know.  There is an art
    to making these, and eating them.  Never cut them, break them apart
    with two forks.   
    
    

                       Ham-Knoedel
    Are the same as Semmelknoedel, but yoy add around 4-8 oz. chopped
    ham, and a lot of finely chopped onions,that have been lightly browned
    in olive oil, or margerine.
    
    
                       Liver-Knoedel
    Do not use as much milk!
    Prepare as for Semmelknoedel,but add one whole onion finely chopped,
    Scrape the liver from the skins and sinius ,then put through food-
    chopper,and then mix with the bread.  To the 6-8 hard rolls give
    salt,pepper,majoram or thymian and up to 8oz liver.  The dough may
    be slightly soft at first , because it gets a little thicker as
    it stands for a while.   
    
    

                         
                              Cheese-Knoedel
    Start with the basic bread-knoedel recipe but as you form the balls
    make them a little larger and encase some diced cheese and parsley.
    Especially good with herb-cheeses.
    
    As you perhaps noticed, you can add almost anything to knoedel.
    I will post some more recipies in here in the near future. 

    
              Rice-Knoedel from Munich
    4oz. Butter or Margerine = creamed
    2-3 eggs slightly beaten, mix into creamed butter
    2 c (heaping) cooked rice, cold
    4-8oz. chopped ham
    salt, pepper, majoram, parsley, nutmeg, for seasoning.
    
    Continue working with dough as in previous knoedel,  cook in boiling
    water.  But with this dough make a sample knoedel first, to make
    sure that it will not fall apart.  
    
    All knoedel should feel like light meatballs before they are cooked.  

    A favorite at our house is to mix hot spaetzle with cooked green beans
    and butter, season with dried basil salt and pepper. This is my version
    of a frozen dish called bavarian green beans.

    The most popular type in our household (although
    we do have either semmel knoedel or the kind maid from cream
    of wheat) is the kind made from potatoes (raw or cooked)
    
    The way Mom makes them when she doesn't have time though,
    is from a package. There are one or two brand names (Panni is
    one) that sell the stuff to make it from -- they are readily available
    at any german/european deli. They are easy to make, and taste
    very very good (my Bavarian uncle was fooled into thinking mom
    made them from scratch).
    
    Monica
    (knoedel, rotkohl and rouladen, my very very favourite dinner)