Norwegian Cloob

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

Chopping perderders (potatoes).

Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal, dumplings! (brownie points if you get that reference)

The dumplings were a little big. I would recommend making them smaller. 

The potato mix. Half grated, half mashed yet stronger than both (brownie points if you know what that is referencing)

This dough is nowhere near "stiff like bread". We had to just keep adding flour... beyond the point of the ridiculous. 

It so delicious!... so gluten filled and delicious... :(

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.