Buckinghamshire Dumplings

Buckinghamshire Dumplings (Buck Dumplings)

Dough
2 ½ c flour
½ tsp salt
4 ¼ tsp baking powder
2 tbsp butter or margarine
Water to moisten
Mix together dry ingredients, add butter/margarine and blend thoroughly. Add and blend in water to make a soft dough.
Filling
With food processor or grinder, grind 2 large potatoes, 6 slices bacon, ½ can Prem, and 1 medium onion.
Divide dough into 3. Roll each into rectangle. Place filling in center of each rectangle, moisten edges with water and pull up to center and pinch together. Pinch ends. Place each roll diagonally on a piece of cotton or muslin cloth approximately 12” by 12” and wrap securely. With string, start at one end and wind the string around the roll until you reach the other end, then wind back to starting end and tie two ends together. Place rolls in large pot, cover with water and gently boil for 2 hours.
Remove the string, cloth and slice the roll and enjoy.
Story: My mother came from England as a child when her parents came to homestead at Eastleigh (close to Mortlach) around 1910. Times were tough, but there was always bacon, potatoes and onions on the farm so these dumplings became a regular meal. Traditionally the dumplings were made with bacon as the only, but when my mother made them for her family she added the Prem and reduced the amount of bacon. (I think she liked the novelty of buying meat in a can.) It also gave the dumplings a different flavor. These dumplings are heavy and tend to “stay with you” as she would say, so it was a popular meal when times were tough. I’m sure during the war when meat was rationed, the dumplings had more potatoes and onions than they did bacon. I have three siblings and all of us loved these dumplings; and because we didn’t have them often, they were a real treat when mom did make them. Both my brother’s wives had to learn how to make them and my sister’s husband and my husband both learned to love them. However, my Scottish father never did develop a taste for them so mom had to make him something else for supper when we had dumplings. We didn’t care, there was that much more for us.
Submitted by Linda Robinson