This evening my son-in-law treated us to a traditional German/Russian soup, called Knoephla Soup, which he learned to make from his dad.
When I asked Darren what ‘knoephla’ means, he said, ‘dumpling.’ Answers.com told me that the word ‘knoephla’ comes from the German word ‘knöpfle’, which means ‘little knob/button.’ These little dumplings seem somewhat noodle-y to me, and are made from flour, milk, eggs and salt (no leavening). I watched Darren roll a portion of the dough into a ‘rope’, and then snip pieces of the dough into the simmering soup to cook.
The soup itself has chicken broth, potatoes (cubed) and chopped onion, and is seasoned with bay leaves. When the veggies and the knoephla were all done, Darren stirred in some real cream, and cream of chicken soup.
I cannot begin to tell you how delicious this simple soup is. Darren says to just look up the recipe on the internet, because he doesn’t measure anything. Here’s a picture for you, though: