I often crave the authentic Hutterite foods on which I was raised.  The soups and sweets and breads of my childhood still make me lonely for community foods.

One of foods I crave are Grauah Knedle mit Schmagus affectionately known as “washing machine dumplings.’ That’s because making them requires utilizing the spin cycle of the wash machine!  The purpose of the spin cycle is to remove excess water from the potato mixture before the  cream sauce gets added and the dumplings go in the oven.  The outcome is a dreamy serving of gray dumplings with a smooth white sauce.   Many colonies no longer use the spin cycle but a community I visited recently did and it was fascinating to watch the process.

Biting into the creamy dumplings served with a generous chunk of steamed summer sausage was like biting into a time capsule. It came with a flash of memories.  I thought I’d share the colony recipe with you my readers.  It would perhaps take a seasoned cook to take it on, but for the rest of us, its amusing reading.    

GRAUAH KNEDLE MIT SCHMAGUS (Gray Dumpling with White Sauce also known as washing machine dumplings)

Ingredients

80 cups finely ground potatoes

28 cups mashed potatoes

10 cups flour

1 cup salt

Place ground potatoes in cheesecloth bags and wash with warm water and then with cool water (a little lemon juice in the cool water is helpful) until starch is washed out. Drain well. Spin dry in spin cycle of your wash machine. Be sure cheese cloth bags have a good tight knot.

Mix together and hand roll into plump shapes.  Steam for 20 minutes in a food steamer.

WHITE SAUCE

100 cups milk

10 cups flour

¾ cup salt

½ cup butter

Melt the butter. Add the milk flour and salt and bring to gentle boil until it thickens. Pour a layer of sauce on the bottom of a baking pan.  Add dumplings and pour another layer of sauce on top.  Bake at 275 for 45 minutes.

This recipe is from Mary-Ann’s award-winning book…Secrets of a Hutterite Kitchen.  Click below to order the book from Amazon.

http://www.amazon.ca/Secrets-Hutterite-Kitchen-Unveiling-Traditions/dp/0143184784

For books and speaking engagements visit Mary-Ann Kirkby’s website www.polkadotpress.ca or www.facebook.com/maryannkirkbyhutterite