Can you say Kluski Slaskie?

   Man, I am on a Polish streak recently aren't I? Pierogies, szarlotka, and today kluski slaskie! I am sorry for the Polish names of my dishes but you can't really appreciate their Polishness (yes, Polishness!) without their "real" name. Yeah, I could say "Silesian dumplings" instead of "kluski slaskie" but lets be honest, does that make as big of a statement? No, so I'm going to stick to my kluski and that's it. It's a regional dish, very popular in south-western part of Poland (hint: Silesian!), but I make them very often too, even though I am nowhere near Silesia! The original version is just plain dumplings without any filling, but I wouldn't be myself if I didn't stuff them with something, and the best choice is beef! Here is the recipe:

Filing:
1 lb ground beef
1 chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic
olive oil
cilantro
salt, pepper

   Saute onions, garlic and beef with olive oil, season to taste, add cilantro and let it cool down a little bit.

Potato dumplings:

2 lbs potatoes
1 cup of potato flour
0.5 cup all purpose flour
2 eggs
salt

   Cook the potatoes, mash them, and then let them cool down. After they are cool enough to handle add flour, eggs, and salt and mix all together until smooth. I think you know the drill by now, take your rings off and get your hands dirty, no spoon can do better job then your hands! After "the dough" is mixed form balls out of it (a little bit bigger then egg size), flatten them in your hand, stuff with prepared earlier beef and round them up hiding stuffing inside. I love to serve them with melted butter or crisp chopped bacon, even though I cheat a little bit because I use turkey bacon (by the way where is the bacon on a turkey?).

   If it sounds complicated or if you struggle with stuffing them you can just make them plain, without anything inside and use the beef to make a meat sauce :).

   They are silky, soft, fluffy, and delicious, especially when they are freshly prepared and straight from boiling water! Even though they look a little bit like pierogies, the dough is completely different and there is no comparison between those two dishes! You should definitely put them on your kitchen bucket list!

Good luck.
Magda