To me, this is heaven on a plate. I absolutely love sauerkraut and dumplings. It's one of those weird meals that you have in your family that normal people have never heard of, and you either love it or hate it. I fall into the deep, passionate love category (as do my brothers, who are probably drooling over the photographs right now, wishing they were at my house so they could dig in to this pot of sauerkraut wonderfullness - yes, I know that's not a word, but it sounds good).
I don't really have a recipe for this. I've just watched my mom make it over the years (no, she doesn't have a recipe either) and now know what to do. But, for those sauerkraut lovers out there that want to give this a try, I've done my best to give you a recipe to follow. This is a large recipe because our family always fights over the dumplings.
Ingredients:
2 32oz. pkgs of sauerkraut
2 14 oz. pkgs of polish or smoked sausage - I used the low fat kind (you can also make this with a pork roast, which is even better in my opinion, but I didn't have the time to mess with it this time)
12 eggs
4-5 cups flour
water
Directions:
1. Dump the sauerkraut into a large stock pot. Add water to the pot until it almost covers the sauerkraut.
2. Cut the sausage into the size of pieces that make you happy. I cut mine into fourths (there are two large links per package).
3. Bring the pot to a boil.
4. In a large mixer bowl, mix the dozen eggs with 4 to 5 cups of flour. This is your dumpling batter. You want the consistency to be kind of like cookie dough. It should be pretty wet and sticky, but you don't want it to be runny.
5. Drop large spoonfuls of the dumpling mixture into the boiling pot. Be sure they get down in the liquid. I just use a large tablespoon and push the dough off with my finger (yes, I wash my hands first - geez).
6. Put a lid on the pot and let the stuff cook for a good 15 minutes or so. The dumplings will fluff up and fill the pot. You can let them cook as long as you want, but if you are like me, you will want to get to them as soon as possible.
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13 comments:
I will be dreaming of these for weeks... :)
believe it or not i have been making this for over 20 years and my mom a looooong time before that.to make this a little quicker.use the dinner rolls that come in the pop open containers.i put them in whole all the way around the pot.they come up soooooooooooooooooooo fluffy it is like a fluffy cloud that melts in your mouth.i am going to try your type though also.thanks for the recipe
Here in Minnesota, we have a brand of sauerkraut that comes in rather bilious green-colored cans called "Frank's". There are two kinds, and we love the 'Bavarian Style'.
It's not as pungent as regular bagged sauerkraut and has caraway seeds in it, which by being Polish, is the way my Mom always made sauerkraut. I suppose you could always add a little Karo white syrup and caraway seeds to regular sauerkraut.
We love to put onion slices (lots, like 6 large onions) in the bottom of the roasting pan, add country-style pork ribs, a couple cans of Frank's Bavarian, and let her rip in the oven or crockpot until you absolutely can't stand it anymore, or until the onions get nice and golden brown, caramelized and dig in.
People that hate sauerkraut will always ask with an inquiring, sniffing nose "What are you cooking?!", and they are generally the first in line with a plate and fork.
I cook them until the ribs are so tender they fall off the bone, if we can wait that long. It's a good recipe to put in the crocker, or if you want to warm the house up, in the oven. There is really no time given, depending if you use a large roaster and place in one layer, or 'clump' it all upon each other for 'cozyness'. When the meat is fork tender, and you can't stand it anymore, bring fork.
I am going to steal the dumpling recipe however, and see if I can't implement those on top of our Bavarian ribs the next time. Thanks so very, very much for the idea and recipe.
Cait
mmmm one of my absolute favorites!!
Mmmm, so delicious!! The worst part is, my husband absolutely hates sauerkraut! I'm going to make some for myself for lunch!!
My mom let's the sourkraut cook all day on really low! We just had it for xmas! I love the stuff and didn't realize that it wasn't a normal meal. Funny you learn something new everyday!
These are amazing and taste just like my czech grandmother's. I'm taking a crockpot full to work today for a potluck. Thanks for the 15 min recipe of perfection.
We called nip. My gramma always made it for us but she recently passed so I have been searching for a recipe! Yay! Thanks
So glad to find your recipe. I hit it on the first try from google.
My birthday is Monday and my mother always made me Sauerkraut with back bones and dumplings for my special day.
I kind of remembered how it was made. She too never had a recipe.
I will make my own dinner this year. Mom is in assisted living and can no longer remember how to cook.
And surprisingly enough, I read your profile and see your from Missouri. So am I, Jefferson city area.
Patti.
My mother-in-law used to make sauerkraut n dumplings, being from the west coast I never heard of such a thing. My husband loves the dish. So, she used sauerkraut either Bavarian or out of the bag, boiled it with polish sausage, kielbasa sausage, or smoked; (my sister-in-law used pork ribs) boil with onion all day then,,,the dumplings....(so just likea above receipt) easy- flour and eggs that's it...a mixture that's not runny...drop in sauerkraut &sausage when they're plump... done. Yummm.
Try this for your Sauerkraut. My Old Danish Mother used to get an Apple (Any kind) peel and cut into chunks add to Sauerkraut with a "Dash" of milk some Brown Sugar. Simmer until Apples have cooked into the Sauerkraut. Tyr it. I guess this is the Scandinavian way.
Thanks for the recipe - looks like what I grew up eating on New Year's Day every year, but since I moved to the midwest, no one here knows that tradition. Plan to make these tomorrow for New Year's Day!
My mom taught me this recipe. Except I make my dumplings with milk and season with a little salt. I also add brown sugar and caraway seeds to my pot to cut the bitterness of the kraut. Sometimes I even fry up the kielbasa instead of boiling it. I brought this recipe with me when I moved to texas from Wisconsin and my hubby loves it.
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