As far as I can tell, this means Niki Club. It could also be spelled klub, klubb, kloob, etc. This is based off of my Norwegian Cloob recipe that still has me angry from all the deception. I still love the name, though, so I decided to make my own, legitimately gluten free, version. 

Ingredients:
6 Potatoes, Mashed
2 Potatoes, Grated
1 Egg, Beaten
Garbanzo Bean Flour (for rolling the dumplings in, though sorghum flour would work)
1 lb. Ground Meat (we used turkey, but sausage would be quite tasty)
Olive Oil for Frying

Directions:

• Mash and grate potatoes as the ingredients list states
• Mix mashed and grated potatoes together, then add beaten egg and mix
• Brown meat
• Heat olive oil in a pan. When you drip a drop of water in oil, it should make popping and spitting sounds. 
• Flatten out some of the potato mix in your palm (you don't want too much otherwise the grated raw potato won't cook [VE]) and add the meat to the center. Fold your hand up to make a cup. The potato should almost encompass the meat.
• Add more potato to the top to create a seal to keep the meat in. See image below. 
• Roll the potato ball in your hand to smooth it out and then roll it in the Garbanzo bean flour. 
• I would recommend making up a few of these dumplings before sticking them in oil. 
• Let it cook until it is a nice brown color, then turn the dumpling. 
• Repeat until the dumpling is cooked. 
• Place cooked dumpling on a paper towel to absorb excess oil. 

Notes:
You can use any flour for this I would imagine, but I really like the taste of garbanzo bean flour. 

If you use a different kind of meat, be sure to drain the excess grease off of it. 

If you want a delicious sauce to use with this, I love Salt Lick Sauce. The Salt Lick is a barbecue place in Austin, Texas and as someone who doesn't like bbq sauce, I love this stuff. If you don't live in Texas, don't fret. It's available on Amazon too. 

I chose not to season our dumplings because TC is trying to cut back on his salt intake. Besides, it's always easier to season after the fact than it is to fix something that has been seasoned wrong. 

I'll be honest, I have no idea how many potatoes I actually mashed. I made mashed potatoes before I made these, so instead of making a bunch of mashed potatoes, I saved some and used them for this. 

Review:
Well, this was delicious. I would 100% make this again. It was a really good option for both TC and I. I would use something else as meat next time. Bacon would be delicious, but some bison meat, ground venison, even lean ground beef would be tasty. I would give this a 4 because of the lack of seasoning. It could be an excellent stand alone food if seasoned properly. I didn't get a rating from TC on this one yet. I'll ask him tomorrow. So the total score will have to wait. Oh! the suspense!

I love the name of this. I don't even want to tell you what these are for fear of you calling them by a different name. That's not very fair though, so these are potato dumplings.

I received a copy of "The Best of 'The Farmer's Wife' Cookbook" for Christmas. "The Farmer's Wife" was a monthly magazine in Minnesota that ran between 1893 and 1939. People could write in and ask questions (about anything) and give advice. So, the book is a collection of recipes that were printed. 

This one is from February of 1928.

I tried to find a good recipe that was gluten-free and no cream or acidic things. Cloob fit the bill. Let me premise this post by saying that I was so very disappointed by the results of this recipe.... I'll tell you why later. 

I got to make this in a different kitchen. It's something I love and hate. I love trying out different appliances and utensils, but I hate it because I find out that I really need that one cast iron pan sitting on the stove at home looking sorely neglected. 

Smaller version of the recipe in the book:




Ingredients:
4 medium Potatoes, Cooked and Mashed
4 medium Potatoes, Grated 
1 Egg, Beaten
Pinch of Salt
1 tbsp Milk

Directions:

• Mix ingredients together
• Knead until stiff like bread
• Wet hands with water and knead ball with a small piece of pork fat in the center.
• Boil in pork or chicken broth for 1 hour. 
• Drain and serve with butter. 

Let me just tell you right now, that sounds like such a waste of broth. So, I decided to use the broth and make a soup.

My version of the recipe in the book:


Ingredients:
4 medium Potatoes, Cooked and Mashed
4 medium Potatoes, Grated 
1 Egg, Beaten
Pinch of Salt
1 tbsp Milk
1 lb Ground Venison
Seasonings (salt and pepper... lots of pepper). 
Turkey Stock
5ish c. Flour

("Back the truck up... did you just say 5 cups of flour? I thought you were gluten-free!" Calm down, folks. I'll cover this in the notes.)

Directions:

• Thaw stock if necessary. 
• Peel potatoes.
• Chop, boil and mash 4 potatoes.
• Grate 4 potatoes.
• Beat 1 egg.
• Mix potatoes together, add beaten egg and milk. 
• Add 4 cups of flour and mix really well.
• Put doughier potato mix onto a clean surface to knead. 
• As you knead, add more flour as necessary. When your dough is "stiff like bread", wash your hands and don't dry them.
• With wet hands, roll small (golf ball sized) balls out of the dough. 
• Wet hands as necessary. 
• Cook venison in a skillet.
• Boil the stock.
• Add dumplings and meat and boil for one hour (remember what I said about boiling on the right temperature?)
• Serve

Notes:
If you serve this straight from the stove, it will be the temperature of the sun, and it won't cool down for about 20 minutes. [VE]

Okay, okay, the flour thing. The original recipe doesn't list flour as an ingredient. This is probably because the original recipe is from 1928. After I mixed the eggs and milk in with the potatoes, I thought, "This is really liquidy. There is no way I can knead this to make a dough." We brainstormed (side note, I'm a little surprised that "brainstormed is accepted by spell check) different ways to make it thicker without using flour. Then it hit me. "Knead stiff like bread". I've made bread before. I've made scones before. I have kneaded things before. What is one thing you use when you knead? If you don't know the answer, don't be ashamed. It's flour. The flour keeps the dough from sticking to things while at the same time it dries out the dough a little bit and allows it to maintain a shape (like with scones being triangular). This is a major woe for the gluten-free community. GF flours are pretty expensive when compared to all purpose flour. I used 5 cups of APF... or more! I don't even think I have that much of any GF flour. I also do not like over using cornstarch, the grainy feeling when the cornstarch and dough get on your hands and you go to wash them makes my skin crawl. So, I originally thought this recipe was gluten free, and I was so disappointed to find out that it was so drastically on the opposite end of that spectrum. I still ate some. Side note: I feel terrible. Ugh. 

This actually took a while to make (a couple hours total), so I don't think I'll be doing it again for a while... or at least until I can find a good GF option.

The mess factor. I feel like I am still trying to get the wet, sticky potatoes off my fingers. 

Review:
This tasted delicious. The venison was really good, and the soup was rich and filling. I think it would be an excellent soup for a cold winter day. The smaller recipe I used was enough to feed four of use and not even get to the middle of the pot. It makes a lot. I think the broth would have been good with some vegetables cooked in it. All in all, I would give it a 4, though I want to give it a 1 for deception. TC gave it a 4, and our lovely hosts both gave it a 5. 

Total Score:
4.5

We had Baked Bananas: Part 2 for dessert, and I learned some new things. That post will be updated.