Here in California, you could easily assemble a meal from prepacked components almost every night of the week. There are pre-formed hamburger patties, sure to please our six-year-old; par-baked loaves of artisanal bread, even packages of coleslaw with squeezable pouches of dressing to toss together. While we haven’t used too many of these shortcuts, knowing they’re out there is reassuring. Sure it’s cheaper to buy a bunch of green beans and top and tail them yourself, but sometimes there just aren’t enough hours in the day and you can throw together some pretty impressive meals in a short time using pre-prepared ingredients.

Case in point: this salad. Trader Joe’s sells steamed beets and pre-cut butternut squash right next to its bags of salad mix. A little farther down the aisle are the cheeses, I grabbed smoked mozzarella because the kids love it. Nab some bread (oh, and maybe some of the chocolate-covered almonds, them’s healthy fats) and head home to your new favorite salad.

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Arugula salad with roasted squash and beets

adapted from Five and Spice

 

If you are using pre-cooked beets, you only need to roast them for 5-10 minutes at the end of the squash’s cooking time.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings

• 3 medium beets
• 1 medium (1-2 lb.) butternut squash, or one package of pre-cut squash
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 4 ounces (115 grams) smoked mozzarella cheese, diced
• 6 ounces (170 grams) arugula, three or four big handfuls
• salt and pepper

For the dressing:

• 1 Tbs + 1 tsp good-quality olive oil
• 1 Tbs + 1 tsp whole-grain Dijon mustard
• ½ clove garlic, crushed
• 2 tsp maple syrup
• 2 Tbs red wine vinegar
• salt to taste

Method

• Prepare a pot with a steamer insert. Remove the tops and scrub the beets so they’re nice and clean, then chop them into about ½-inch cubes, and steam for 10-12 minutes or until they are just beginning to get tender (stick a fork one in to check).
• Preheat the oven to 400° F (200° C) and lightly coat/spray a baking sheet with vegetable oil. While the beets are cooking, prepare your squash: if you have a whole squash, cut off the “neck”, peel it and dice it into ½-inch cubes. (You can also peel and cut up the bulbous part and clean out the seeds, but I usually save that for another time.) If you’re using pre-cut squash, just make sure the pieces are all about the same size as the beets. Toss with the teaspoon of olive oil to coat, and spread on the prepared baking sheet.
• When the beets have steamed, put them on the baking sheet with the squash. They’ll color the squash where they touch, but I consider that a feature, not a bug. Sprinkle everything with salt and pepper, and slide into the oven to bake for about 20 minutes, tossing once halfway through.
• While the vegetables are cooking, prepare the dressing: whisk together the mustard and oil, and stir in the garlic. Add the maple syrup, and then the vinegar, tasting to see that the proportions are as you like. Add salt as needed.
• Rinse and dry the arugula.
• When the vegetables are tender and starting to brown, take them out of the oven and let them cool for 5 minutes.
• In the biggest bowl you have, toss the vegetables, arugula, and mozzarella with the dressing and serve.

Whether you went to preschool, ovoda or skolka, I bet you probably made some kind of artwork involving beans and bits of macaroni and a lot of glue. It’s a childhood classic! The pasta collage I present to you here is a classic too, in that I have stolen great ideas from far and wide, and put them together in this tasty assemblage.

We probably eat a variation on this every week; it’s not too involved, nutritious, and can usually be pulled together without a mad dash to the grocery store. You can sub in any kind of leafy green, use a different type of bean, add some cheese, or make mustard breadcrumbs instead of these almondy ones. It’s all good, pretty much. I know it seems like there is a lot to do here, but especially if you use canned beans and that bagged, pre-washed spinach, it comes together fast. Just give your onions enough time to get a lovely caramel color and you’ll be on your way.

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Pasta with spinach, chickpeas and breadcrumbs

The one problem I have with this recipe is that it’s not quite enough for a package of pasta; if you use the whole pound of noodles they overtake the other elements and it’s not as good. I deal with this by setting aside some of the pasta for the kids’ lunches; of course you could either double the amount of the other ingredients and go hog wild, or just don’t cook the whole bag of pasta.

Ingredients

Makes about four servings

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 large clove garlic
• 2 heaping tablespoons almond meal (or ¼ cup almonds, finely ground)
• ⅓ cup breadcrumbs (I use panko but any plain crumbs will do)
• 1 large onion
• 1 can chickpeas (about 1½ cups), drained
• 8  ounces/225 g fresh spinach, rinsed and any tough stems removed
• salt and pepper to taste
• 12 ounces/340 g pasta
• parmesan cheese for serving (optional)

Method

• First, make the breadcrumbs. Warm 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-low heat in a small pan. Run the garlic through a press or grate it into the oil and cook for a couple of minutes. Then add the almond meal and stir for another minute, breaking up any clumps. Add the breadcrumbs and cook until toasty brown and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Tip the crumbs into a small dish and set aside.
• Slice the onion in half, then into thin half-moons. Warm the second tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet or wok over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are softened and a rich brown color, about ten minutes.
• At this point, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
• Add the chickpeas to the onions and cook for another five or so minutes.
• By now, your water should be boiling; add the pasta and cook according to package directions.
• Add the spinach to the onion-chickpea mixture, reduce the heat to medium-low and stir — you may need to add the spinach a handful at a time to wilt it down and make room.
• When the pasta is ready, drain it, reserving some of the water. In a serving bowl, toss the pasta with the spinach mixture, adding some splashes of the pasta water to get everything to mingle nicely and get all distributed.
• Sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of the breadcrumbs on top.
• Serve with Parmesan cheese and the remaining breadcrumbs on the side, and let your diners add them to their own serving so they don’t lose their crunch.

 

A pot of stock simmering on the stove is the savory equivalent of baking cookies: it’s the fragrance of home. Well, as long as you don’t put cabbage in it. In Central Europe I used to buy cellophane packages of “soup mix” vegetables, usually a couple of carrots, a parsnip, celery root, half an onion and inexplicably, some cabbage. I don’t put cabbage, or any brassicas, in my stock unless I want cabbage soup, because that’s what it will be. The thing with vegetable stock is first of all, don’t boil it too hard. A nice simmer is what you’re going for. The slow cooker is perfect for this task, although I like to make a bigger batch than fits in our cooker. The second thing is salt. I once accidentally dumped in about twice as much salt as I intended to put in, and it was delicious, best I’d ever made! It doesn’t just make the stock salty, it makes all the flavors pop. That said, the tortellini in this soup can be pretty salty in their own right, so taste, taste, taste as you go along to get the balance right.

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Tortellini in broth

To give your stock richer color, leave a couple of layers of the papery brown skin on the onions. (Clean off any dirt, though!) A nice variation is to add a can of chopped tomatoes and their juice to the stock about 20 minutes before you add the tortellini. And of course you are not limited to tortellini – you could use small ravioli, tortelloni, whatever! You will par-cook them separately to keep the stock from getting cloudy (and the pasta from absorbing all the soup).

Ingredients

Serves 6

•  3 medium carrots
• two medium parsnips or parsley root
• one small celery root, or 4 stalks celery
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 medium yellow onion
• five peppercorns
• 1 tsp olive oil
• salt to taste
• 1 bunch chard or Tuscan/lacinato/dinosaur kale
• 1 pound (0.5 kg) frozen or dried tortellini

Method

• Scrub all the vegetables, or peel them if you feel ambitious.
• Chop the carrot, parsnip and celery (root) into large cubes of even-ish size; you won’t serve these in the broth, so appearance isn’t important.
• Quarter the onion and peel the garlic cloves.
• Heat the oil in the bottom of a large stock pot over medium heat. Dump in all the chopped veggies, onion, garlic and peppercorns, and saute for 5 minutes. If you’re using a slow cooker you can skip this step.
• Pour 7 cups water over the vegetables. Bring to a gentle boil, them cover simmer for 40 minutes up to 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, cut the leafy parts off the chard or kale. If you’re using chard, chop the stems as well, but I usually discard the kale stems.
• Time to check the stock! Taste, then add salt, starting with 2 teaspoons. If you think it needs a little more flavor, simmer without the lid for 15-20 minutes to reduce it down a bit.
• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the tortellini for 2 minutes less than the suggested cooking time on the package.
• While the pasta cooks, strain the broth; you can serve the veggies as a kind of side dish, as Valerian’s family does, or reserve them for another use. Return the stock to the pot, and add the chard or kale and bring to a low simmer.
• When the pasta is ready, drain it and add it to the stock and let everything simmer together for a few minutes.
• Check for seasoning and serve.

 

So, a few months ago it was pancakes. Apparently now it’s eggplant sauce/spreads. But this recipe is actually one of my go-to dinners, even when eggplant and tomatoes aren’t busting out all over the farmers’ markets. When something is good, it’s good! And I’m one of those people who find it comforting to return to the same meal, rather than boring. When I was in graduate school in NYC, living on my own and not really much of a cook, I ate one of two things for dinner about 5 days a week: either broccoli and rice, or tomato soup with couscous. Seriously. It may not come as a surprise that my dad has eaten the same breakfast for 45 years or so. How about you? Do you go back to certain recipes again and again, or are you a change-it-up chef? With young kids, you may not have much choice, although my children will declare a particular food their favorite, eat it non-stop, then just as abruptly decide they don’t want it any more, ever.  Shades of Bread and Jam for Frances.

I first found this recipe in a Jamie Oliver magazine. You probably know him from “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution” series, but he’s got a Martha Stewart-like empire in the UK. He still seems pretty down-to-earth and he has a bunch of kids with silly names, so he should appreciate the pitfalls of child-friendly cuisine. Even my eggplant-phobic Mr. B (6) eats this sauce happily, albeit without knowing what’s in it. Less said, better fed!

I’ve made this sauce many times, and about half the time I realize I only have a sliver of Parmesan left, or no fresh basil or something. I wonder, is it the hallmark of a good recipe that if you leave out one of the (few) ingredients it’s still good, or is that a bad sign? Well, either way this one is a keeper in our house, and I bet you’ll be going back to it over and over too.

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Eggplant tomato pasta sauce
Adapted from Jamie Oliver Magazine

This recipe makes a lot of sauce, enough to coat one package of pasta and fill all four of us up and still leave enough for another pound of pasta somewhere down the line. Any pasta shape will do; the original recipe calls for linguine but I like tubular pastas just as much with it. Don’t forget to reserve some of the pasta water to thin out the sauce – any saucy leftovers also make a great spread with crackers.

Ingredients

Makes enough sauce for about 2 pounds (1 kg!) of pasta.

• 1 medium eggplant
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 small (14 oz) can whole peeled tomatoes
• 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
• a handful of basil leaves, sliced into ribbons
• ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving (about 3 oz)
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

• Peel the eggplant and if it’s very seedy, take out the fluffy seedy parts as best you can. Cut into half-inch cubes.
• In a large skillet, warm the olive oil over medium heat and add eggplant. Cook until it’s starting to get some nice brown color, then add the garlic.
• Put the pasta water on to boil at this point.
• Add the can of tomatoes and the basil to the eggplant; swish a little water around the tomato can and splash it in as well. Then add the balsamic vinegar and let everything simmer for 5 minutes or so.
• In a food processor or with an immersion blender, puree the sauce until it’s just short of smooth. Stir in the grated Parmesan. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• To serve, reserve some of the cooking water from the pasta to thin out the sauce to your preferred consistency, and grate some more cheese over the top to make it extra fancy.

 

Some of you have been concerned that recent recipes have been too healthy and light. Well, fret no more, friends. This one suffers from no such delusions: it’s rich and oh my, it’s good.

Both kids are back in school as of this week, and we’re still working out the schedule in its various daily permutations. (Is there some school rule that says that no day can be like another?) One thing that has made things dramatically easier is getting lunches together the night before, especially by cooking a little extra at dinner to tuck into the lunchbox for the next day.

This recipe is so good, though, we were lucky to have any leftovers at all – you’ll catch yourself swiping bites that were meant to get packed away. And while it’s true that this dish, which is essentially macaroni and cheese with a kick, isn’t going to get on anyone’s low-calorie list, it will surprise you how rich and creamy it tastes with a pretty small application of cheese.  Bet your kids will gobble it up, and you will too!

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Daddy’s special mac & cheese

You can serve this pasta dish two ways – just noodles and sauce, à la Kraft, or give it an extra sprinkle of cheese and slip it under the broiler to get a crunchy top. Equally good, just take your pick!

Ingredients

Makes enough for two kids’ dinners with enough for their lunches the next day

• 5 oz (140 g) pasta, any shape
• 2 strips bacon or turkey bacon
• 2 oz (55 g) firm cheese such as cheddar, grated, plus more for topping

Method

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to package directions (time depends on the shape of your pasta).
• Meanwhile, fry the bacon in a large skillet until crisp; if you use especially fatty bacon, you may want to pour off some of the grease.
• When the pasta has finished cooking, drain it, reserving one cup of the cooking water. Dump the pasta into the pan with the bacon; add the cheese and toss to coat.
• Add the pasta water, a little at a time, until you get the saucy consistency that looks right to you. We used the whole cup.
• You can serve it as is, or, if you prefer a crispy crust, slide the pasta into an ovenproof dish, top with more cheese and broil until the top is toasted and bubbly. Yum!

 

This is another grain salad, one called “farrotto” in the original recipe, but that’s entirely misleading. Farro is a kind of wheat, an ancient and therefore apparently expensive one, but we have successfully subbed in other grains and things for this salad and it’s still delicious; you do want something a bit toothsome, so I’d go with brown rice or bulgur over quinoa or couscous.

before and after: farro on a bodybuilding regimen

Yeah, there are a lot of steps here, yet another reason I didn’t get around to posting this earlier. It is slightly streamlined, in fact! And it doesn’t seem that complicated when you actually do it, I swear. You make the dressing ahead of time so the cumin gets a chance to really infuse the yogurt, and if you use the prepackaged cubes of butternut squash, the rest of the prep is a total breeze.

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Farro salad with yogurt-cumin dressing
Adapted from Bon Appetit

This salad (nothing like a risotto, original name notwithstanding) is light yet filling meal; I think of butternut squash as an autumn feature, but since they’re available year-round now, this makes a great potluck dish in the summertime too. I have no compunction about tossing the dressing in with the salad rather than drizzling it over the top and then packing it up to go.
Ingredients

Serves 4-6

• 1 Tbs ground cumin
• 1 small tub (5.3 oz) plain Greek yogurt (fat-free is fine)
• juice of one lemon
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• one medium butternut squash, cut into ½-inch dice (about 4 cups)
• 3 Tbs olive oil
• 2 cups uncooked farro
• ½ tsp red pepper flakes or to taste
• 1 medium red onion, quartered and sliced thin
• 1 can chickpeas, drained
• ½ cup fresh cilantro

Method

• In a small pan over medium heat, toast the ground cumin until fragrant. Set aside to cool, them stir into the yogurt with one of the minced garlic cloves. Squeeze half a lemon into the sauce and then refrigerate the sauce, reserving the other lemon half for serving.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the farro, lower temperature to keep the pot at a vigorous simmer and cook until the farro is tender, 18-20 minutes. Drain and set aside.
• Meanwhile, preheat the over to 400°F. In a large bowl, toss the squash cubes with 1 tablespoon oil and the red pepper flakes, then spread on a baking sheet in a single layer. Roast until tender, about 20 minutes.
• In a large pan, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil and saute all but a small handful of the onion and two cloves minced garlic over medium heat. Add the chickpeas and cook for 5 minutes. Add the cooked farro and squash and toss together, cooking for another minute or two.
• To serve, tip the farro-squash mixture into a bowl or platter. Squeeze the remaining half a lemon over the salad, then spoon the yogurt sauce artistically across the top. Finally, scatter the remaining onion and cilantro over everthing.

 

There is always a first time. The moments that change your perspective on the world and things evolving around it. There is the first taste of cake when you realize this world is not that bad (well, except the parents who limit it ), a kiss where you realize you want more, there is the first moment when you realize it is time to try something scary. Watching YouTube videos of bungee jumping or getting bitten by a raccoon might inspire you to try similar activities, but in my case it was one of Jamie Oliver’s “Food Revolution”. In one episode he makes some sloppy joes for the kids. He talks about it as a childhood classic that kids and adults love. I put aside all my negative feelings about this meal and decided to try it. This was my brave moment!

The good thing about sloppy joes is that they are extremely easy and most kids really do love them. You can use any ground beef including the very lean 96/4%, which was the second selling point. Since watching the TV show I have made plenty of sloppy joes, experimenting with different versions. After some testing I decided that this recipe is worth a post.

Why espresso? Well first of all I am a coffee junky. I love everything around coffee and that includes experimenting. The truth is, coffee loves beef and beef loves coffee. I noticed this before in making goulash and other beefy meals. But you have to be careful, and pull the espresso the right way. You should not use “charcoal” a la Starbucks and Peets. This requires medium roast, maximum full city +. Why? Because you do not want to make the beef bitter, but you want to enhance the depth of the beef and have a slight coffee aroma on the end of the taste palate.  Also, you have to make sure that you add the coffee when the sloppy joes are done but still hot. We want to some of the liquid to evaporate, but not for the coffee to cook, because it becomes bitter.

So let’s do it.

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Espresso-Infused Sloppy Joes

I use 96/4 beef and full city roasted coffee from nice coffee companies like Equator Coffee and Tea, Sightglass, Four Barrel, Blue Bottle or other non-charcoal company. If you want to be totally cool like me, you roast your own and get green beans from Sweet Maria’s . If you don’t have access to espresso, just leave it out. The BBQ sauce is also up to you, pick your poison. Make sure it will not overpower the beef, you just want it to add a little sweetness and smokiness. I do not use sugar, I prefer to use sweet onions and caramelize things. This way you get a different but more natural sweetness. And ketchup and BBQ sauce have sugar anyway.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground beef
• Oil spray
• 1 strip apple smoked bacon
• 1 onion – Hawaiian sweet rocks!
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• 1tsp salt (or more)
• pepper to taste
• 1 28-ounce (large) can of tomatoes
• 2-3 tbs BBQ sauce
• 3-4 tbs ketchup
• double shot of espresso (optional)
• hamburger buns
• sandwich pickle or sweet and sour pickle
• more of that amazing ONION

• Spray a hot cast iron pan with oil and add the bacon.
• After some bacon fry action, add the onion.
• Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Add garlic just before you add the can of tomatoes. Poke the tomatoes and separate them a bit.
• Add ketchup and barbeque sauce.
• Cook covered for 10 minutes on low heat.
• Uncover and cook off the liquid. Make sure you do not burn it.
• Once you’re happy with the consistency, remove the pot from heat and wait 5 min. Prepare a double shot of espresso and add it to the mixture.
• Toast some buns and assemble the masterpiece. Do not forget to add a pickle and some raw onions. Enjoy at least as much as I did!

So, I have become kind of obsessed with this corn “relish” recipe from the most recent Everyday Food. It’s about as simple as it gets, there’s no cooking involved. None! As we were chowing down tonight, Valerian asked “why do we even cook corn?” because it is so so tasty hacked right off the cob. And I’m not talking about any pampered organic superstar corn from the farmers market; I think it’s way too early for that anyway, especially since California apparently took a holiday in Oregon this spring and we’ve had weeks of unseasonal rain. No, this corn came from the grocery store, 33 cents an ear, and delicious as all get-out.

Although I’ve managed to make a meal of the relish several times (leaving guests whimpering as I greedily cleaned out the serving bowl), I wanted to bulk it up a little to make a more substantial dinner. I tossed in some black beans and for the omnivores among us, topped it off with some chicken cooked on the panini press my mother handed off to us when we moved. For myself, a little feta added some salty goodness but that’s optional, I’d say.

This was such a satisfying meal and so simple, it’s a good one to throw together for these weeknights when the sun stays up so long it’s easy to forget how late it is. Gluten free, too! It’s a delicious taste of the summer to come, just look at these gorgeous tomatoes:

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Fresh corn salad with grilled chicken
Adapted from Everyday Food

To keep the salad snappy and fresh, dress it last; I’d recommend cooking the chicken first, then assembling the salad; the chicken could easily be made in advance and kept in the fridge until you’re ready to serve it.

Ingredients

for the chicken

• 1 lb. boneless chicken breasts or thighs
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 3 ears fresh corn
  • 8 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 2 scallions, sliced thin
  • 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, about 1½ cups, drained
  • juice of one lime
  • 12 ounces baby spinach
  • feta for serving (optional)
  • About an hour and a half before you want to eat, trim any excess fat from the chicken, season it with salt and pepper and place it in a sealable container or bag. Stir together the buttermilk and cumin in a cup, then pour the mixture over the chicken. Cover/seal and refrigerate for an hour.
  • To cook the chicken, preheat a panini press or grill to medium heat. Place the chicken parts on the grill (discard any remaining marinade) and cook for about 10 minutes, until there are nice grill marks on the pieces and the juices run clear.
  • While the chicken is cooking, cut the kernels off the ears of corn.
  • Toss the corn, tomatoes, scallions and beans in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Squeeze the lime juice over and toss again.
  • Serve on a bed of baby spinach, with the chicken or feta on top.

  Serves three to four as a light meal.

Street food is the soul of the nation. It is true all over the world, except the USA. In Fort Mason, overlooking the San Francisco Bay, national identification merges with the scenery.

Let me back up a little bit. It is 2006 and I am visiting California. My in-laws respect my obsession with food and they love to show me fancy eateries. And I reciprocate, since I love to try them. It may have been a bit shocking for them when they asked me  about my favorite restaurant during my 2006 stay and I told them it was a taco truck.  Yes. The taco truck, which feeds workers in Napa. I remember very fondly visiting John, his vineyard, talking to the ripening grapes, uncovering the “sun blocking leaves”, and hoping to learn something about viticulture that could make my grapes in Slovakia the same as John’s in California. While the last will never happen, I do have happy memories of a taco truck, where I had my first encounter with pulled pork, as Anthony Bourdain would say a “noble beast”. And that memory stayed with me until last Friday.

Learning about a food-pornographic, decadent and morally filthy activity known as a “meeting of taco/food/catering trucks” was a revalation for me and I canceled all my job interviews. Jump in the car, let’s go! I have to admit, part of me was scared. I have such a fond memory of that first taco truck. What if these guys will ruin it? Well, see the result for yourself.

So what’s next? Why would I blog about it on a “Central European” blog? Simply because I want to do it! I don’t think I have the energy and the drive of those fanatics in Fort Mason but why not try it at home? Not the same I know, but I set my sights on making a totally crazy fusion cuisine something. Oh yes, lecsó/pork/bao/buns. It is time for Hungary to meet China, and this time it is not about the cheap Chinese “büfe” known from the streets of Budapest. This time Hungarian lecsó meets Chinese-American baked bao! Let’s introduce them to each other.

For buns I used a recipe and technique from About.com.

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Hungarian Lecso Pork

We made a similar recipe very recently. This time I felt the need to replace the chicken with pork. This is a rustic dish and it can be altered as you wish. If you are crazy, you can skip the bacon and go for vegetable oil. This time, try to boil away as much moisture as you can.

Ingredients

Feeds 4 people.

• ½ pound pork (a fattier cut, like shoulder)
• 2 wax peppers (Anaheim, Pablano)
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 onion
• 1 strip smoked bacon
• ½ tsp salt
• 3 tsp paprika
• pepper to taste

Method

• Cut the pork into ½ inch strips or cubes. Dice the bacon and the onions. Slice the pepper and the tomatoes into circles.
• Start frying the bacon on medium high heat to render some fat, then add the onions.
• When onions are translucent or even caramelized (burned) on the edges add the pork cook on all sides (5-6 min) and then add the peppers and the pepper and paprika.
• When peppers start to shrivel (7-15 min), add the tomatoes. Toss together and cook for 7 more minutes.
• Add half a cup of water or wine and lower the heat. Simmer until the liquid evaporates and the mixture thickens.

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Emperors Crumbs

Original recipe tripled, reduced eggs. We have been able to find semolina without any trouble here, both packaged (Bob’s Red Mill is one brand) and in the bulk bins. We love the bulk bins these days!
Ingredients

Makes 5-6 portions

• 2¼ cup/300 g semolina
• 3 cups/750 ml milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 5 eggs, separated
• pinch salt
• 1½ cups/300 g sugar
• zest from 1 lemon
• 50 g butter for sauteing
• powdered sugar, compote or jam or all three as topping

Method

• Mix together the semolina, flour and milk. Let it sit for an hour or so to let the semolina absorb the milk.
• Mix the egg yolks together with sugar and stir it into the milk mixture.
• Whip the egg whites and a pinch of salt into firm peaks and fold it into the milk/egg mixture.
• Melt the butter and add the batter. Stir the batter with a spatula or wooden spoon until it starts to form little clumps – crumbs. Depending on the size of the pan this can take up to 30 minutes.
• Serve hot with powdered sugar or with jam, or with compote or drizzle with some syrup.

This recipe was born when we invited my in-laws for a Hungarian picnic. Traditionally, the protein part of the meal would be cold cuts: thinly sliced Hungarian paprika sausage or the famous Pick/Hertz winter salami.  You can’t get those here, though,  and substituting sugar-soaked ham was not an option for me. The other popular Hungarian custom for picnics is to take their big kettle and cook goulash, fish soup, bean stew or paprikash. I would be all for this, but I do not think it will make the California firefighters happy.  The grass is so dry that you can light it up just by looking at it. I also had doubts that the picnic grounds would be happy to see some crazy Hungarian making a huge pot of goulash while burning their turf, and I definitely didn’t want to risk expulsion from the Marin Cheese Factory. Where would I get my healthy dose of Camembert?  So under pressure, I threw together this recipe, with a very Hungarian result. It’s maybe best served warm, but kept cool in the picnic basket, it makes a great sandwich filling.

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Hungarian Vegetable Chicken

This is a rustic dish and it can be altered as you wish. If you are crazy, you can skip the bacon and go for vegetable oil. It will still be good.

Ingredients

Feeds 4 people.

• 2 pounds boneless chicken (preferably dark meat)
• 3 wax peppers (Anaheim)
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 strip smoked bacon
• ½ tsp salt
• 3 tsp paprika
• 1 cup red wine
• pepper to taste

Method

• Cut the chicken into 1 inch strips or cubes. Dice the bacon and the onions. Mince the garlic, slice the pepper and the tomatoes into circles.
• Start frying the bacon on medium high heat to render some fat, then add the onions.
• When onions are translucent or even caramelized (burned) on the edges add the chicken cook on all sides (5-6min) and then add the peppers and the pepper and paprika.
• When peppers start to shrivel (7-15 min), add the garlic and tomatoes. Toss together and cook for 7 more minutes (do not burn the garlic).
• Add the wine and lower the heat. Simmer until the liquid evaporates and the mixture thickens.

Főzelék is a special category in Hungarian cuisine. It’s not  quite a soup, but neither is it a stew. They are made in many ways and provide a cheap source of nutrition and yuminess. There is a potato főzelék, green bean főzelék, bean főzelék, spinach főzelék, pea főzelék, lettuce főzelék, squash főzelék and many, many more. Usually they are served with topping like a sausage, hot-dog, meatballs, or boiled or fried eggs. In my family we used to serve them with pörkölt (thick meat stew).
This is the ultimate Hungarian fast food. If you will be traveling in Hungary, try one of these cafeteria-style places and have a főzelék with topping. You might spend around 600 Ft (forints – something like $3) and have a great, satisfying meal.

My favorite főzelék is lencse, which is translated as buttered or stewed lentils. The process of making it can be very complicated or very simple. The complicated version requires you to cook smoked meat the night before and to keep the smoky water. Also you must soak the lentils for at least 12 hours. My family goes for the simple version. We do not cook smoked meat a day before and we do not soak lentils. Anyway, modern processed smoke meat is full of junk, and if you cook it you get rid of some of the junk. And then that junky water you use to cook the lentils. No thank you. So my mum skips the “smoked” part all the way. I found that liquid smoke works pretty well (I recently read that liquid smoke isn’t anything too awful, which was nice to know).
If you buy fresh and good quality lentils you can skip the pre-soaking too. Unfortunately the organic lentils I bought from the bulk bin at WholeFoods (sometimes known as Whole Paycheck for a reason) were apparently a mixture of fresh and old lentils, and  some of them overcooked while others were still crunchy. You need a place where there’s good turnover for these kinds of bulk foods; I am still learning about where to shop in California.

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Buttered Lentils – Lencse-fozelek

For this ultimate Hungarian recipe use ordinary brown lentils and common sense with the amount of water.

Ingredients

Serves 6 humans.

• 2 cups lentils
• 10 cups water
• 1 tsp and a pinch of salt
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 lemon
• 8 oz sour cream (small tub)
• 4 oz milk
• 4 tbs all purpose flour
• 1tsp liquid smoke
• 4 oz milk

Method

• Wash the lentils, put them in a large pot with water, garlic, salt and bay leaves.
• Prepare a mixture of sour cream, milk (half of the sour cream container) and pinch of salt. Let it sit and bring it to room temperature while the lentils are cooking.
• Cook the lentils on medium-low heat until the lentils are tender. If necessary add water. Keep the water level approximately half an inch above the lentils.
• When lentils are fully cooked, stir the  flour into the sour cream and milk mixture. Blend it well and add it to the lentils. Add the sugar and the liquid smoke, bring it to boil and cook it for another 5-10 minutes. The lentils and the sour cream mixture should make a thick stew-like consistency. Then turn off the heat.
• After it cooled a little bit (5-10 minutes) add a juice of a lemon (you can substitute it with 1-2tbsp of white vinegar).
• Serve it with sausage or meat balls or hot dogs or cooked eggs. Do not forget a good bread.

I had a great day in Sonoma tasting some wine. I specifically went to try out the Cline cellars, since I was very excited about trying their wine; I had it for the first time on the way to California on the BA flight. I love the idea of grapes grown on 100 year-old vines. The yield is low but very mature and sophisticated. I am a big fan of Cline and their Ancient Wines line. With a little luck you can get these wines from under $10, which is my comfortable price limit for a bottle of wine. After the tasting at their cellars, I could not come home empty handed, and I decided to share this gem with my family. Since good wine must be accompanied by good food, I decided to make a Czech classic: roasted duck with red cabbage and Czech dumplings.

This Czech meal consist of three separate segments. You have to roast the duck, make the cabbage and the dumplings. It is a bit more labor intensive, but again remember that a good wine must be accompanied by a good meal.  I’ll post them as separate segments because the cabbage and the dumplings are often used with other meals and later I might refer to these recipes.

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Roasted Duck

For this recipe I used duck legs. For bigger parties or hungry individuals, you can count on 2 legs per person, for a lighter meal go with 1 duck leg per person. You can use other parts of the duck if you wish. The amount of apples and pears depends on the amount of duck you are going to roast. I use fruit in order to achieve light fruity tones and preventing the meat from drying out.

Ingredients

• firm apples, such as Braeburns
• pears, any variety
• red wine
• salt
• water
• duck legs
• caraway seeds

Method

• Slice the apple and pear and lay them directly on the roasting pan. Add few cups of red wine or water. The liquid should barely cover the fruit.
• Salt the duck legs on both side, place the legs on the fruit bed and sprinkle them generously with caraway seeds.
• Preheat the oven to 340F, cover the roasting pan with foil and bake until the meat is soft (2 -2.5 hours).
• When the meat can be easily pierced with a fork, remove the foil and broil until the skin is nice and crispy.

Red Cabbage

While the duck roasts you can do the red cabbage. This is a special cabbage used with few Czech recipes and you can use the leftovers in many good ways, as a side dish, in sandwiches.

Ingredients

• 1 medium red cabbage (1.5-2pounds)
• 1 big onion
• 1 bay leaf
• 3tbs vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 orange
• 3 cups of red wine
• 1tsp caraway seeds
• 1/2 tsp salt

Method

• Slice the cabbage into thin ribbons, removing the hard bits and nibbling on them while you salt the cabbage and let it rest for 30 minutes.
• Chop the onions.
• Heat the oil in large pot and add the onions together with the bay leaf. When onions become translucent, add the sugar and caramelize it.
• Add the caraway seeds and 10 seconds later add the red wine and the juice of one orange.
• Bring the mixture to boil and add the cabbage. Cook the cabbage on medium temperature until soft.
• When cabbage is soft add the vinegar and season with extra salt (1/2tsp maybe).

Steamed dumplings – knedliky

The Czech knedliky or “steamed bread” is a real Czech classic. It is served with variety of foods, especially with sauce. This is a simple knedliky recipe; unfortunatelly they are great only on the first day. After that they lose their freshness rapidly, so try to use them right away. You will need a steamer to make these (obviously), one with a flat bottom is the best.

Ingredients

• 1tsp sugar
• 1tsp yeast
• 3½ cups flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 cup of milk
• ½ cup lukewarm water

Method

• Make a sponge: mix the lukewarm water, sugar and yeast and leave until bubbly, about ten minutes.
• Mix the flour with salt, add the sponge, eggs, and 2/3 cup of milk (if necessary keep adding more milk).
• Let it raise for 30 min, then punch it down.
• Let it raise again until doubled.
• Prepare the steamer: put a few inches of water in a large pot, and lightly oil the steamer basket. Bring the water to a boil.
• Shape little oval loafs and put them in the steamer basket. Steam them for 10-12 minutes until they are resilient and have a firm outer skin.
• Let them cool and cut them into slices just before you serve them.

Scrambled eggs were for me the ultimate cooking experiment – I have tried them so many ways. One of the first meals I made for my wife were scrambled eggs “valcs style” (valcs is my old nickname). And from time to time, she requests it again. That, however,  is a recipe for another time. I thought that after our long break, we should start up with something simple. I found out that in the US it is still possible to find a good honest bacon, which is a basis for this Hungarian style recipe.

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Hungarian Style Scrambled Eggs

There is no exact recipe for this. It is more a rundown of ingredients and the ratio that I like best. In the summer I used to add one pepper and one tomato 3 minutes before I added the eggs. If you don’t like bacon (if there are such people) you can skip it and add just a plain vegetable oil. If you are scared of bacon for health reasons, try to add just a tiny bit. And if you don’t eat bacon for health or religious reasons, then instead of 1/2 tsp of red paprika use 1 tsp of Spanish smoked paprika. Serve it with really good fresh bread.

Ingredients

This is a 1 person recipe. Multiply it as you wish.

• 1 onion
• 1 strip of REAL bacon
• 3 eggs
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• 1/2 tsp marjoram
• 1/2 tsp red paprika

Method

• Roughly chop the bacon and start to fry it on a medium high temperature and render some fat.
• Add the onions, salt them and cook them until they are caramelized
• Add the red paprika, stir and add the eggs.
• As soon as I add the eggs I remove the skillet from the heat and let the eggs cook off the heat source. Usually this provides you with creamy but well-cooked eggs.

My mum used to make this pretty often when I was growing up, mostly because cauliflower is widely available here and it is cheap. The best way to eat cauliflower is to deep fry it and eat it with tartar sauce and fries.  But fake brains is second best thing. It is less caloric and in many ways it’s even good for you. It is also very easy to prepare. I would recommend this recipe to all beginner chefs.

I don’t know why is it called “fake brains”. My only guess would be that it resembles cooked pigs’ brain, which used to be considered a delicacy here.  I remember that during socialism in Czechoslovakia we used to have plenty of “fake” meals, which were supposed to imitate the real stuff that was not available. To calm down the vegetarians among us, this meal does not resemble the flavor or texture of cooked brains (at least as I remember them from my childhood).

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Fake brains

Try to avoid winter cauliflower, because it tends to be bitter. This recipe makes fake brains for 2 greedy or 4 normal people.

Ingredients

Makes 2 portions.

• 3 tbs oil
• 3 big onion
• 1 cauliflower head
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten

Method

• Cut off the cauliflower florets and cook them in salty water (big pinch of salt) until tender. It takes 10-15min.
• Chop the onions and steam over low heat with 3tbs of oil. Add the salt and the pepper. You want the onions translucent, not fried. If they are getting too brown, carefully add a little bit of water.
• Strain the cauliflower and let it “steam dry”. Once they’ve dried (in about 3 min), smash them with a fork into small chunks. Watch the onions!
• When the onions get translucent, add the cauliflower, stir and cook together for another 10 minutes.
• After 10 min, add the eggs and stir again to scramble them. Once the eggs are done to your liking, your meal is ready. Taste it and season it if necessary. Do not burn your tongue (as I do all the time ).
• Serve with good rustic bread.