I come from a big, loud, close family. We're talking at least three family reunions a year, each a potluck picnic, and most of them with more than 50% overlap despite a different last name before "family reunion." Christmases and Thanksgivings were usually huge dinners - complete with about 50 guests each.
In all these reunions and holiday dinners, there is a single meal that stands out above the rest. This meal is a direct link to my ancestors, not only the ones I've met and eaten it with, but the ones who came long before my time.
Potatoes and Dumplings
Green beans; peas in cream; salad
Bread with butter and strawberry freezer jam
Wonderberry pie with homemade vanilla ice cream
I have eaten this growing up at nearly every family member's dinner table - my parents, my grandparents, my aunts. In college, my brother regularly made Potatoes and Dumplings on the weekends. And now, my husband and I eat it at our table too.
If I only pass on one recipe to somedaykid, this is it.
There's nothing measured about this recipe. I suppose that might be frustrating for someone trying to follow the recipe, but it makes me think about the families who passed this recipe down, adapting it to how ever many people were eating that night or throwing ingredients around as thirteen siblings raced in and out of the kitchen.
Potatoes and Dumplings
1 potato per person
1/2 cup flour per person
1 egg per person
Butter*
salt
Peel potatoes and cut them into bite size pieces. Put the potatoes in a large pot with salted water. The water should cover the potatoes by a couple inches. Cook at a slow boil.
Place the butter in a skillet and slowly brown. Keep an eye on this - it's easy to miss the moment and end up with burnt butter.
Combine flour, eggs and salt (go easy, it's always easy to add more to the finished plates) until you have a sticky dough.
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Test potato 'doneness.' My brother prefers his a little firm, able to maintain the shape. I like mine to cook a little longer so some of them will fall apart into a more mashed potato consistency.
When the potatoes are done to your preference, begin dropping small spoon fulls of dough on top of the boiling water. The dough will rise when it's cooked. This doesn't take long, and most of the dumplings will already be floating by the time you get the last ones dropped in. To be safe, give it a little more time for those last few - we're talking a minute or less.
Drain off the water. Place the potatoes and dumplings in your serving bowl. Pour the browned butter over the top. Stir to mix and coat everything in butter. Now's the perfect time to test a bite (some potato, some dumpling) to see if you were right on the salt or if it needs more. We usually end up adding more at this point, but I'd rather add more after the cooking than wish the dumplings weren't so salty!
Enjoy!
This is the meal that takes me back to my childhood, my family, my roots. This is what I crave when things are rough, or when I want to celebrate. This is my comfort food.
My husband, who grew up with salsa and sauces, used to look down his nose when I described a meal that's basically potatoes with salt and butter. Until he tried it. Now, he's the one requesting it.
*How much butter to use is up to you. My guidelines is 5 potatoes: 3/4 stick butter, 7 potatoes: 1 stick butter, etc. And despite the 1 potato per person rule, I've never made a batch smaller than 5 potatoes, even for two people...
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