This week for HIve Top Chef the theme is dumplings.
When I hear the word dumpling I could see a number of things in my mind. I could imagine, Chinese dumplings, Gyoza dumplings, Matza balls, potato dumplings etc.
I had already thought of what to do with some leftover bread. I decided on bread dumplings inspired by the German "Semmelknödel". I have only made them once and had them a few times made by my partner's mother.
The bread dumplings were not my first European type dumpling experience. As a child visiting my relatives in another province, I fell in love with their traditional dumplings.
My relatives are a people called Hutterites, which originally came from Austria and travelled through parts of Eastern Europe before they came to Canada to avoid being persecuted for their extreme religious beliefs. That's another story, but through the travels they have brought a dumpling dish called Nookalah which was made from flour, cooked and served in a chicken broth. It made me happy when I ate it. It was a bowl of comfort and when I think of it, I am reminded of pure love.
The dumplings that I have made are a reminder of the family soup, however more so resembles the German Semmelknödel. I have done my own thing with it so it is not exactly traditional. It is plant based which automatically makes it non traditional. I have also incorporated some broccoli into it which is also unusual. I want to add some vegetable to the bread so I'm not just eating bread, although it's still good with just bread.
Bread and broccoli dumplings
250 g bread
140 g onion
170 g broccoli
45 g carrot
15 g garlic
20 g parsley
5 g ground flax
350 g plant milk
15 rice flour
15 g cornstarch
1 tablespoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon paprika
Salt to taste
Saute onions, garlic, and grated carrots. Add finely chopped broccoli and seasonings.
Combine flax, cornstarch, rice flour, parsley and milk.
Mix until smooth then add to the cooked items in the pan.
Add broccoli mixture to the bread and mix thoroughly.
Form into balls making sure they are nice and tight. At this point it's easy to hold together. The bread has been softened by the cooked mixture and the liquid.
Put the balls in the fridge and make a broth. You can skip the broth and cook these dumplings in water. I wanted to optimize the flavours going into the dumplings so I made a very easy and basic vegetable broth.
Vegetable broth
1 onion
5 cloves garlic
1 stalk celery
1 carrot
1 handful parsley
3 bay leaves
6 peppercorns
Salt to taste
Cook the onions and garlic in a hot pot with oil until browned. Add the other items and cover with water.
I'm sure there are professional chefs who have the amounts of broth items down to a science, but I do things my way randomly. The recipe is just my guideline. It varies according to what I have in the fridge.
When the broth is finished after at least 45 minutes, strain everything out and bring to a boil. Reserve 2 cups for gravy. When boiling, gently add the dumplings.
I was going to keep the dumplings as a soup but at the last minute, I decided to make a gravy instead. The dumplings have a good enough taste to eat on their own but I opted for a gravy. This is a random sauce made on the fly. I make different versions of gravy, depending what I use it for.
Gravy
2 cups vegetable broth
2 tablespoons vegan butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon tomato paste
Melt butter in medium heat. Add the flour and whisk to make a paste.
I was unable to find my whisk and used the first thing I grabbed.
Because I couldn't find my whisk I lost the smoothness of the gravy. As a result of my clumsiness, I ended up with lumps. I added the tomato paste and then drizzled in broth, hoping it would smooth out. It did not. No problem. I did what I have done in the past when faced with lumps. I know at least one of you have done it too. What did I do?
I strained it in a fine sieve. Problem solved. Nice and smooth.
I wanted a little more vegetables to add to the dish so I whipped up some cabbage and peppers. I kept it simple to put under the dumplings. I just cooked them in a pan with onion and olive oil salt and pepper.
I was very happy with how they held together. Normally with the egg it would be fool proof but these were nice and firm the way I had hoped.
The broccoli had me wondering as well when I decided to add it to the dumplings. I had questioned if it would make them fall apart, but not at all.
I normally eat or add heat from chilies but not in every case. I often take a break to feel the relaxing tastes of simplicity such as a European inspired dumpling.
Thanks for dropping by and have a great day.
Photos are my own taken with Nikon D7500