dumplings

Koucky Potato Dumplings
Charles J. Prazak III version.
There is not much to making dumplings besides hard work.
Ingredients:
potatoes--5 lb.
all purpose flour--5 lb..
1-2 tsp. salt
2 eggs.

Peel and boil the potatoes until you can stick a fork thru them. About 20-30 minutes.
Drain the potatoes and let them cool.
Do the next process in a large bowl, because it is going to get messy.
If you have a ricer, rice the potatoes into the bowl, otherwise you will have to mash them with a masher. Don't leave any lumps. While you are mashing, you could add the 2 eggs to make the mashing easier.

Types of Ricers

After the potatoes are riced (or mashed) add the 2 eggs (if you haven't already done so) and mix them in well. Then add the 2 teaspoons of salt and mix that in also.
Now comes the hard part. Add about half of the 5 lb. of flour to the bowl with the potatoes, and mix it in. I find it easiest to cut the flour into the potatoes with a fork stroking the bottom side of the fork into the mixture from the center of the bowl to the edge while turning the bowl. Make sure to get the stuff at the bottom of the bowl mixed in.
After the flour and potatoes are well mixed, set aside the fork and start kneading the mixture with your fingers, breaking up the lumps and forming the mixture into a solid mass of dough. At this point you will be working up a sweat, and will have much of the mixture under your fingernails.
After the mass appears to be uniform in texture, it should be somewhat rubbery in consistency, but also very sticky. Add about half of the remaining flour, and blend that into the dough by tearing it into pieces and kneading in the flour. When the dough becomes uniform again, try to pick up a small handful and form it into a dumpling. If you can form the dumpling without the dough sticking to your hands, you have added enough flour. If the dumpling is still sticky, you must add more flour. If you have added at least 4 lb. of the flour, you can stop adding flour. If you like your dumplings hard and still have some energy you can add more flour, otherwise pull small handfuls of dumplings from the dough and form into the desired shape. Be advised that the dumplings will swell 50 to 100% during cooking. About 5-6 dumplings per pound is adequate size.
After all of the dumplings have been formed, add them to boiling water, and boil for 20 minutes or until they float. Be sure to stir the dumplings during the first 5 minutes of cooking, because the they will stick together and also stick and burn to the bottom of the pot.
After cooking the first batch, cut one up and taste it for acceptability. You might be able to add more flour to the remaining uncooked dumplings if they aren't hard enough.
Left over dumplings can be put into Ziplock Freezer bags and frozen. They will keep for decades in the freezer. Just put the frozen dumplings into boiling water and cook for 20 minutes. They will be as good as fresh.
The left over dumplings are also wonderful cut into slices and fried in butter or oil until brown.. My father especially liked them fried with eggs.

Koucky Potato Dumplings Charles J. Prazak III version. There is not much to making dumplings besides hard work. Ingredients: potatoes--5 lb. all purpose flour--5 lb.. 1-2 tsp. salt 2 eggs. Peel and boil the potatoes until you can stick a fork thru them. About 20-30 minutes. Drain the potatoes and let them cool. Do the next process in a large bowl, because it is going to get messy. If you have a ricer, rice the potatoes into the bowl, otherwise you will have to mash them with a masher. Don't leave any lumps. While you are mashing, you could add the 2 eggs to make the mashing easier.
Types of Ricers

After the potatoes are riced (or mashed) add the 2 eggs (if you haven't already done so) and mix them in well. Then add the 2 teaspoons of salt and mix that in also. Now comes the hard part. Add about half of the 5 lb. of flour to the bowl with the potatoes, and mix it in. I find it easiest to cut the flour into the potatoes with a fork stroking the bottom side of the fork into the mixture from the center of the bowl to the edge while turning the bowl. Make sure to get the stuff at the bottom of the bowl mixed in. After the flour and potatoes are well mixed, set aside the fork and start kneading the mixture with your fingers, breaking up the lumps and forming the mixture into a solid mass of dough. At this point you will be working up a sweat, and will have much of the mixture under your fingernails. After the mass appears to be uniform in texture, it should be somewhat rubbery in consistency, but also very sticky. Add about half of the remaining flour, and blend that into the dough by tearing it into pieces and kneading in the flour. When the dough becomes uniform again, try to pick up a small handful and form it into a dumpling. If you can form the dumpling without the dough sticking to your hands, you have added enough flour. If the dumpling is still sticky, you must add more flour. If you have added at least 4 lb. of the flour, you can stop adding flour. If you like your dumplings hard and still have some energy you can add more flour, otherwise pull small handfuls of dumplings from the dough and form into the desired shape. Be advised that the dumplings will swell 50 to 100% during cooking. About 5-6 dumplings per pound is adequate size. After all of the dumplings have been formed, add them to boiling water, and boil for 20 minutes or until they float. Be sure to stir the dumplings during the first 5 minutes of cooking, because the they will stick together and also stick and burn to the bottom of the pot. After cooking the first batch, cut one up and taste it for acceptability. You might be able to add more flour to the remaining uncooked dumplings if they aren't hard enough. Left over dumplings can be put into Ziplock Freezer bags and frozen. They will keep for decades in the freezer. Just put the frozen dumplings into boiling water and cook for 20 minutes. They will be as good as fresh. The left over dumplings are also wonderful cut into slices and fried in butter or oil until brown.. My father especially liked them fried with eggs.