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Franci, great to hear from you! I've been travelling in the US recently and haven't tried the herbed spaetzle yet but will this week and report back!

Wasn't the post from Paul Hollywood great! Here it is [link]

He and Jeni always hit it off, in fact he's been on her radio programme several times. Great memories, indeed! I so miss Great Food Live. They say it was copied, but I have never seen a daily live food programme with such a dynamic presenter EVER. Truly one-of-a-kind brilliant programming and totally irreplaceable.

I have tried and tried to watch Market Kitchen but it's like taking a sleeping pill. I've wanted the show to work but it just doesn't.

I actually think Market Kitchen has killed off this great board, too. All the fun has drained away.

Anyway, let me give the herbs the old "go" and I'll let you now how everyone liked it!

Hi Doughy Boy. Yes as you say it is best to chop the leaves as finely as possible and try not to add any stalks that are ‘woody’ in any way, not because of the taste factor but because excluding them as far as possible will make sure that the mixture will run smoothly.

Today is a religious holiday here, when we visit the cemeteries to put flowers and light candles on the resting places of those who have shared our lives at some time or another, it is not as depressing as it might sound, and I used some of the time to check the forum.

A post from Paul Hollywood was super to see, though I have no idea any longer where in the forum it was exactly, and it really brought all the good memories flooding back.

Of course of irreplaceable GFL, and the hours it was possible to spend just thoroughly enjoying watching it, but also of the various chefs, cooks and experts. Each brought something different to the programme, and all were not only talented but also such personalities in their own right. It made for excellent television and also for a very good and active forum to which they often added comments and advice, a super addition to the ambiance of what was, for me anyway, already ‘whenever possible must see TV’.

Halcyon days indeed.

Franci, thatnks for your reply! I only suggested powdered herbs because it was a dry ingredient that I could mix into the dough. I'll try fresh this time, I assume it has to be chopped very fine for it not to block-up the squeezer tool?

Glad you liked the base, it always seems to get rave reviews. I think it may be the slight tartness of the cream and the backgound earthiness of the nutmeg. Just typing this makes my mouth water.

I'll let you know how my fresh herb variation goes!

Back to you at last Dougy Boy, sorry about the delay, I am hopeless at checking into the forum at the moment.

We have now had our first heavy snow days of the season, and for several days were fighting our way through snow storms, so you can imagine all the spaetzle, and other cold weather recipes, have already been dusted down and are in full use.

I always use fresh herbs but simply because they grow like weeds outside during the summer and then, in the winter, dozens of little herb pots take over the kitchen. We have simply become used to the taste, and colour, that fresh herbs seem to bring to the spatzle recipes.

I asked friends yesterday about dried herbs, because I have no experience, and was told that it is a completely different taste but equally as good. A bit like package sage and onion stuffing quite often tasting better than the 'real thing'. Well in my opinion anyway, I love it when someone brings me some packets for the celebration Christmas dinner, it is always much better than the sage and onion stuffing I make myself.

The advice I was given was to use only a little of the dried herbs, and gradually increase, or decrease, the quantity to your own taste as you repeat the recipe until it is exactly as you yourself like it. Also allow it to soak for a while in the liquid before using, this brings out the flavour and texture.

I tried your base recipe some weeks ago by the way, it was delicious, lots of compliments from all of those who got to share the meal, and requests for the recipe!

Good luck with the herb mix!

Franci, the weather DOES make a difference doesn't it!? Spaetzle just seems to be the perfect fit for those grey drizzly days.

My next step now is to insert some of the flavouring ingredients directly into the dough. Except for the creme fraiche I haven't tried that before! I'm wondering whether dried powdered rosemary or sage would be better than fresh as it's going into the mix?

Dougy Boy that is super news. They really make for quite a fun meal or accompaniment don't they? And yes you are right they have some similarities to Mac and Cheese. Have never thought of trying them made with Feta but that could be really something very different, might add a little chopped olive to the mix. Thanks for the idea, it is always good to have fresh eyes looking at something one has got perhaps a little too used to.

We had them a few days ago also, with partly cooked onion and a little fresh crumbled sage added to the dough mixture, together with braad wurst, so German sausages. It was the lunch that saved the day after too many hours spent the previous day at the Munich October Beer Fest! No not only because of the beer, also the fact that it was freezing cold and rather wet!

Definitely not everyones idea of a late breakfast meal but believe me it really did the job it was designed for!

Franci, gave the cheese spaetzle a try last weekend and it was wonderful! A completely different approach to the dish that I've never had.

It reminded me of a macaroni and cheese in some ways. I used gruyere.

I think I will do this again but instead of gruyere place chunks of feta throughout and bake. I bet that would be tangy!

Franci...thanks for the reply. I will absolutely give the cheese spaetzle a try this week given how the weather has given up on us! I love spaetzle that much that I would find it challenging just to have it as a snack.

And now that Market Kitchen is back on the air I have so much more spare time!

Christmas stuff is here too...it's not our age, they are just putting the seasonal stuff out earlier and earlier. I hate that, it ruins the "specialness" of each holiday. As soon as Christmas is over, out come the Easter eggs!

I'll let you know how I go!

Am really pleased the recipe worked for you Dougy Boy..........yes sorry about the late response, have only just checked the forum after all this time so I do apologise for not having replied earlier.

You are right hot pancetta is better than ham, and we will be treating ourselves to that quite a bit over the next months.

Winter has definitely arrived here. The shops are already stocked up with Christmas (Weihnachten) biscuits and chocolates, (is it a sign of old age that it seems to happen earlier every year?), there is snow in the higher areas and the October Fest (Beer Festival) is due to start any time now. So it is certainly Spaetzle time, even though we are still crossing our fingers, toes and everything else, for a late summer spurt.

When you feel like experimenting do try one of the flavoured Spaetzle some time. The favourite is cheese and onion but there are many others. Fried in a little butter after boiling and draining, and served either alone as a snack, or as an accompaniment to salad, cooked meat or whatever, really a super winter meal.

Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy and thank you so much for letting me know how everything is going, I really appreciate it.

Franci, tried the oven method again and used your lovely recipe above with my new squeeze tool. Fantastic!! I substituted hot pancetta for the ham but otherwise followed it to a tee and it was perfectly browned and slightly crispy.

I have no idea what went wrong the first time but the added 20 degrees and butter may have been the secret.

I just adore spaetzle and your method makes it that much better. perfect! ..thank you for taking the trouble to type out your recipe, I have printed it out and put it in my "keeper folder"

Dougy Boy, am sorry to realise I missed out the milk, eggs and salt from the ingredients list! Spend so much time working out how to translate the recipe from my memory I forget to include some of the main ingredients! How clever is that?

They are included in the method and I hope this has not caused too many problems.

If you try the recipes I wish you much success.

Hi Dougy Boy,

Sorry not to have answered before, I have only just logged on and seen your post, now what can I tell you.

First of all make sure that the spaetzle is really dry. However do not do what I once did in a moment of madness and try drying it on kitchen paper. The pieces stick like glue. Far better to use a colander (spelling?).

For just normal baked spaetzle then add melted butter, salt, pepper etc. to taste to spaetzle in a lightly oiled or buttered oven proof dish, and bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 200 degrees Centigrade, until lightly browned. Hopefully that is an improvement.

I make several casserole type dishes as well and enclose one recipe.

1 large finely chopped onion
4 ounces finely diced ham
2 tablespoons plain flour
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Teaspoon dry mustard
4 ounces grated cheese (I use Gruyère but only because that is our accepted 'cooking' cheese)
Tablespoon of finely chopped chives (This is basically to add a bit of colour)


Add onion to pan with a little butter or oil and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; stir in ham. Combine spaetzle and onion mixture in a lightly buttered or oiled baking dish, tossing gently to make sure it is evenly mixed.

Combine remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, ¾ pint milk, 2 large eggs, 2 tablespoons flour, mustard and pepper, stirring with a whisk. Add chives and one ounce of grated cheese to milk mixture and pour milk over spaetzle mix. Sprinkle evenly with remaining cheese. Bake at 190 degrees C for 35 minutes or until cheese is lightly browned.

Hope this helps, if not let me know and we will think of another way of dealing with it.

Franci....above you mentioned that you baked your spaetzle in the oven for twenty minutes, rather than fry as I do.

I gave that a go last time and it was so soggy, it seems to have "cooked" rather than "roast"...what did I do wrong? Could you just give me some tips on the oven method? I had 180 degress for 20 minutes, no oil in the pan.

Hi Dougy Boy, I am so happy your spaetzle gadget worked for you. Thanks for letting me know, I was a bit on tenderhooks.

Am getting my own out of 'summer storage' today because I think summer, has given up on us here, for the last days it has definitely been time for warming food again. Have been having curries of various types recently, and tonight we are having shrimp spaetzle.

Hopefully though some 'salad days' come back before the first snows, which normally arrive around October!

A lot of ricers come with interchangeable extrusion plates that include a noodle plate - as on the link that I posted above.

Hi Franci....just to let you know the little spaetzle squeezer finally arrived and gave it a whirl last night. It worked a treat! The noodles were perfect sized and consistent and I got it the first time. The secret is the hole size....a ricer wouldn't do it.

Brilliant! Thanks again.

Yes you can 'cooking4one'.

Here in Germany we can actually buy them frozen, as well as from the chill cabinet.

If you are going to fry them just make sure they are really dry before starting.

However should you use one of the recipes where you just add a sauce of one type or another, which is also a delicious way of serving them, then it is of course not necessary.

Can you freeze the dumplings after boiling but before frying? It seems from the recipe above that there would be far too much for me in one sitting.

Well I didn't make it that night but I finally did this past weekend. What a joy spaetzle is, indeed. And I had no idea how easy to make, although it would be nice to have 3 hands when squeezing into the boiling water.

I used a "Euroline" potato ricer as one of its disks has absolutely huge holes and it made for nice sized noodles that didn't stick together as they extruded from the machine.

No other changes to DB's base recipe except a bit more creme friache and more nutmeg. Subtle difference but excellent result.

And the final stir-in of the herbs plus precooked chpped bacon and is was a main course. Everyone loved it. I heartily recommend making spaetzle to anyone who has never attempted it.

Okay everyone!!!

I'm going to make spaetzle tonight!! I have a ricer like the one described above (I hope it works) and I'm going to use Dougy Boy's base but add Frani's bacon. Yummy, it just sounds SO good!!

Smoked bacon, of course

Report tomorrow!

ReedW

Yes, the Lakeland Ricer has two discs with larger holes than the third.

One of the discs with larger holes has about twice as many holes as the other - so it will extrude twice the amount of noodles as the other at any one pressing.

Presumably, the disc with half the amount of holes also enables more pressure to be applied to the dough.

Gastro, it is a ricer but has a disk with bigger holes than available on most ricers.

The one you suggested on your link, though, looks quite adequate for the job as one of the disks has a larger hole pattern which is good for a lot of applications like deviling eggs or well-cooked ham.

I haven't made spaetzle before but am starting to get the inspiration!! It looks so simple!?

I push hard boiled eggs through it for eggy mayonaise sandwiches! Any other ideas folks?

Yes, absolutely Mary.

Yet another use, if you make burgers, is to put some cling film in first and then press your meat into shape.

Excellent for making Purée of various types - smooth applesauce, etc.

Ideal for anyone who makes their own lemonade or fruit drinks - if seeds or pips need to be removed, wrap the fruit in muslin.

Gastrosurf, another use for that gadget is squeezing the water out of spinach