Czech Dumplings

Ingredients:

1 pk Yeast
1 ts Sugar
1/2 c Milk; scalded and cooled
1 c Milk; warm
1 Egg
1/2 ts Salt
3 1/2 c Flour
3 Slices white bread; cubed

Method:

There are a number of different kinds of dumplings in the Czech cuisine, but if you are serving a pork roast with sauerkraut, I recommend bread dumplings.
Make sure you use the drippings from the roast to make gravy for these! Mix the first three ingredients, let stand for 10 minutes.
Mix the warm milk, egg, salt, yeast mixture and flour.
Add the bread cubes.
Knead the resulting dough just as you would when making bread.
Let the dough rest in a warm place to rise.
It should double in about 2 hours.
Knead again; divide into 3 long rolls, each about 1 1/2 " thick.
Let rise another 1/2 hour.
Drop the rolls of dough, one at a time, into a large kettle of boiling water.
Boil gently for about 15 minutes.
Remove with slotted spoons and place on a buttered platter.
Keep warm.
When ready to serve, slice the rolls into individual slices by using a length of thread.
Loop it around one dumpling and pull tight to slice off a piece about 2" thick.
(This is the fun part! You can get pretty good at this garrotting if you practice!!) You should end up with about 2 dozen slices.
My cookbook says, "These freeze well - steam before serving.
" (I've never tried that!!) If you would prefer potato dumplings to these, just say so.
The only problem with them is they sometimes get a bit "slimy" or mushy.
I like them that way, but they don't look as presentable as the bread dumplings.
Ken \ CA