Braised Lamb in Red Wine with Potato Dumplings

For the meat: Rinse meat and pat dry. For the marinade, combine red wine, vinegar and all the spices in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Place meat in a bowl and pour marinade over. Cover and let sit 3 days in refrigerator, turning occasionally.

Remove meat, pat dry and season with pepper and salt. Cut bacon into small cubes. Heat oil and butter in a casserole dish and brown meat on all sides, add bacon and cook for a few minutes. Peel, rinse and trim onions, carrots and parsnip and cut everything into strips then cook briefly. Pour marinade pour through a sieve and add to casserole dish. Slowly braise in preheated oven at 140°C (approximately 275°F) for about 1-1.5 hours. Turn meat during cooking several times.

Remove the meat and wrap in aluminum foil to rest. Pass sauce through a sieve, add rye and stir in currant jelly, boil and if necessary allow to reduce and thicken and season to taste.

Serve sliced meat with sauce, red apples and potato dumplings.

For the red apples: Combine red wine, sugar, cinnamon, lemon quarters and currants in a saucepan.

Peel apples, cut into quarters and core then slice. Add apple slices to saucepan, cover and simmer for about 5 minutes. Apples should be soft but not falling apart. Remove from heat and let it sit overnight.

For the dumplings: Rinse potatoes, cover with salted water and boil for 30 minutes, then peel while still hot and press through a press. Allow to cool. Add eggs and flour and process everything into a smooth dough, season with nutmeg, salt and pepper. With floured hands, shape into finger thick and thumb-long rolls with pointed ends.

Place dumplings into plenty of salted boiling water on low heat for about 2 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon, dip into cold water, then drain well in a colander.

Because the potatoes are precooked for the dumplings, instead of boiling the dumplings, if desired they can also be fried in hot oil until golden brown.