One of the traditional recipes from Viennese culture, famous worldwide for its specialties, is the Serviettenknödel or “dumplings in a napkin.”
For 4 servings, you will need:
- 300 g white bread
- 30 g butter
- 20 g dried ham
- 1 small onion
- 200 ml milk
- 2 eggs
- salt, pepper
- nutmeg
- parsley
Cut the bread into cubes and briefly toast it in butter. In a separate pan, fry the chopped ham and onion, then add to the bread. Beat the milk and eggs together and pour over the bread mixture. Add salt, pepper, grated nutmeg, and chopped parsley, and mix gently. Let it sit for about 15 minutes. Afterward, stir again, shape it into a long loaf, and loosely wrap it in a napkin sprinkled with breadcrumbs (you can also wrap it in aluminum foil). Tie it with string and cook in salted, boiling water for about 30 minutes. Once done, remove from the water, unwrap the napkin, and slice into pieces. In addition to the long loaf in the napkin, you can also form the mixture into round dumplings and cook them in the same way.
TIP: If you don’t use all the dumplings, you can cover them the next day with a mixture of beaten eggs, sour cream, and chopped parsley, bake them in the oven, and serve with a suitable salad.
For the Viennese dumplings in a napkin, the recipe author suggests serving them with pork chops in a mushroom sauce. This dish is quick and simple to prepare, and the combination is called “Viennese Nostalgia.”
For the pork chops:
Fry 4 pork chops in a little oil on both sides. Remove them from the pan, then add 40 g butter and 100 g sliced oyster mushrooms to the pan. Season with salt and pepper, stir, and sauté until the mushrooms soften. Once soft, flambé the mushrooms with 50 ml of brandy, add 50 ml of white wine, and stir in 100 g raisins soaked in brandy. Once the liquid has reduced, stir in 200 ml of heavy cream, chopped parsley, and simmer briefly.
Arrange the pork chops and slices or dumplings on plates, and pour the sauce over part of the pork chops.
Recipe by: G.-Din Branko Ognjenović
Restaurant: Das Keline Restaurant
1170 Vienna, Hernsaler Hauptstrasse 78
