Bacon dumplings and a world without borders

The dumplings that made me want to visit Europe again.

The world of internet has gripped me, in a good sense.  I  have made friends in a world without borders because for the love of cooking. No need for much technical know-how , I now exchange ideas and share information more than when I was in the days of the SPARC workstation and UNIX-fueled mainframe gizmos.

While I dabble with my blog, hubby hangs around his online photo 'club' exchanging ideas with kindred spirits.  Recently, he chanced upon a fellow 'deviant artist' who posted his home cooked meal. His ensemble of Czech dishes got me interested and I bugged hubby for a recipe. It was therefore a delight when PaSt1978 shared his recipe and I wasted no time to  reciprocate this gesture by cooking these bacon dumplings, not once but twice!

I like this version of dumpling better than its German potato cousins, which reminded me of  Taiwan's indigestible 阿婆铁蛋.  Portions here are scaled down but it's so good I would double it the next time I make this.

Credits :  PaSt1978

Makes 9 big dumplings or 12 medium sized ones.

Ingredients :

100g bacon, cut to small strips

125 ml low fat milk

A touch of : Black pepper, sea salt, nutmeg, chopped parsley

2 small eggs

1.5 TBSP plain flour

230g bread, processed to small parts

Method :

Fry the bacon in olive oil until liquid is very much reduced. Leave to cool.

In a separate container, combine milk, seasoning, eggs and flour.

Add milk mixture to the bacon. Mix well.

Add bread crumbs and mix again until crumbs are thoroughly wet.

Let the bread mixture rest in the fridge until ready to cook.　

Just before shaping, pinch the bread mixture to see if they hold. If it falls apart, it's too dry - add milk. The mixture should hold in order to be steamed .

Use an ice cream scope and make balls out of the bread mixture.

Steam the dumplings over a steamer, on an oiled surface, for 7 minutes or until the dumpling is set.

PaSt1978 served it with pork knuckle but I had mine with sausages.