Swedish potato dumplings (Kroppkakor)
Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 2:17 pmA traditional Swedish dish. Typical winter food. Traditionally served with melted butter and lingonberry jam, but personally I'm not very fond of the jam. The butter can also be excluded because of an already high fat content. Allspice is used in many Swedish dishes, from herring to meat. This is because one of our few colonies ever was St Barthélemy in the West Indies during the 18th and 19th century, and one of their major export goods was allspice. To this day, Sweden remains the largest consumer per capita of allspice in the world. If you hate allspice, exclude it. It's important that the dough isn't stiff since it will be like rubber when boiled. The challenge is to make the dough as soft as possible (by adjusting the amount of flour) but not so soft that it falls apart when boiling. Boiling a sample before making the dumplings the first time may be a good idea.
4 servings
Ingredients:
1.2-1.5 kg large potatoes
0.3-0.5 l plain wheat flour (not the self-rising variety)
1 egg
½ tsp salt
300-400 g salted belly bacon, unsmoked (home cured of course
), diced
1 onion, coarsely chopped
½ leek, coarsely chopped
1 tsp allspice, crushed
½ tsp black pepper, crushed
(Salt)
Melted butter (optional)
Lingonberry or cranberry jam (optional)
Method:
Boil the poatoes, skin on, until soft (ca 20 minutes). Drain and let cool.
Sautée the bacon slowly in its own fat until almost crisp.
Add onion and leek and sautée until they are soft. Add allspice and pepper and let cool.
Peel and grate the potatoes and mix to a dough with the egg, ½ tsp salt and the flour. The amount of flour depends on how mushy the potatoes are. The dough should be soft but not sticky. Boil a sample if you feel unsure. The boiled sample should be soft but not fall apart.
Divide into twelve patties and top each with 1-2 tbsp of the pork mixture. Roll into large balls with the filling inside. The remaining pork mixture is served hot à part (on the side).
Bring four litres of slightly salted water to a boil in a large pot. Put in the balls and boil (lid off) until they float to the surface plus five minutes more. Pick them up with a slotted spoon.
Serve hot with the remaining meat, melted butter and jam if desired. Leftovers can be heated in the micro oven or halved and fried in butter.
4 servings
Ingredients:
1.2-1.5 kg large potatoes
0.3-0.5 l plain wheat flour (not the self-rising variety)
1 egg
½ tsp salt
300-400 g salted belly bacon, unsmoked (home cured of course
), diced
1 onion, coarsely chopped
½ leek, coarsely chopped
1 tsp allspice, crushed
½ tsp black pepper, crushed
(Salt)
Melted butter (optional)
Lingonberry or cranberry jam (optional)
Method:
Boil the poatoes, skin on, until soft (ca 20 minutes). Drain and let cool.
Sautée the bacon slowly in its own fat until almost crisp.
Add onion and leek and sautée until they are soft. Add allspice and pepper and let cool.
Peel and grate the potatoes and mix to a dough with the egg, ½ tsp salt and the flour. The amount of flour depends on how mushy the potatoes are. The dough should be soft but not sticky. Boil a sample if you feel unsure. The boiled sample should be soft but not fall apart.
Divide into twelve patties and top each with 1-2 tbsp of the pork mixture. Roll into large balls with the filling inside. The remaining pork mixture is served hot à part (on the side).
Bring four litres of slightly salted water to a boil in a large pot. Put in the balls and boil (lid off) until they float to the surface plus five minutes more. Pick them up with a slotted spoon.
Serve hot with the remaining meat, melted butter and jam if desired. Leftovers can be heated in the micro oven or halved and fried in butter.
