Spaetzle made with a potato ricer

Spaetzle is German cross between noodles and dumplings, with an appealing toothsome texture. They're great with Beef Bourguignon, our Jurassic Chicken, and many German dishes. We use a potato ricer's large holes to get fat, textured strands. 

We based this on a recipe from sports-glutton. The batter was a bit thicker than I expected and quite sticky. It required some force to push it through the large holes of a potato ricer. I was concerned that the strands would stick as they emerged, so I submerged the end in the simmering water as I squeezed the ricer. 

  2 C    All Purpose Flour

  1 tsp  Salt

3/4 C    Milk

  2      Eggs

         Butter

Get a large pot of salted water boiling.

Our ricer has two disks, we used the larger holes, about 1/4 inch.

In a bowl, whisk Milk and Eggs together.

Add the Flour and Salt.

Stir with a strong spoon or spatula until fairly smooth, this will take some time and muscle: it will become thick and sticky from gluten development (maybe a stand mixer would help).

You could add a bit of Water and a little Butter to loosen it, but I didn't; it should not be runny.

Turn the water down to a simmer.

With the batter next to the pot, fill a ricer about 2/3 full -- this is messy.

Press down to extrude the batter through the holes;

if you think it's in danger of having the strands stick together, submerge the head in the water a little as you squeeze out the batter. 

Repeat until the batter is used.

Give the pot a gentle stir to make sure nothing's stuck to the bottom.

Adjust the heat to return the water to a gentle simmer.

When the spaetzle floats to the top, give it another 30 seconds or so to finish cooking.

Fish out the strands that have finished into another bowl.

When it's all cooked, add a bit of butter to the bowl and toss to prevent sticking.

You can hold the cooked spaetzle in a ziptop bag in the fridge for a few days.