It's been awhile since I have made a dish from my German heritage. My children were craving a bit of "home" and so today I opted to make Kartoffeln und Glace, a yummy, totally fat free comfort food. Yeah right.
Please excuse the photos, we didn't start until late in the evening and my camera tends to make everything look as if I cook by candlelight. Not in this life. My son John was a huge help, mostly because he was "starving" and wanted to help the process along. He was also the first one to devour a huge plate of this yummy goodness and ask if I could save some for leftovers tomorrow?
I never use a recipe for this one, it is one of those that was passed down, and lost in the translation - I will do my best.
Kartoffeln und Glace
1/2 lb ham, chopped into bite size pieces
1 medium onion diced
1/2 stick butter
6 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into bite size pieces
1 cup cream, milk or buttermilk to your personal preference ( I use cream)
Bread crumbs or Panko breading
Glace dough:
3 cups flour
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup milk or more to make soft dough
Mix ingredients together to make a sticky dough.
Bring to boil 6 cups salted water for potatoes in a large pot.
Melt 1/4 stick butter in skillet, saute chopped onions until transparent. Add in chopped ham to warm. Remove from skillet leaving drippings in pan, add 1/2 stick butter and melt through.
Add potatoes to water and cook until almost done. Make Glace dough and drop by teaspoon into boiling potato water. Dip spoon into water to release dumpling. There is a saying that you will know when the dumplings are done "when the last dumpling rises." Remove dumplings from water with slotted spoon, place into skillet with butter/drippings. Allow to brown before turning.
Drain potatoes and add to pot along with sauteed onions and ham pieces. Pour in one cup of cream, mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste. After dumplings have browned, add them to pot and mix gently. Warm through. The original recipe calls for sprinkling with bread crumbs upon plating, but since I have a yeast allergy, I opt for Panko crumbs instead.
This is one of those meals that will stick to your ribs, and keep you fueled for quite some time. In my case and that of my sons, it is a true time machine trip to a sweeter, easier, more quiet time in our lives. I can only imagine how my ancestors felt about it.
This was one of the dishes that was prepared and served to the farm workers mid-day to help them in their long grueling task of harvesting crops. A few women would stop to prepare the meal in the fields in a large cauldron and afterwards all would return to work. Quick, simple and very filling.
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Glace at Grampa's house for Christmas supper was a annual event. It took most of day to prepare and everyone had something to do even if you were a youngen just watching it all unfold. Thanks, Ted
ReplyDeletenice recipe! we didn't add ham to our Glaze and took a portion of it out and mixed it with sour cream. so you ate a portion of it that was fried with onions and potatoes and the portion was simply boiled and dropped in mixed in sour cream. I make it on a regular basis. no meat at all. Grandparent originated from Volga Region by Volmer, Kamenka. thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteDo you have your original recipe for Kartoffeln und Glace? I too am ancestry from the Volga River region of Russia.
DeleteGod, that looks good. Thanks for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother passed down a similar recipe except we always did 1 cup flour and 2 eggs or 2 cup flour and 3 eggs. We like our with brats on the side but I’ve never considered putting the meat in with it! Great idea. I definitely use cream with mine too. To add a little zest, I think it’s really delicious if you add dill once everything gets to know each other in the final pot! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThis is so cool, I've never seen our family recipe outside the family! My great great grandma migrated from Germany through Russia before she came to the states (from what I understand). There is a german-russian cultural influence in our history and this recipe is one that has been a part of every holiday get-together we have.
ReplyDeleteWe don't use meat in ours. It's essentially bread cubed and fried into a stick of butter, dumplings and potatoes incorporated together and at the very end you drop an egg or two into the whole hot, steaming bowl to bind everything together.
Very cool reading all these variations from your families, thanks for the ideas!