Name: The Hirshon Norwegian Potato Dumplings, Meat And Vegetables - Raspeballer
Ingredients: Meats:; 21 oz. mutton with bone, in 4 slices (foreshank is very good, but lamb shoulder can be substituted) rubbed with 5 Tbsp. sea salt and left uncovered in the refrigerator for a minimum of 24 hours; 11 oz. smoked, mildly-spiced coarse ground sausage – TFD likes artisinal kielbasa; 1 smoked ham hock; ***; For the stock:; enough bottled water to fully cover the meats; 1 bay leaf; 2 Tbsp. white peppercorns; ½ tsp. allspice; 1 ½ tsp. dill seeds; 1 tsp. caraway seeds; ½ tsp. juniper berries; 1 sprig fresh thyme; 4 sprigs fresh parsley; 3 points off a star anise pod; 1 onion, halved, peel still on it; 1 carrot, cut into pieces; 1 leafy celery stalk, cut into pieces; ***; The Raspeballer:; 1 kg raw Russet potatoes, grated; 300 g boiled Yukon Gold potatoes, mashed; 200 g barley flour (oat flour can be substituted); 100 g finely milled whole wheat flour – TFD prefers Italian 00 flour; 30 g fine sea salt; ***; The mashed rutabaga (kålrabistappe):; 1 large rutabaga (approx. 2 ¼ lb.); ⅓-½ nutmeg, finely-grated

Ingredients

Units Scale

Meats:
21 oz. mutton with bone, in 4 slices (foreshank is very good, but lamb shoulder can be substituted) rubbed with 5 Tbsp. sea salt and left uncovered in the refrigerator for a minimum of 24 hours
11 oz. smoked, mildly-spiced coarse ground sausage - TFD likes artisinal kielbasa
1 smoked ham hock
***
For the stock:
enough bottled water to fully cover the meats
1 bay leaf
2 Tbsp. white peppercorns
1/2 tsp. allspice
1 1/2 tsp. dill seeds
1 tsp. caraway seeds
1/2 tsp. juniper berries
1 sprig fresh thyme
4 sprigs fresh parsley
3 points off a star anise pod
1 onion, halved, peel still on it
1 carrot, cut into pieces
1 leafy celery stalk, cut into pieces
***
The Raspeballer:
1 kg raw Russet potatoes, grated
300 g boiled Yukon Gold potatoes, mashed
200 g barley flour (oat flour can be substituted)
100 g finely milled whole wheat flour - TFD prefers Italian 00 flour
30 g fine sea salt
***
The mashed rutabaga (kålrabistappe):
1 large rutabaga (approx. 2 1/4 lb.)
1/3-1/2 nutmeg, finely-grated
2-3.5 oz. KerryGold Irish butter (depending on the rutabaga weight)
3/4 oz. fine sea salt or to taste
***
The lingonberries:
14 oz. lingonberries, fresh or frozen
3 1/2 oz. sugar (if using lingonberry, jam, omit)
1/2 tsp. freshly-ground cardamom (HIGHLY optional TFD addition, leave it out for the original)
***
The bacon butter:
10 oz. slab bacon, in one piece
1 3/4 oz. KerryGold Irish butter
***
For optional garnish:
Lyle's Golden Syrup, mustard, sour milk or kefir

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Instructions

Start by making the salted lamb (or mutton). Simply sprinkle the fine sea salt on both sides of the meat, and let it sit uncovered in the fridge for at least 24 hours. It keeps very well for days because of the salt.
Thaw the lingonberries, and just mix in the sugar and optional cardamom. If you can’t get fresh or frozen lingonberries, see if you can find lingonberry jam. Failing that, cranberry jam would be a decent substitute.
Put the ham hock and lamb shoulder in a pot, cover with water, add stock ingredients and simmer until “falling of the bone”-tender (4-6 hours to get the best results). Leave to cool in the stock before removing the meat from the pot. Strain the stock and reserve it – it will be used later for poaching the potato dumplings or komle.
Reheat the stock to a gentle simmer.
Grind the raw potatoes through a meat grinder fitted with a medium sized disc (5mm), or grate them on a grinder on the coarse side. Squeeze out some of the moisture from the potatoes. Grind or grate the boiled potatoes, and mix them with the raw.
Mix in the flours in 3 turns, until you have a dough that can hold its shape without being to firm. Add salt and pepper. Check the seasoning.
When boiling, start shaping the dumplings using your hands. You want them round and even, and the size of a tennis ball. Wetting your hands in a small bowl of water makes it less sticky, and it’s important that the water in your pot is actually boiling, or the dumplings may start sticking together; you’re after the most gentle simmer, not a rolling boil, or the dumplings will disintegrate.
Lower the balls gently in the simmering stock, one at the time. After adding the dumplings, add the rutabaga and let it cook with the dumplings. Simmer the raspeballer and rutabaga very gently for 60-80 minutes – I find they’re usually done around the 60 minutes mark.
When cooked through, drain the raspeballer and reserve. Put the rutabaga into a colander, and let it steam off – this will get rid of a lot of moisture. Mash well, add butter, season to taste with grated nutmeg and fine sea salt. First taste your way to the right amount of salt, then find the right nutmeg; the salt will cancel the bitterness of the root, and bring out the sweetness.
If the mash is too wet, you can add a little bit of wheat flour, but make sure to gently simmer for 5 minutes to cook out the raw flour flavor. Use as little flour as possible, as adding flour will mute the flavors.
Put the ham hock, lamb shoulder and sausage in another pot, add some of the cooking liquid from the dumplings, cover with a lid and gently reheat the meat.
Cut the bacon into ⅓” cubes and fry in the butter.
Arrange everything on a big plate. Douse the komle and meats with the bacon butter (or just the raspeballer, if you so prefer). Serve with golden syrup, mustard, and sour milk. Consider making a double batch of the dumplings – they are magnificent the day after, sliced and pan fried.