The recipe is adapted from the 1964 edition of “Joy of Cooking,” by  Irma Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker. For another recipe for this dish, which remains popular in Ste. Genevieve, Mo., check this week’s Recipe Exchange column.

In the book, the authors had this to say about liver dumplings: “Being the descendants of South Germans, we cannot well compile a cookbook without including a recipe that is typical of that neck of the woods — not exactly a handsome dish, but it has qualities.”

Liver Dumplings (Leberkoesse)

Yield: About 3 cups

1 pound calf liver or chicken livers
2 slices white bread
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup soft butter
2 teaspoons chopped onion
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons flour
2 egg whites
2 quarts chicken stock or sauteed onions

Skin and remove fiber from liver; grind or chop until very fine. (Slightly frozen liver is easiest to grind.)

Soak bread in water for 3 minutes, then wring out the water. You should have 1 cup.

Beat together yolks, butter, onion, parsley, salt, pepper and flour. Stir together with liver and bread.

Beat egg whites until stiff; fold into other ingredients. Shape mixture into 1 1/2-inch balls. Drop into gently boiling stock. Cook dumplings until done, 5 to 6 minutes. Serve with the soup. (Or cook dumplings in boiling water and serve with sauteed onions.)