German Bread Dumplings (Semmelknödel)

Bread dumplings (Semmelknödel) are common in many parts of Bavaria and Austria; in fact, they are a part of the food culture in these areas. Making bread dumplings is a great way to use leftover bread or rolls. The standard German word for a bread roll is "Brötchen," the diminutive of "Brot" (bread); thus, literally, "little or small bread," but there are several dialect terms, including "Semmel," in much of Bavaria and Austria. Traditionally, rolls are used to make these dumplings, but you can use bread, although this may make you a target of the "Semmelknödelpolizei" ("Bread Dumpling Police"), who are the "flour" of the food police. "Knead" I say more?

Ingredients:

10 stale kaiser rolls (or 10 large slices of stale white bread)
3 to 4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons bread crumbs (panko are best)
1 to 1 1/2 cups heated milk
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon butter
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon salt
10 parsley sprigs, chopped
pinch of nutmeg or mace
salted simmering water

Slice the rolls or bread, put them into a bowl and add 1 cup of the heated milk. Depending upon the dryness of the rolls, you may need up to a half cup more milk, but wait until you see that the extra milk is necessary. You want the rolls softened, not mushy. Soak the rolls for half an hour. Meanwhile, heat 5 to 6 cups of water in a pan. Add some salt to the water and bring it to a simmer. Melt the butter in a skillet and add the onion. Saute until the onion is softened. Add the onion to the bread, and add the beaten eggs, the bread crumbs (if the "dough" is too mushy, wring it out a bit and add some more bread crumbs), the salt, the nutmeg and the parsley. Mix everything by hand, but don't over knead the dough, which should be fairly firm. Form the dough into rounds about the size of golf balls. Roll each round in flour on a plate, just to coat. Shake off excess flour. Put the dumplings into the simmering water, but don't overcrowd the pan; cook them in batches. The dumplings will float when done, although I give them 1 or 2 extra minutes after they float. Serve with meat dishes with plenty of gravy or meat juices. 

In this picture I used beef gravy, sliced tomatoes and a good beer.

WORD HISTORY:
Scrape-This word, distantly related to "scribe," "script" and "shear," goes back to Indo European "sker," which had the notion "to cut," and to its extended form, "skerb," which meant, "to cut into, to carve, to engrave." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "skrepanan," which meant, "to scrape, to shave, to scratch up." This gave Old English the verb forms, "scrapian" and "screpan" (depending upon dialect), both meaning, "to scrape, to scratch." These then became "scrapen," reinforced by the related Old Norse form, "skrapa," which had the same meaning. The Old Norse form likely influenced the pronunciation of the English word, changing it from the "sh" beginning, to the hard beginning sound as if, "skrape." The other Germanic languages have: German "schrappen" (to scrape, to scratch"), Low German Saxon "schrapen" (to scrape, to scratch), Dutch has three forms:  "schrapen" (to scrape), "schrabben" (to scrape or scratch) and "schrappen" (to scratch through or scratch out (that is, "cancel"), West Frisian "skraabje" (to scratch), Danish "skrabe" (to scrape), Norwegian "skrape" (to scrape), Icelandic "skrapa" (to scrape), Swedish "skrapa" (to scrape).