Gefillde

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Potato ricer
• •Wide shallow pot with lid
• •Large slotted spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the potatoes

   Boil the potatoes in their skins until a knife goes through cleanly, then drain and peel them while still hot. Rice them straight away onto a wide tray. Hot potato rices dry and light; cold potato turns waxy and fights the ricer.

2. 2

   Cool the potato

   Spread the riced potato out and leave it until fully cold, at least 45 minutes. This is not waiting for politeness. Warm potato keeps giving off moisture and starts cooking the egg, and that is how a dumpling dough turns to glue.

3. 3

   Make the filling

   Cook the onion in the butter or lard until soft and sweet, then cool it. Mix it with the liver sausage or minced pork, parsley, marjoram, and black pepper. If using raw mince, season it firmly and keep the balls small, because the filling must cook through before the potato skin overcooks.

4. 4

   Mix the dough

   Work the cold riced potato with the eggs, potato starch, salt, and nutmeg just until it holds together. Do not knead it like bread. Potato starch swells fast, and too much working makes the dough tight and heavy.

5. 5

   Fill the dumplings

   Divide the dough into 12 pieces. Flatten each one in a damp palm, set a spoonful of filling in the centre, then close the dough around it and roll it smooth. No cracks. A crack is a door for water, and water in the filling means the dumpling opens in the pot.

   Cook one test dumpling first. If it slumps or frays, work another spoon of potato starch into the dough before shaping the rest.
6. 6

   Warm the kraut

   Put the sauerkraut in a wide pot with the bay leaf, juniper, and enough reserved liquor or water to keep it moist. Bring it to a gentle simmer. The kraut is the bed for the dumplings, and its sharpness cuts the bacon cream so the plate stays awake.

7. 7

   Poach gently

   Set the dumplings on the sauerkraut or lower them into barely trembling salted water if your pot is narrow. Keep the heat low and cook 20 to 25 minutes, turning once if needed. Runter mit der Temperatur. A hard boil beats the dough apart before the centre has warmed through.

8. 8

   Make bacon cream

   Fry the bacon in a pan until the fat has run and the edges are crisp, then pour in the cream and a splash of sauerkraut liquor. Simmer until glossy and lightly thickened. The kraut liquor matters; it keeps the sauce from tasting flat and heavy.

9. 9

   Serve at once

   Spoon sauerkraut onto warm plates, set the Gefillde on top, and ladle over the bacon cream. Split one open so the filling shows. Würzen, Fett, Salz zum Schluss: taste the sauce now, because bacon brings salt and the kraut brings acid. Schön ist, was schmeckt.

Chef Tips

• •Use floury potatoes, not waxy salad potatoes. Floury potatoes fall apart when boiled, and that dry starch is what lets the dumpling hold without turning rubbery.
• •Liver sausage gives the Saarland character: savoury, soft, and a little mineral. If you use minced pork instead, season it with marjoram and pepper, or the middle tastes like a meatball that lost its way.
• •Keep the poaching water below a boil. Gefillde need quiet heat, because the outside is potato dough and the inside needs time to warm through.
• •Save the sauerkraut liquor. A spoonful in the cream sauce gives acid and salt together, and Weggeworfen wird nichts.

Advance Preparation

• •The potatoes can be boiled, riced, and cooled up to one day ahead; cover them loosely in the refrigerator so they dry slightly instead of sweating.
• •The filling can be mixed a day ahead and kept cold. Shape the dumplings the day you cook them, because filled raw potato dough sitting too long starts to weep.
• •Cooked Gefillde reheat best sliced and browned gently in bacon fat, with leftover sauerkraut beside them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 460g)