Truffled bread dumplings and red cabbage

These recipes are long overdue... I served them with a delicious fillet of venison with portwine & orange sauce on a bed of porcini mushrooms not so long ago. I like the bread dumplings and the red cabbage not only because they're the perfect accompaniment for venison, but also because they can prepared well ahead, taking much of the strain out of a dinner invitation. And, of course, they're the quintessence of autumnal cuisine.
Bread dumplings are a very traditional Austrian food - any bakery across the country will use unsold white bread to produce and sell not onlybreadcrumbs, but also diced bread, perfect for this dish. You can, of course, easily make your own by using day-old, stale bread as well. The bread is mixed in with fried onions, herbs, eggs and milk, then rolled into individual dumplings (Semmelknödel) and steamed over a pot of water, or, as in this recipe, into a log which is rolled into a piece of cloth or aluminium foil and cooked in water (Serviettenknödel). They are great with sautéed wild mushrooms (chanterelle, porcini, girolles, etc), but also delicious just fried in a little bit of butter and enjoyed with an autumnal salad of fennel and spinach. To pep up the basic recipe, people like to add fried bacon bits... or, as on my visit to the Purzelbaum restaurant in Salzburg and in my recipe here, produce a more decadent version of it by adding fresh truffles.
Red cabbage, on the other hand, while being pretty much foreign to British menus, are a sine-qua-non on the culinary agenda of any Austrian restaurant during the autumn months. Be it to accompany various game dishes during the hunting season or the traditional goose in the month of November, red cabbage is the staple side dish everywhere and the preparation varies greatly as every establishment prouds itself of some secret recipe or other. I stuck to my bible of Austrian cooking, Plachutta's "Die Gute Küche"... you can see that this book has become my trusted friend over the years, as the outer shell is as battered as its inside is littered with splashes of sauce, cookie dough and greasy fingerprints - not a pretty sight, maybe, but indispensable in my kitchen on the rare occasions where I delve deep into my culinary heritage.
Plachutta's recipe may be time-consuming, macerating the shredded cabbage in orange juice for hours, but the result is worth every minute spent... and to be honest, I had so much other stuff to prepare day that I didn't mind a bowl of cabbage sitting around for a while. The cabbage was so incredibly fruity and yummy that I could have eaten it on its own. It would go very well with duck as well, I suppose, or any game bird for that matter - maybe try it with your Thanksgiving turkey this year... the bread dumplings would probably make good stuffing as well - who knows, this might be a better marriage of the Austrian and the American than the Schwarzenegger/Shriver connection!

Truffled bread dumplings and red cabbage*
(serves 4 as a side dish generously)

For the bread dumplings:
2 eggs
300 ml milk
250 g dry white bread (best use baguette or ciabatta rather than a sandwich loaf)
60 g onions (finely chopped)
70 g butter
truffles to taste - optional
chopped herbs (parsley, tarragon, thyme) - optional

Beat the eggs with the milk, then season generously. Cut the bread, crust and all, into small dice and soak in the mixture for at least 30 minutes. When the bread has softened through, squeeze any excess liquid out with your hands.
Fry the onion in the butter until soft and fragant. Add to the bread and work into a dough. Fold in the some chopped truffles (reserving some 10 or so slivers) or herbs (if using) and rest for an hour.
Brush a piece of strong aluminium foil with melted butter.
Form a compact 6 cm round log out of the bread mixture, then roll into the alu foil (if using truffles, stick the reserved truffle slivers on the outside of the logs before wrapping). The length of your rolls should depend on the width of your pan - they should be resting comfortably in the water.
Bring a pan of water to the boil, add the rolls and simmer for 40 minutes. Carefully unwrap and cut into 2 cm slices.
You can now set them aside, then re-heat and brush with melted butter or sautee them with butter and shallots.

For the red cabbage:
600 g red cabbage (shredded or cut into fine slivers)
orange juice
3 tbsp vegetable oil
80 g onions (chopped)
20 g brown sugar
200 ml portwine
150 g apples (peeled and grated)
1 tbsp cranberry jelly

Put the shredded cabbage into a large mixing bowl and submerge in orange juice. Generously season with salt. Knead though and leave to macerate for at least 2 hours.
Heat the oil in a large pot, then fry the onions until soft, but not browning. Sprinkle in the sugar and leave to caramelise - careful not to burn it. Deglaze with the port wine, then add the cabbage and juice. Cook for ca. 1 hour until the cabbage is soft andthe liquid has mostly evaporated.
Just before serving, add the grated apple and the cranberry jelly, then re-heat to serving temperature.

* Recipes based on Plachutta's "Die Gute  Küche"

Comments

[Jennifer Klinec]

I love these recipes! Dumplings are one of those things that are so easy to make and yet taste so delicious and chewy and satisfying. I'm going to be making 'Germknoedel' this weekend and can't wait.
Its food like this that makes me say - 'Roll on Winter Weather'. The addition of truffles is such a great idea. Yum!

[Simonetta]

Wonderful idea Johanna... and wonderful colours. Sometimes the eyes want their share too...

[Julie O'Hara]

Those dumplings sound divine. I love the idea of taking a homey food like dumplings and adding a luxury ingredient. Red cabbage makes any dish look gorgeous!

[shauna]

The Shriver/Schwarzenegger marriage is a VERY GOOD one. I don't like it when people take pot shots at someone else's marriage, especially when it is an excellent one. Forgive me, I don't even like it in jokes because it seems that some ill-wishing is involved and I don't appreciate that.
Thank you for an excellent post otherwise.

Shauna

[Matt]

Johanna, yet another winner. What joyous food, and such a well-written piece. Thank you so much!
I look forward to trying this one at the weekend.
Matt

[Paul Radford]

I wish to use your picture of red cabbage and dumplings in a piece of my ICT GCSE Coursework. The picture will only be seen by the examiner, my teacher and I. Could you please respond to the email adress given:

[email protected]

[Anna]

Please help me figure out a recipe for Austrian Christmas Punsch from the Christmas markets. I'm an American, who can't stop thinking about it.