I can't seem to get it right. I can't make dumplings like my grandmother or like the ones I ate in the Czech Rep. Mine are mushy and taste a little too bland. Help!!!
My mom & grandparents make wonderful Czech PEACH dumplings! We have them every year during peach season. Would you like the recipe for those? If so, e-mail me. Belg
Debra, the problem might be that you are not using the right ingredients. It can be a challenge to find the same flour and bread in the States as that used in the Czech Republic. The dumplings can then turn out to be far from perfect. Wishing you good luck! Dana
KNEDLIKY always perfect! Now in CZ you can buy knedliky already made (frozen) ad are very good! However, if anywhere near you is a store name WOODMANS, they also have frozen - perfect - czech dumplings (knedliky)! called bread dumplings. If not, try to use unbleached Gold Medal flour 1/2 and 1/2 with Wondra flour. Make sure the dough is pretty firm. And as for the bread cubes, do not use white bread but french long bread or "backetta". Make 1" slices and leave out for a day then cube. You canlet the cubes dry all out and save unused portion in covered glass jar. Good luck, all what it is now is practise ....
Hey Everyone, I have made Fruit Knedliky (usually Strawberry) here in the US just using normal flour in desperation. The dough ends up looking very sticky and you have to add a whole lot more flour and you knead it till it FINALLY becomes dry enough to work with. It ends up being very doughy and rubbery but if you pour enough butter and powdered sugar over it and even some extra mashed up strawberry filling it doesn't taste half bad for someone DYING to have the delightful stuff again. Opravudu to mi chutna!Ok, maybe that's just me, but anyway. I do wonder if when the reciepe (I have it from a poorly translated cook book I bought in Prague) calls for Cottage Cheese if they really mean just that regular kind you buy in a plastic carton here in the US. I used it and it didn't seem to have too many ill effects but it just doesn't seem right somehow. Anyway, there it is.
Hi Debra, I assume you are talking about bread dumplings here....My Moravian girlfrind and I have been working on this one! I live in the UK and have had exactly the Knedlik problem you have. It took me six months of experimentation with ingredients to get it right here but is is possible!! I have found the solution is to use fine grade semolina flour which is just like czech course wheat flour. We are lucky here becasue we have this from of course ground wheat made into a milk pudding so we can buy a reasonable substitute. You should be able to get this grade of wheat flour from italian food suppliers because they use it for pizza bases. It should be gritty between the fingers not smooth. If it is too coarse it won't work so maybe try a mix of fine flour and semolina flour. You also have to get the yeast right. Try to use fresh yeast if you can but if not make sure you activate dry yeast in warmed milk until it froths up. Try to make sure the ingredients are all warm. If you are making traditional bread dumplings I use bread cubes made from stale french stick bread because it stays whole better and is more spingy in texture like czech bread. When you make the dumpling mix let it rise and then after making the individual knedlik let them rise again to 3/4 their full size in a warm place. I find covering them with a plastic bag is good to stop them drying. If they don't rise well then throw them away and try again until they do. If they don't rise the dumplings will be heavy and stickyif you boil them. Put them into boiling water and turn them after 10 - 15 minutes. They should blow up like pillows! When you lift them out just let them steam off for a minute and cut them with a thread. I hope this helps you.
OK, here is my version, work every time. All the measurements are approximately, I never measure knedliky. 1 cup warm water 1 tsp active yeast 1 tsp salt 1 egg 1 tsp sugar Start with 2 cups BREAD flour!! Add more flour till you get firm, non sticky dough. Let it sit, till double. Work it down again, you may add more bread flour to get nonstick dough again. Make a dumpling to your preferred size, put on cutting board dusted with flour, cover with piece of cloth and let the dough rise again, but not as long as before. I do like my dumplings dry, so I do use "fish poacher" to steam them. I do not use any bread cubes. They are done after 24 minutes, open steamer slowly, cut dumplings with a thread. Enjoy Jan
We have a new Eastern European foodstore opened up nearby where I live, and they said that they could probably get stuff in if I wanted it! They have a website, but they say it isn't up and running at the moment. Probably,if they could obtain things, then it may be worth adding a link here, it may help some people here get hold of things!! I'll try and write down a list of stuff, especially the dumpling flour (I saw loads of different flours there) and see if they can get it in.
