Czech Please ~ A Story About Roast Pork & Czech Dumplings

Every culture has a cuisine, some cultures are just more well-known for their culinary delights. The French and The Italians dominate with their delicious food but let’s talk about a little known culinary competitor, The Czech Republic. Czech cuisine features a little known dish…amazing bread and potato dumplings. When you think about dumplings I am sure your mind goes right to the Asian variety, which are indeed delicious, but Czech inspired dumplings have a delicious story all their own. Here are some fun facts about Czech Dumplings:

• Czech dumplings are called KnedlÍky.
• There are two varieties of Czech Dumplings.
• Bread Dumplings are one variety and they are typically served steamed, sliced and as an accent to roasted meats with a rich gravy plus sauerkraut.
• Potato dumplings are round, boiled and either served with butter and herbs or with smoked meats, spinach or sour cabbage.
• Dumplings are a part of the culinary heritage of the Czech Republic.

Food & Wine Magazine talked about Czech Dumplings in an article titled 17 International Snacks That Deserve More Recognition. They are a delicious food that if you haven’t tried, you are missing out on. But I am here to change that.

I am a brand ambassador for a family owned local Chicago company called Chateau Foods. They are located in Cicero, Illinois and have been for the last 90 years. They make traditional Czech Dumplings, both Potato and Bread variety. Recently the fourth generation of family has taken over the business and they are excited to bring this product that is rooted in traditional recipes but ready to be a part of new cuisines.

When “The Dumpling King Of Chicago” came to me and asked me to create some recipes using his product, I jumped at the chance. I was already very familiar with these dumplings. I grew up on the traditional Roast Pork and Bread Dumpling dish my Grandma made on Sunday’s and the potato dumplings that were a part of almost every family party. I didn’t need much coercion , I loved both.

I have created many new and unique recipes using Chateau products, but until now, I had yet to recreate the dish I had grown up on. I decided that I wanted to pay homage to my Grandmother’s recipe but also wanted to make it fit into my Summer menu plan. I decided to give The Pork Roast Recipe a Summer makeover.

I will be honest, this isn’t a quick recipe. For it to come out right you need to have some extra time on your hands, and a few more ingredients than required in most of my recipes. I would suggest making this recipe on a weekend, when you are going to be around the house and it will yield delicious leftovers for the rest of the week.

There are three components to this dish. Here is what you need:

The Marinade

• 1/2 C of A1 Sauce
• 2 T Caraway Seeds
• 2 T of Honey
• 2 T Brown Sugar
• 1 T of Garlic Powder
• 1 T Paprika
• 2 T of Olive Oil
• Fresh Ground Black Pepper to taste

The Meat

• 3 to 5 lb Pork Roast, Score the top in a criss cross pattern

The Dumplings

• 1 Box of Chateau Dumplings, Bread Dumplings, found in the frozen bread section of our local grocery store or online at ChateauFoods.com
• Couple of shakes of Garlic Powder
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 4 T of Butter
• 2 T of Fresh Parsley, Minced

Extra things you will need for this recipe are a good sturdy roll of tin foil and a grill.

The steps are fairly simple, it’s the cooking that takes some time.

For The Marinade and Roast Pork

• Combine all the ingredients of the marinade in a bowl.
• Layer 4 sheets of tin foil on top of one another so that you are able to make a tray for the roast pork.
• Add the roast pork to the foil and then pour the marinade on top of the pork making sure you get it into the crevices of the scored meat.
• Seal the foil tightly around the top of your pork.
• Cover your grill grates with a couple of sheets of foil.
• Heat you grill up to about 450 degress. If you don’t have a thermometer keep your grill on high for about 15 minutes before adding the pork.
• Add your pork pack to the grill and let it cook for about 15 minutes.
• Next reduce the temp on your grill. You can do this y turning it down or completely shutting off the burner on one side of the grill and keeping one side on high. Move the pork to the side that doesn’t have a flame.
• Let the pork cook for about 40 minutes. Then carefully open the top of the foil. There will be a lot of steam, so be careful you do not get burned.
• Allow the pork to cook for 20 more miuntes while occasionally basting the meat with the marinade.

Now it is time to prepare your dumplings.

• Make a small foil pack like you did for the pork and place the four tablespoons of butter in the bottom.
• Place the frozen dumplings on top of the butter and sprinkle with the seasonings and parsley.
• Seal the pack up tightly.
• Place on the grill, not over direct flame, and allow them to steam inside the foil packet for about 15 minutes.
• Remove from the grill, palce on a plate and baste with the butter and herbs from the foil pouch.

Now it is time to attend to your pork.

• Make sure the pork has reached the temperature of doneness you desire. Pro Tip, I like to bring my pork to the temp of about 150 degress and I remove it from the heat and let it finish cooking under a foil tent so that it stays tender and juicy. Pork should be at 165 degrees for serving.
• Slice the pork into 1.5 inch thick slices.
• 
• Place a dumpling on a plate, place a slice of pork on top and dress it with the leftover meat juices and marinade.
• 

This dish is comfort food at it’s finest. The dumpling provide a delicious base to soak up all the savory juices from the pork. It is also a unique dish that a lot of people don’t know about. You can really wow your dinner guests with this one. The leftovers make a great little snack or open-faced sandwich.

If you would like to see more recipes using these Chateau Dumplings you can go to my blog and search for Chateau Dumplings.

*This is a paid post by Chateau Foods, but my love and passion for Chateau Dumplings is genuine and true.