Sauerkraut and Potato Dumplings

Kevin Young's Note:

A great recipe I remember my Czech grandmother making. I played around with it until it tasted familiar

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 2 lbs peeled potatoes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 3 cups instantized flour
• ½ lb diced ham
• 1 teaspoon caraway seed
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 (32 ounce) jar sauerkraut
• 1 cup sour cream (approximately)

Directions:

1. Grate raw potatoes and drain.
2. Add salt, eggs, and flour to grated potatoes and mix well (mixture will be fairly solid).
3. Form dumplings into balls (desired size, I usually get about 20-25 good sized dumplings) and drop into boiling water.
4. Allow to cook for 8-10 minutes making sure they do not stick to bottom of pan.
5. Remove dumplings with a skimmer and set aside.
6. In a large pan heat approximately 6 tbsp oil over medium heat.
7. Add diced ham, caraway seeds, and pepper and allow to cook 10 minutes.
8. Increase heat to high, add sauerkraut (drain about half the juice before adding) and mix well with ham.
9. Allow this to cook for about 20 minutes stirring often.
10. Add sour cream (the amount can definitely be adjusted to your taste) and mix well until creamy.
11. Reduce heat to low, add dumplings and cover.
12. Cook for 20-30 minutes stirring periodically.

Reviews

[Bergy]

Wonderful flavor - I made it with a smoked ham sausage (metwurst) and the flavor came through just right. Instead of sour cream I used 3/4cup 2% cottage cheese, whipped (It is lighter in calories and I find it does the trick). I found the dumplings a little heavy but perhaps it was the way I made them. The next time I make this recipe I will used cooked, riced potatoes and a slice of fresh bread finely crushed instead of the raw potatoes.Good way to use some left over potaoes Thanks Kevin for a tasty dish I really enjoyed it.

[AmyNicole]

This is true comfort food. I wasn't sure what instantized flour is, so I used all-purpose. That may explain why the dumpling were heavy. I taste-tested the dumplings alone (before adding them to the kraut) and they were bland. But once the whole dish is together it is delicious. I probably used about 1/2 the sour cream the dish called for. I think it would be great even without the sour cream.