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When we were in the Bay area on vacation from Nebraska one year, Ron's sister Linda suggested it would be nice to get together and fix Kumla, the original "300 year old Norwegian recipe". And get together we did, even Mom was there. We spent the day cooking and having drinks on Linda and Des' beautiful deck. It was a wonderful day and I think everyone enjoyed the meal, even Des, who at first wasn't sure about the rye flour dumpling thing.

Norwegian flag

Corned Beef and Cabbage with Kumla

  • Ingredients:

  • 1 large corned beef brisket
  • 2 to 3 12 oz beers
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 12 whole peppercorns
  • 1 large onion, quartered
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 large onion, left whole
  • 6 to 8 carrots, cut in 2-inch pieces
  • 4 to 5 potatoes, peeled and halved
  • 1 head cabbage, quartered
  • For Kumla:

  • 6 medium potatoes
  • 2 cups rye flour
  • 1/2 cup Bisquick
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1 lb bacon, chopped and fried
  • 1 large onion, chopped and fried in bacon drippings
Photos Coming Soon

1. Place the brisket in a large pot, add 2 or 3 beers and emough water to cover brisket by 3 inches. Add a cheesecloth sachet of bay leaves and peppercorns. Add the quartered onion and salt, then boil the brisket until tender, about 4 hours depending on size of brisket. Add water if needed during cooking.

2. Remove the brisket and place it into a 9x13x2 inch pan, cover with foil, and place it into a warm (250 degree) oven to keep warm. Strain and reserve the cooking liquid, add the whole onion and the cut up carrots and cook for 10 minutes. Add the peeled and halved potatoes, cook for another 10 minutes and add the quartered cabbage. Cook until almost done. Remove the vegetables, again reserving the liquid, and add them to the pan with the brisket. Cover the pan and return it to the oven.

3. Wash the remaining potatoes and remove any bad spots. Now comes the *fun* part. On a square grater using the side with the small holes, grate the potatoes with the skins on until you have a bowl of pulp. The pulp will turn brown because of the starch. Allow about an hour to do this so you can rest your arm between potatoes. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until the batter holds to the spoon. Bring the liquid that the brisket was cooked in to a boil. Using a large serving spoon, scoop the Kumla batter by spoonfuls into the hot liquid. They will settle to the bottom for a while. Simmer, turning every 10 minutes or so. Cook about 30 to 40 minutes.

4. Fry chopped bacon until crisp. Add chopped onion to bacon drippings and sauté until onion is tender. Place in a small serving bowl.

5. Remove the brisket and vegetables from the oven and arrange on a serving platter. Add the Kumla (dumplings). Serve with the bacon/onion mixture and mustard.