Staples

Every pantry includes the basic and necessary food items for a particular cook's kitchen. Launching Gatherings and the Culpable Cook in 2016, I thought I might focus on the Homemade Staples I rely on in my cooking. As I transition from one college town to the next, one home to the next, one kitchen to the next, I want to remind myself that my family's defining foods will remain to comfort us through the changes ahead. Just as our personal props, our core belongings that define us no matter the context, will accompany us to a new stage, so will our favorite foods and dishes accompany us for new gatherings on location in a new setting.

The week after my last post, Launch, about digging into bread pudding, I made an old family favorite of German origins for Julia, Jenny and David's daughter, who is a good friend of my older daughter. Spätzle, a soft egg noodle of southern Germany, are often eaten at our house as dumplings in chicken noodle soup or along with Schnitzel.

These delicate noodles were a regular part of my diet during my junior year abroad, studying in Freiburg, Germany. You can use a slotted spoon to make them, but I received a Spätzle maker from my sister many years ago, and it has gotten plenty of use. If you make Spätzle and enjoy them, this utensil is quite affordable and readily available now on the web.

If you are pressed for time, you can skip the garlic entirely and make a simpler egg noodle without it, although the garlic does lend an incredible amount of flavor. For Julia, I made a traditional dish of Spätzle with cheese and ham called Käsespätzle und Schinken which also follows. Traditionally, I like to add a side of something sweet like apple slices or applesauce and tart like pickled red cabbage to complement the Emmentaler and ham and complete the meal.

Spätzle

1 head garlic

Olive oil

½ cup milk

¼ cup finely chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley leaves or basil leaves

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

¼ teaspoon sea salt

3 eggs, beaten

2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour

1. Brush garlic with olive oil, wrap in aluminum foil, and roast at 450˚F for 1 hour until soft. Cool.
2. Squeeze roasted garlic cloves from their skins into a bowl and mash with a fork to a paste. Add milk, parsley or basil, butter, salt, and eggs, stirring until smooth.
3. Put flour into a large mixing bowl; form a well in center. Slowly pour in garlic-milk mixture, stirring with a fork to form a smooth batter.
4. Bring a 5 quart pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Set Spätzle maker over the pot. Work in batches, scraping batter through holes into water and cooking until dumplings rise to the surface, about 1 minute. Use a slotted spoon to transfer dumpling to a baking sheet.
   

Käsespätzle und Schinken

3 tablespoons butter

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

2 cups diced ham

1 cup grated Emmentaler cheese

5. Heat butter in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Saute onion until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add dumplings, stirring constantly, cook until lightly browned, 6 to 8 minutes.
6. Stir ham into dumplings and continue cooking until warmed through; sprinkle with cheese.
7. Broil with rack 5 inches from heating element until cheese melts, about 2 minutes.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings