Generally speaking, I do not like single-function kitchen gadgets. For example, you will never find an egg yolk separator or separate juicers for specific sizes of citrus in my kitchen. However, when a single-function gadget does its job exceedingly well, I will gladly use it. Two great examples are a garlic press and a rotary apple peeler (I’ve talked about the peeler before).

Multifunction tools are great, to a point. However, sometimes designers try to force too much functionality into a product, and it fails to perform any of its jobs well. Like this, for example. But when I can find an alternate use for an existing tool, I am excited. Case in point – who needs a rubber tube to peel garlic cloves when you can just smash them with the broad side of a chef’s knife and achieve the same end? The way I do it, it’s faster and requires no new gadgets.

I’ve been sort of hungry for spaetzle lately. If you’re unfamiliar with this traditional German side dish, it’s sort of a noodle crossed with a mini dumpling, light but chewy, made with a sticky egg batter that is pushed through the holes of a colander with a spoon into a pot of boiling water, or you could use a glorified potato ricer or sliding hopper thingy (both of which are shown here).

The problem with the colander method – I don’t own anything like that (I use plastic mesh strainers). I didn’t want to buy a new tool (like a ricer). The sliding hopper thingy – I used to have one in college – is a victim of poor design. It relies mostly on gravity to get a thick batter through the holes, and by the time some of it has fallen through, the steam from the pot has cooked the remaining batter in the holes.

(At this point, I went to the grocery store in hopes that there might be a frozen spaetzle product that I could just buy… Alas, there were none. They didn’t even have frozen gnocchi.)

A little more googling indicated that there was such a thing as a rotary spaetzle maker.

Hey, now that looks like a food mill! I have a great food mill with 3 interchangeable discs. It was a wedding gift (thanks, C&C!).

I’ve mostly used it for making applesauce and mashed potatoes, but the largest holes looked like they were perfect for spaetzle. And you know what? They were! (Whee!)

And so spaetzle was made.

Now before you say, “What the hell is that, June?” I hasten to note that this is an untraditional presentation of spaetzle. It was supposed to be a casserole, but I think it ended up more like a quiche. Nevertheless – pretty nummy. Here’s the recipe (from Cooking Light):

Heat the oven to 375 F. Put 2 qts of water on to boil.

Combine 1 2/3 c flour, 1/2 t salt, and 1/4 t baking powder in a bowl. Separately mix 3/4 c skim milk and 2 eggs, whisk to mix. Combine milk mix to flour mix, whisk to combine, let stand for 10 minutes.

Once the water is boiling, push spaetzle batter through whatever you are using, cook until they float to the top (a few minutes). You may have to do this in batches – if so, remove cooked spaetzle with a slotted spoon and drain in a colander.

Chop 2 or 3 large shallots. Saute in a little olive oil until they are browned, then add 1 c of diced ham. Saute until everything is browned, then add to the spaetzle, stirring to combine. Grease a 2-qt baking dish, pour everything into that. Mix 1/2 t salt, 1 1/2 c milk, 2 eggs, 2 T flour, and 1/4 t pepper together and pour over the spaetzle. Sprinkle with 3 oz of shredded Gruyere cheese. Bake for 35 minutes until the top is browned.

It was eggy, like a quiche, and full of chewy spaetzle, salty ham, and strong cheese flavor/smell. Leftovers heat up pretty well, too – it doesn’t separate or turn oily like a mac-n-cheese dish might. (I’ll mention that Matt gave this 2 thumbs down. It fell into the category of “Smells funny – not even interested in tasting it” and I was not feeling like arguing about it. Eh. More for me. :b)