Spaetzle (German Dumplings)

This week, we decided to experiment with spaetzle, German/ Alpine flour and egg noodles dumplings. They make for a simple and light meal, served usually as a side dish, but with gravy (store-bought in this case), they were good enough for the main course. Instead of using a spaetzle maker, I used a large-holed colander. The dumplings were kind of tiny, but still tasted great. They were very soft, creamy, and filling; the nutmeg and pepper are definitely important to bring that extra something to the taste buds. The gravy (Gravox) was probably the only downer, but that's something that can be easily fixed next time.

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor	Apprx. Cost
		HK$25 (US$3)

Ingredients (Serves 2)
1.5 cup plain flour
1/3 cup skim milk
2/3 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3 eggs, beaten
1 pinch black pepper, finely ground

Directions
Combine and thoroughly mix all ingredients together until it becomes a smooth paste.
Boil some salted water.
Press the paste through a large-holed colander or grater into the simmering water.
Cook for about 5 minutes or until the dumplings come up to the surface.
Drain well, and serve with gravy (above picture), mushroom sauce, or by cooking it in butter with fresh parsley!

Recommended Side: We ate these with the baby buttered potatoes I made a couple of months ago, but this time, with less butter and more parsley. Also, instead of buttering whole potatoes, I cut them into bite sized chunks to give more surface area for the butter to coat them thoroughly so the boring taste of the potatoes goes bye bye. It looked a lot prettier too!