Leberknödel

The batter is too loose to handle, so it is shaped between two wet spoons.

Beef, Egg. Not vegetarian — contains beef.

Ingredients

• 400 g beef liver, trimmed
• 2 stale bread rolls, soaked in milk and squeezed
• 2 eggs
• 1 onion, chopped fine
• 20 g butter
• 3 tablespoons parsley, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs, only if needed
• 1.5 litres beef broth, to poach and serve

Method

1. THE BATTER IS TOO LOOSE TO HANDLE, SO IT IS SHAPED BETWEEN TWO WET SPOONS. Its article says exactly that: USING TWO MOISTENED TABLESPOONS, THE BATTER IS FORMED INTO DUMPLINGS AND BOILED IN BEEF BROTH OR FRIED IN LARD.
2. AND THE LOOSENESS DECIDES WHEN THEY ARE EATEN. The article gives the reason as well as the fact: DUE TO THEIR LOOSER CONSISTENCY, THE BOILED DUMPLINGS ARE MEANT TO BE EATEN FRESH AFTER PREPARATION, ALTHOUGH THE FRIED VARIANT IS SOMEWHAT LESS PERISHABLE DUE TO THE CRUST FORMED BY FRYING. Boil them to eat now; fry them to keep.
3. WHICH IS WHAT SEPARATES THEM FROM SEMMELKNÖDEL, AS ON ITS OWN PAGE. That dough is bread cubes softened in hot milk and shaped firmly by hand; this one is ground liver in a batter that will not hold a shape at all. Same family, opposite handling.
4. THE LIVER IS GROUND, NOT CHOPPED. Its article's word is ground, and liver put through a mincer gives up the texture that makes the batter loose in the first place.
5. SOAK AND SQUEEZE THE BREAD, AND SOFTEN THE ONION FIRST. Raw onion in a dumpling this delicate stays raw and crunches.
6. MIX IT AND LET IT STAND TWENTY MINUTES COLD. The bread goes on absorbing and the batter firms up a little, though it will never be a dough.
7. TEST ONE BEFORE SHAPING THE REST, in simmering broth. If it spreads, work in the breadcrumbs a spoon at a time; if it holds, leave it alone.
8. SHAPE THEM BETWEEN TWO WET TABLESPOONS AND SLIDE THEM IN. Wet the spoons each time. They want to be the size of a walnut, not an orange.
9. POACH AT A BARE SIMMER FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES AND SERVE THEM IN THE BROTH. A boil will break them. The article also records spleen mixed with the liver in a third, which is the Austrian way, and pork liver in the Palatinate.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Germany · All recipes