Fränkische Kartoffelklöße

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Fine box grater or potato grater
• •Clean linen towel or potato sack for pressing
• •Potato ricer
• •Wide 5 litre pot
• •Slotted spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Boil one third

   Boil the 600g potatoes in salted water until they fall apart when pressed with a fork, then drain them hard and let them stand uncovered for a few minutes. Floury potatoes matter here because they break dry and mealy; waxy potatoes stay slick and make a dough that fights you.

   You can boil these potatoes the day before and chill them. Cold cooked potato firms the dough, which helps if this is your first Kloß.
2. 2

   Toast the bread

   Melt the butter in a pan and fry the bread cubes until they are crisp and golden on all sides. They go in the middle of the dumpling, so pale bread turns soggy there; browned bread keeps its bite and gives the Kloß its little center.

3. 3

   Grate the raw potato

   Fill a bowl with cold water and the vinegar or lemon juice, then grate the 1.2kg raw potatoes finely into it. The acid slows the greying while you work, but it won't save wet dough; it only buys you time.

4. 4

   Press bone dry

   Lift the grated potato into a clean cloth and wring it over a bowl until no more liquid runs easily and the potato feels almost crumbly. This is the step. Water left in the raw potato makes the dumplings loose and grey because the starch disperses into the pot instead of binding the dough.

5. 5

   Keep the starch

   Let the pressed potato water sit for 10 minutes, then pour off the brown liquid and keep the white starch settled at the bottom. Scrape that starch into the pressed raw potato. Weggeworfen wird nichts, and this starch is the glue you earned by pressing properly.

6. 6

   Mix the dough

   Rice or mash the cooked potatoes very smooth, then mix them with the pressed raw potato, the recovered starch, salt, and a small pinch of nutmeg. Work it briefly with your hands until it holds together; long kneading wakes up the starch and makes the dough rubbery. If it feels wet after a proper pressing, add potato starch one tablespoon at a time.

7. 7

   Shape and fill

   Wet your hands, divide the dough into 8 pieces, and flatten each one slightly. Put a few toasted bread cubes in the middle, close the dough around them, and roll gently into smooth balls. Sealed dumplings matter because cracks invite water in, and water is already the enemy here.

8. 8

   Cook without boiling

   Bring a wide pot of salted water to a boil, then lower it until the surface only trembles. Slide in the dumplings and cook 20 to 25 minutes, until they float and feel set when lifted with a spoon. Boiling beats the starch loose and breaks the Klöße open; trembling water cooks them through without bullying them.

9. 9

   Drain and serve

   Lift the Klöße out with a slotted spoon and let them drain for a minute on a warm plate. Serve them with roast gravy, mushroom sauce, or browned butter and onions. Nicht aus dem Glas: if there is sauce on the table, make it from the pan or the mushrooms, not from a packet. Schön ist, was schmeckt.

Chef Tips

• •Use floury potatoes, the kind sold for mash. The dumpling needs dry starch, not waxy firmness.
• •Press harder than you think. A good Franconian Kloß begins in the cloth, not in the pot.
• •Cook one test dumpling first. If it feathers at the edge, add a spoon of potato starch to the remaining dough before you risk the whole batch.
• •Leftover Klöße are breakfast if you know what you're doing: slice them cold and fry them in butter until crisp at the edges.

Advance Preparation

• •Boil the cooked-potato portion up to 24 hours ahead and refrigerate it uncovered once cool, so it dries instead of sweating.
• •Toast the bread cubes a day ahead and keep them loosely covered at room temperature; sealed warm cubes soften.
• •Shape the Klöße up to 2 hours ahead and keep them covered on a starch-dusted tray in the refrigerator. Cook from cold in trembling water and give them a few extra minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 380g)