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Dumpling Update: Maultaschen
Dec. 4th, 2011 07:13 pmThat's apparently German for Large Beef- and Spinach-Filled Dumplings in a Beef Broth, which is a pretty accurate description. They are like raviolis filled with meatloaf and cooked like pelmeni. Actually a November recipe, but it is barely December, so I feel okay about that.
I was able to clear off enough of the table to roll the dough out there instead of on a counter or the pull-out cutting board and that was a big improvement. Better motivation to keep it cleared than using it for eating. My back is still sore; as I was rolling out the dough I would think to myself "didn't I read something about not pressing down on the rolling pin? I should try that" but I kept muscling through. Just been rolling out dough that way for a long time, y'know?
Anyway, it's a pretty easy dough to work with. I didn't quite get it as thin as I was supposed to - something to remember for next time - but that will be easier to get right if I cut down the quantity I make. It's like rolling out 4 large pies. That's tiring. The full recipe is supposed to make 24 dumplings and I only eked out 19, and didn't come close to using all the filling. I made a sort of mini-lasagne-esque thing to of the leftover scraps of dough (the book says they'll be too dry to be re-kneaded and rolled out again, but I tried and was able to manage that once) and the leftover filling. That was pretty good, too. The thicker dough made for a very chewy dumpling (that needed to simmer a little longer than the recipe called for), which wasn't bad, but I imagine thinner will be better.
I totally cheated on the beef broth and used store bought. Not bad, but when it's just dumplings in broth, the broth is kind of important and I've had homemade recently enough to really notice the difference. Some time when I haven't just made a vat of turkey stock I'll do a proper Beef Broth with German flavors and try some of these in that. 3 servings in the freezer, after all.
I was able to clear off enough of the table to roll the dough out there instead of on a counter or the pull-out cutting board and that was a big improvement. Better motivation to keep it cleared than using it for eating. My back is still sore; as I was rolling out the dough I would think to myself "didn't I read something about not pressing down on the rolling pin? I should try that" but I kept muscling through. Just been rolling out dough that way for a long time, y'know?
Anyway, it's a pretty easy dough to work with. I didn't quite get it as thin as I was supposed to - something to remember for next time - but that will be easier to get right if I cut down the quantity I make. It's like rolling out 4 large pies. That's tiring. The full recipe is supposed to make 24 dumplings and I only eked out 19, and didn't come close to using all the filling. I made a sort of mini-lasagne-esque thing to of the leftover scraps of dough (the book says they'll be too dry to be re-kneaded and rolled out again, but I tried and was able to manage that once) and the leftover filling. That was pretty good, too. The thicker dough made for a very chewy dumpling (that needed to simmer a little longer than the recipe called for), which wasn't bad, but I imagine thinner will be better.
I totally cheated on the beef broth and used store bought. Not bad, but when it's just dumplings in broth, the broth is kind of important and I've had homemade recently enough to really notice the difference. Some time when I haven't just made a vat of turkey stock I'll do a proper Beef Broth with German flavors and try some of these in that. 3 servings in the freezer, after all.