Grammelknödel

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large pot for boiling potatoes and simmering Knödel
• •Potato ricer (not a masher, not a fork, a ricer)
• •Wide pan (28cm) for browning butter and breadcrumbs
• •Slotted spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook and rice the potatoes

   Boil the potatoes whole and unpeeled in well-salted water until a knife slides through without resistance, about 25 to 30 minutes depending on size. Drain them and peel while still hot. This matters. Cold potatoes resist the ricer and give you a lumpy, gluey dough. Hold each potato in a clean kitchen towel and peel with a small knife, then press through a potato ricer onto a clean work surface. Spread the riced potato out and let it cool until you can comfortably work it with your hands, about ten minutes.

   Use floury potatoes, not waxy ones. Mehlige Kartoffeln fall apart slightly when cooked, which is exactly what you want. They rice smoothly and absorb just enough flour without turning heavy. Waxy potatoes make a gummy dough that no amount of technique can rescue.
2. 2

   Prepare the Grammel filling

   While the potatoes cook, make the filling. Melt the lard or butter in a small pan over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook gently until soft and translucent, about five minutes. You don't want color here, just sweetness. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the chopped Grammeln and the marjoram. Season generously with salt and pepper. The filling should taste punchy and well-seasoned because it needs to hold its own inside all that potato. Let it cool enough to handle.

   If you can't find Grammeln at a butcher, you can render your own from pork back fat. Cut it into small cubes, cook slowly in a heavy pan with a splash of water until the fat renders out and the solids turn golden and crispy. Strain and save the rendered lard for cooking. The crispy bits left behind are your Grammeln.
3. 3

   Make the potato dough

   Gather the cooled riced potato into a mound. Sprinkle the griffiges Mehl, salt, and nutmeg over the top. Make a small well and add the egg and melted butter. Work everything together with your hands, folding and pressing until you have a smooth, soft dough. This takes two to three minutes, no more. The dough should hold together when you shape it but still feel slightly tacky. If it's too sticky to work, add flour a tablespoon at a time. If it feels stiff and dry, you've gone too far.

   Every batch of potatoes holds a different amount of moisture, so the flour is always a guideline, not a rule. Start with less than you think you need. You can always add more. You can never take it back. Gretel always said a good Knödel dough should feel like it might fall apart and then doesn't.
4. 4

   Shape the dumplings

   Dust your work surface lightly with flour. Divide the dough into twelve equal pieces, roughly the size of a golf ball. Flatten each piece into a round disc in the palm of your hand, about eight centimeters across. Place a heaped teaspoon of the Grammel filling in the center. Bring the edges of the dough up around the filling and pinch them closed, then gently roll the dumpling between your palms until smooth and round. The seal needs to be complete or the filling will escape during cooking. Set each finished Knödel on a floured board.

5. 5

   Simmer the Knödel

   Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a rolling boil, then reduce the heat until the surface is barely trembling. A gentle simmer, not a boil. This is critical. Vigorous boiling will tear the dumplings apart. Lower the Knödel into the water in batches, no more than six at a time so they aren't crowded. They'll sink to the bottom. When they float to the surface, cook them for another four to five minutes. That floating moment tells you the inside is cooked through. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and drain on a clean towel.

   Test one dumpling from the first batch by cutting it open. The dough should be cooked through with no raw floury center, and the Grammel filling should be warm and fragrant. If the center is still dense, give the remaining batches an extra minute.
6. 6

   Brown the butter and breadcrumbs

   Melt the finishing butter in a wide pan over medium heat. When it foams and the foam begins to subside, add the Semmelbrösel. Stir constantly. The breadcrumbs will turn from pale to deep golden in about two minutes and the butter will smell nutty and toasted. Pull the pan off the heat the moment the color looks right. Browned butter turns to burnt butter in seconds and there's no coming back from that.

7. 7

   Serve the Grammelknödel

   Arrange three Knödel per plate. Spoon the browned butter and toasted breadcrumbs over the top, letting it pool around the base of the dumplings. Serve with warm Sauerkraut on the side. The sharp, fermented tang of the Sauerkraut cuts right through the richness of the pork cracklings and the butter. That contrast is the whole point of the plate. Mahlzeit!

Chef Tips

• •Buy your Grammeln from a butcher who renders their own pork fat, or make them yourself. The pre-packaged versions sold in bags at some shops are often stale and taste like cardboard. Fresh Grammeln should smell porky and clean, and they should shatter when you bite them.
• •Marjoram is the herb that makes this dish taste like Upper Austria. Don't substitute oregano, even though they're related. Marjoram is sweeter and gentler, and it has a particular affinity for pork fat that oregano can't match. If you can find fresh marjoram, use twice the amount.
• •If you have leftover Knödel, slice them about a centimeter thick the next day and fry the slices in butter until golden on both sides. This is called geröstete Knödel, and some people (myself included) think the leftovers are better than the original.
• •Don't skip the nutmeg in the dough. It's a tiny amount but it wakes everything up. Austrian potato doughs almost always have a grating of nutmeg, and the dish tastes flat without it.

Advance Preparation

• •The Grammel filling can be made a day ahead and refrigerated. Bring it to room temperature before filling the dumplings so it's easier to work with.
• •Shaped, uncooked Knödel can rest on a floured board in the fridge for up to two hours before cooking. Don't leave them longer or the moisture from the potato will make the surface sticky.
• •Cooked Knödel can be reheated by placing them in simmering water for two to three minutes, or sliced and pan-fried in butter the next day.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 450g)