Zeppelins ~ Cepelinai ~ Lithuanian Potato & Meat Dumpling

Zeppelinis

I took a lot of pictures with this one- this is my second attempt at Zeppelini.  I think I grated my potatoes wrong the first time.  See, In Lithuania, when they say grate the potatoes- they usually mean something less like grating cheddar cheese, and more like putting the potatoes through a food mill or using the strange side of the box grater.  A lot of people like to use a juicer at this point.  I, sadly, have no juicer.  However, I have a food mill and my kids love it every time it comes out.  I put most of the pictures of the process at the end for easier copy/pasting without the pictures.

  

Dumpling Mixture

8 large potatoes (peeled & milled)

2 Large potatoes (peeled, boiled, and mashed or riced)

1 medium onion (finely grated)

1 tsp salt (more or less)

Meat Mixture

1 lb ground pork

1 medium onion finely chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 large egg

Gravy:

1/2 lb bacon 

1 large chopped onion 

1 cup sour cream

black pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix all the meat ingredients together and refrigerate until ready to use.

2. Mill the potatoes- add a few drops of lemon juice to them so they don't brown & place them in a fine mesh cloth- I used a muslin cloth.  and squeeze the juice out of the potatoes into a bowl or pot.  Set the bowl aside to let the starches settle to the bottom.  Once it is settled, pour the juice off the top and with your hand, pull up the starch from the bowl and add it back into the potatoes.  Mix all potatoes and dumpling mixture ingredients.

4. Put a large stock pot to boil on the stove.  Add to it 3 Tbsp cornstarch and salt.  

5. Wet your hands & take about 1 cup of Zepplini dumpling mix, flatten it in your hand, put about 1/4 cup of meat in the center, and seal the dumpling mixture around the meat.  (At this point, I worried about the starch content of the dumpling and how it would hold up in the pot.  I think it might be good to use extra starch next time.  I also used the piece of Muslin I used earlier and I squeezed the dumplings into form.  I liked how that improvisation went). Repeat with remaining dough and meat.

6. Carefully lower the Zeppilinis into the boiling water.  Make sure the water returns to a boil, then simmer for 25 minutes.

7. While that's simmering, make the gravy- cook up the chopped bacon and onions in a pan, add sour cream.  You can thin it with milk if you want to. Serve this warm over the zepplinis. 

8. Carefully remove dumplings from the boiling pot and let them drain briefly before serving

~Enjoy~