Recipe: Consommé with (Beef) Dumplings

Another family favorite. This one comes from as far away as Perth, Ontario: Maximillian Dining Lounge, located at 99 Gore Street East. My family summers in Ontario, and this Czech restaurant is one of our favorites. Harmony and I like their special goulash with chopped raw onions and pickles; Chardonnay and Sandra love the Schnitzel.

One outstanding recipe item that my family loves is that restaurant's Consommé, which comes with two or three dumplings (instead of ordering a "cup" or "bowl," you order by the number of dumplings). This is such a simple and elegant starter, that I eventually started to get a craving for it, even when I'm not in Canada. I just had to figure out a way to reproduce it. Since the restaurant doesn't have a web site, I had to scour the web for German-style recipes until I found a rather unassuming recipe entitled "Meatballs for Soup." Unfortunately, this was before I formalized my recipe collection, so I no longer have the original web address. A recent Google search located the same recipe here. That may be where I originally found it, but I found it in (or prior to) 2004, according to my catalog date, and that site has a copyright date of 2006. It seems to be a transcription of a recipe book, so others may have done the same.

As I mentioned, the soup isn't that difficult to make, and has become an easy meal to make when we a too busy to stand around a stove for a long time. Simply make the meatballs and put into the broth until the meatballs are done. I usually have one of the girls make the meatballs, and them assemble the Consommé. Simple, eh? (That last bit is for my Canadian friends!)

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Consommé with (Beef) Dumplings

Source:	Maximillian Restaurant, reproduced by lar3ry from meatball recipe from somewhere on the web
Catalogued:	14-Apr-2004

Meatballs (Beef Dumplings)

1 ½ pounds hamburger or sausage

2 eggs

2 Tbsp. melted shortening

1 Tbsp. chopped onions

2 Tbsp. chopped parsley

½ tsp. salt

⅔ cup dried bread crumbs or ¾ cup quick oatmeal

Combine ingredients and form balls.

Add a little milk if needed.

May be browned before adding the dumplings to the soup.

(Note: I don't brown the meatballs: lar3ry)

Consommé

1 - 1 ½ quarts chicken stock (canned or carton is fine)

2 Tbsp chopped parsley

Additional water, if necessary

Meatballs

Put chicken stock in Dutch oven over medium-high heat and allow to boil.

Lower heat to medium to medium-low (so it continues to boil slowly) and add meatballs to stock.

Continue cooking for 30-45 minutes, until meatballs are fully cooked. Add water or additional stock as necessary if liquid reduces too much.

Sometime near the end of cooking, add parsley to the consommé and season as necessary.

May be accompanied with slices of French bread.

Even better than French bread, serve with German-style "bread dumplings." These may be known as Bayerische Semmelklosse (Bavarian Bread Dumplings) or Brotknödel (Bread Dumplings). You can find recipe boxes for these or similar items in the International aisle in large supermarkets—very much recommended!

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Some additional notes:

• At one time, Chardonnay didn't realize that the shortening could be replaced by butter (which is what we always use when we make the recipe).
• We found out the hard way [smile!] that the meatballs shouldn't be added to the soup until the broth is boiling... they swelled in size, absorbing the liquid! Important tip: Don't do that!