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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.

Today we have a classic from Czech pubs. Utopenci is a jar of pickled hot dogs, onions and spices. It is a necessary addition to all czech pubs, usually to be found near the tap.

The name Utopenci has deep roots in the Czech soul and humor. Utopenci were invented 100 years ago by Mr.  Šamánek who owned a mill and a pub in Beroun. The pickled hot-dogs were very popular and his pub was famous throughout the country. As life has its irony, he drowned on day while fixing his mill’s wheel. Czechs love black humor and they named this classic Utopenci – Drowned men.

I decided to post this video, because it reflects the era of socialist pub culture, which spans the late 50′s until mid 90′s of the past century. This is the period when the pub was the gathering place of ordinary Czech men, and a very important institution where the men had to fight for social positions and made their most important life decisions. At 3:30 pm the men came home after a hard day’s work, and after a well-deserved lunch they would set off to the pub. They had to rush, because the pubs were open only until 9  pm. As soon as the last round was called (usually known by the fact that the smoke in the air could be cut by a dull knife)  they had a hard “orientational” walk home where they would be shouted at and beaten by pasta-roller wielding Czech women – the wives.  This song reflects the hardship of the Czech men. In this video you could see the hard fight for social acceptance, and of course the original beer tap which was in use in all pubs in Czechoslovakia for almost 50 years. As a sign of the sour future to come, the main character helps himself to utopenci. During this presentation you will be able to see how the air thickens as a sign that time is running out and slowly they have to start the journey home.

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Utopenci – Drowned Men

There are plenty of variations for utopenci. Originally, utopenci were not spciy so you can leave out the chili. The very basic recipe is the first 10 ingredients. After that you can use your imigination – some people add mustard or mustard seeds, horse radish, pickled cucumbers, Worcester sauce, olives etc. I have added tomatoes because Katy likes pickled tomatoes so why not?

Ingredients

• 2.5 cups water
• 1.5 cups 8% white vinegar
• 10 whole pepper corns
• 4pc allspice
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 pounds of thick hot-dogs
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 5 cloves garlic
• 4-5 big onions
• 2 chilies
• 10 cherry tomatoes
• 2 cups of sauerkraut

Method

• Mix the water, vinegar, salt, sugar and the spices and bring them to boil. Boil them for 2 minutes and then let the liquid cool.
• Peel the hot-dogs, chop the onions into circles. Peel the tomatoes. The trick with tomatoes is to put them into boiling water for 20 sec. After that it is very easy to pop them out of their skin.
• Prepare a 4.2 pint (2liter) jar. Start to layer onions, garlic, hot-dogs, sauerkraut, chilies. You can do few layers. On the top I have put the tomatoes.
• Once the vinegary liquid is lukewarm, pour it into the jar. Shake the jar in order to get rid of bubbles. Do not leave out the spices and put them into the jar. Seal the jar and put it into a cool place or fridge for 2 weeks. If you are going crazy you can eat them in one week, but two weeks is the etiquette. In the fridge they will take longer to mature.
• Serve with rustic bread and plenty of pilsner. Do not forget to invite me over.

It happens early every summer. The tiny potatoes appear and I start to look for them at the local markets.

The locals consider these tiny gems to be trash and they are also treated as such. If you go to the market you will find them in a crate off to the side with a big sale sign.  Once I found them in Győr at an upscale market where they were so cheap I bought 5 kilos. I still remember the woman asking me: “What are you going to do with those?” I shrugged and fearing more questions I  ran away with my price and and my secret.

I always wonder, when will people learn what I already know.  Every year I ask myself: “do they know it? are they going to still be affordable? what kind of strategy should I use to hide my secret?” I want to risk it and share my secret. The thing is, we’re moving so I am gone in a few weeks. I am ready to share my secret with the human race. Roasted tiny potatoes are the most amazing potatoes you will eat. I love them so much that I eat them without anything. Only potatoes and me. Katy is the same way. Now you know!

A few weeks ago I spotted them: they were imported from France and on mega sale in our local supermarket. I was so happy. I never had my favorite tiny potatoes in winter, so of course I bought a few bags.  The recipe is very simple.

1. Wash them, scrub them, do not remove the skin. If you have a bigger specimen, cut them in half.

2. Cook them in a boiling water for 8-10 minutes (depending on the size).

3. Once cooked, drain them in a colander and let them dry for about 5 minutes.

4. Put them into a roasting pan and roast them on 390 degrees F for approximately 45 min – 1 hour.  Give them a shake to turn them at the halfway point. You can use olive oil or any other oil, a combination of oil and butter, or, if you are decadent, use lard or goose fat – your results will be even better.

5. Salt them generously and enjoy them BIG TIME!

Maybe you have noticed that the pictures are slighter better quality. I would like to thank my in-laws for a great birthday present -  a new Canon 430 EX flash. The photography is more fun with it. Thank you and I am looking forward to cook some nice rich Central European meal garnished with roasted tiny potatoes for you soon.

Töki pompos is the Hungarian name for this specialty, and once I got my hands on a piece I understood why fair-goers waited in the icy wind for their own slice. Soft dough with an artery-busting topping of sour cream, onions, bacon and cheese is just what you need to fortify yourself for braving the crowds at the vásár. Even if you don’t make it to the fair, this is easy to make at home, although you might need to open a window and let in some fresh air to really recreate the atmosphere.

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Oven-baked lángos (Töki pompos)

Since I’m not a porkophile, I leave the bacon off my piece, and just go a little heavier on the smoked cheese. If you don’t feel like making dough yourself, prepared pizza dough will work in a pinch.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

• 8 oz/220 grams floury potatoes (about 1 large potato)
• 2½ cups/320 grams flour
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup/160 ml water, reserved from cooking the potatoes

For the topping

• 1 cup/200 grams sour cream
• 2 large cloves garlic
• 4 oz/110 grams thick-cut bacon, cubed (optional)
• 1 large purple onion, thinly sliced
• 4 oz/110 grams smoked cheese, grated

Method

• Peel and roughly chop the potato; cook in a pot of boiling water until pieces are easily pierced with a fork, about 10 minutes.
• Drain, reserving 2/3 cup of the cooking water. Set the water aside to cool, and mash the potatoes.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, yeast, and salt.
• Stir the mashed potatoes and water into the dry ingredients, and mix until the dough comes together. Knead the dough for 4-5 minutes until it is smooth and a bit sticky.
• Place the dough in a clean bowl, cover with plastic and leave it to rise for about 2 hours or until doubled.
• When the dough has risen, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F, 200 C.
• On a well-oiled baking sheet, roll or pat out the dough to about ½ inch (2 cm) thick, then bake for 8-10 minutes or until it is just beginning to turn golden. Set aside to cool.
• While the dough is baking and cooling, prepare your toppings. Chop the bacon, slice the onions, grate the cheese. Put the garlic through a press or use a microplane, and mix it into the sour cream.
• When the dough is cool enough to touch, spread on the sour cream, then sprinkle the onions and bacon evenly over the top. Sprinkle the cheese over it all.
• Return to the oven to bake another 10-12 minutes until the cheese has browned and the bacon is cooked.
• Slice and serve.

Lecsó (or letcho) is an important part of Hungarian cuisine. Summer in the village smells of people making letcho, as the gardens overflow with ripe tomatoes and peppers. Letcho is the basis for plenty of Hungarian meals, including goulash, paprikash, or porkolt. This time of year, people are starting to open the jars of letcho they put up during the summer to have a little taste of sunshine when the days are short.

As with most of the basic dishes from this part of the world, there are many variations in how to prepare letcho. Letcho can be a main dish when made more substantial with rice, sausage, eggs, bacon, tarhonya (Israeli/large grain couscous) etc. Depending on the peppers you use, letcho can be hot or mild. The letcho I mention here is my very old recipe. I used to make it for Katy when we were living in Banja Luka (in Bosnia) and it is one of the first meals I learned to prepare for myself  when I was 10.

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Letcho

This is a recipe for 2. Simply, because I used to make this for 2. You can make it bigger by just multyplying the ingredients.

Ingredients

Makes 2 portions.

• 2 tbs oil
• 1 big onion
• 4 Hungarian or red bell peppers
• 4 medium tomatoes
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tbs marjoram – optional
• 1 Tbs paprika
• 2 eggs

Method

• Chop the onions and saute over low heat in a large pan with about a Tbs of oil. Salt and pepper to taste.
• Cut the peppers into rings and add them to the pot when onions are starting to get brown.
• Roughly chop the tomatoes.
• Once the peppers are soft, add the marjoram and paprika. Stir and add the chopped tomatoes. Lower the heat and cook until tomatoes begin to break down.
• Beat the eggs in a small bowl and add to the pan, stirring as you pour them in. Cook another 5 min.
• Serve with fresh bread. Best with a country loaf, ciabatta, or similar bread that can soak up the juices.

Have you ever eaten a Chinese steamed pork bun? Imagine a sweet version, and you pretty much have buchty na páře (in Czech) or parené buchty (in Slovak). Instead of spicy meat, the fillings here are usually jam, sweetened poppy seeds, sweetened cheese (tvaroh), or chocolate. Buchty na páře just means steamed buchty, and buchty are, well, what they are – a kind of soft bread roll. (It’s pronounced something like book-tee, say the ch softly like in Loch Ness.) There are also baked buchty, which maybe we’ll cover another time. The dough itself is quite soft, and develops a rather tough, chewy skin while it steams.

That sounds a little unappetizing, doesn’t it? But it’s delicious, I promise! They’re usually served topped with vegetable oil, sugar, and cocoa powder that you stir together as you eat to make a chocolate syrup. Yes, initially I was kind of put off by the idea of pouring oil directly on my food and used melted butter, which for whatever reason seemed more palatable, but ten years in Central Europe and now I’m totally fine with dousing foodstuffs in oil. Of course there’s no reason why you couldn’t use ready-made chocolate syrup or any other topping, really, but at least once you should try saying “slather some oil on my buchty, baby”.

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Buchty na páře/parené buchty
Ingredients

• 1 cup/ 2.4 dl milk
• 3 cups/280 grams flour
• 1 sachet instant yeast (7 grams)
• 2 Tbs sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg

For the filling:

• jam, Nutella, or mini chocolate chips
• 2/3 cup poppyseeds ground together with 1/3 cup sugar

Method

• Heat the milk until it is almost boiling (“scald” it; this makes the yeast work better). Set it aside to cool. Meanwhile, mix together the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl. When the milk has cooled to lukewarm, pour it into the dry ingredients and mix. Add the egg and mix well with a wooden spoon or your hands; the dough will be very soft, but it should come together. If it’s too wet to work with, add a little flour.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave to rise in a warm place about an hour, or until doubled.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave to rise in a warm place about an hour, or until doubled.
• In the meantime, prepare your steaming equipment. We have a flat-bottomed steaming insert for our big pasta pot, but any type of steamer works, including the kind that open like a flower. Brush some oil over the steamer, as the buchty can stick during cooking, and put a few inches of water in the bottom of a pot big enough to hold the steamer. I usually turn the water on while I’m making the buchty so they can cook straight away.
• When the dough has doubled in bulk, turn it out onto a (very) well-floured surface and roll out to about a quarter-inch (0.5 cm) thickness. Cut into squares that are about 4 inches (10 cm) square, 3 inches (8 cm) if you want smaller buchty. Larger buchty are more authentic but smaller ones may be more practical if you’re serving them as a dessert. Dollop about a teaspoon of filling into the center of a square, then gather up the edges and pinch to seal at the top, making a rounded sort of package. Continue adding filling and making the buchty until you’ve used all the squares.
• Now you’re ready to steam! Carefully place several buchty into the steamer; don’t crowd them, they’ll expand somewhat while cooking and can stick together. If you haven’t already, turn on the heat and once the water is boiling, put the steamer into the pot, cover and cook the buchty for 8-10 minutes and have developed a firm, slightly translucent skin. Using tongs or a couple of forks, gently lift the buchty out of the steamer and place them on plates to serve. You should cook all the buchty now, but you can freeze any that you don’t want to eat right away, and just steam them again (or even microwave them) to heat them through.

To serve

• Valerian’s family tops buchty with a spoonful of cocoa powder, a heaping spoonful of granulated sugar, and then pours oil over the top. As you eat, you swirl the toppings together, delicious!

You will find this in hardly any cookbook, despite the fact that grenadir mars is a very common dish in Central Europe.  It is made very often and served with pickles or green salad. It is very easy and fast to make and it is very customizable to suit your palate – feel free to experiment with this recipe by adding more or less of any of the ingredients.

It is hard to know where this meal originated. The name (“March of the grenadiers”) can tell us that it might have been invented to feed soldiers during the monarchy. The other hint is that this food used to be made very often in military kitchens all over Eastern Europe.  Plenty of my older friend who had to serve the military reported that they got tired of Grenadir mars after serving the army for 2 years. Even so, it’s one of the most favorite meals in central Europe.

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Grenadir mars – Potato pasta

Best served with pickles any kind or with “head of lettuce Central European style” (recipe coming soon) . If you can’t get pasta squares, you can break a lasagna sheet into little squarish shaped thingies. Also you can try the version with smoked Spanish paprika for an interesting variation.

Ingredients

Makes 4 portions

• 3 medium onions
• 3  Tbs vegetable oil
• 1.5 pounds of potatoes
• 3 cups of pasta squares or other flat pasta
• 1tsp salt

Method

• Peel the potatoes, cut them into half-inch cubes and boil them until soft (cca 8-10min) and drain them.
• Dice the onions; heat about 2 Tbs vegetable oil,  and saute the onions with the salt over a medium low fire. You have to be careful not to burn the onions. The idea is to make them release their juices and get them translucent. Sometimes when the onions are frying too fast I add couple of table spoons of water.
• While you saute the onions cook the pasta to al dente, and drain. Toss with a Tsb of vegetable oil in order to prevent the pasta clumping.
• And now the big finale ! Once onions are translucent higher the heat and add the potatoes. Fold the onions over the potatoes and saute for another 5-7 minutes. Lower the heat, add the paprika and fold again. Add the pasta fold and you are done. Once you add the paprika do not saute too long, because paprika tends to get bitter.
• DO NOT FORGET TO SERVE WITH PICKLES !

This morning we decided to do something special, something very Slovak. With this post I would like to introduce you to a great meal and also to the Slovak “miracle”, bryndza. Bryndza is an EU-trademarked Slovak ricotta-type sheep cheese. Recently it went through thorough tests and the health benefits were surprising. Bryndza apparently helps to lower cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure; it contains 20 types of probiotics in huge quantities (yogurt only has 1-2), vitamins B complex, and almost three times as much calcium as cow’s milk. It is a boost for your immune system. The only problem is that you have to get the unpasteurized version, since the pasteurized version is almost useless. Try not to buy it in supermarkets, because those are pasteurized and mixed with cow cheese.

So this morning we went to the market and bought some bryndza, together with some sheep cheese and mangalica bacon. As you can see the products from our favorite stand were approved by our little Celtic princess (she is Celtic because sometimes she behaves like a barbarian, but she is my princess after all). My theory is that if you get rich food into you, it should be worth it. Bryndzove halusky is definitely worth it.

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Bryndzove halusky

I have to admit I found this recipe on the internet when I was researching the various ways to make bryndzové halušky. I liked this one because it is almost identical to my mum’s and I loved its name and how was the recipe written. This recipe is “Bryndzové halušky according to Juraj the shepherd”. The bryndza can be replaced with any crumbly sheep cheese. You can add more or less bryndza depending on how sharp you like it.

Making the halušky requires a special tool – a halušky maker (like a colander with extra-large holes). If you can’t find something like this, look for gnocchi (cut them in half) or spaetzle and cook them as directed.

Ingredients

Makes 3 portions or 4 as a side dish.

• 3 medium potatoes to make approximately 2 cups when finely grated
• same amount of flour as potatoes (about 2 cups)
• 1tsp salt
• 4 ounces or more bryndza
• 1 or more strip of bacon per person

Method

• Grate the potatoes, and add the flour, salt. You shoould get a goopy dough. That’s ok.
• Set a large pot of water to boil. When it has come to a boil, using a rubber spatula or board scraper (or the scraper that came with your halušky maker), quickly press the dough through the holes into the water, scraping back and forth until all the dough has gone through. When the halušky float to the surface, in 2-3 minutes, they are ready. Drain, reserving ¼ cup of the cooking water.
• In a small bowl, add the cooking water to the bryndza and mix well. Add it to the halusky.
• Fry the bacon until the fat is rendered. Add some of the fat to the halušky and top them with the crumbled bacon.
• Enjoy

I don’t know why is this different then wienerschnitzel or a grilled pork chop, but it is. I thought this meal is only special to me; as a kid I used to request it all the time, and it was always my dad who cooked it for me. But I grew up and this pork chop became forgotten. Until one day I made it again.

You should know that our son does not eat, but rather he lives off the dust particles he breathes in. One day when I had been chasing the kids all on my own, I decided to refuel myself with my dad’s pork chops. After I managed to convince my (at that time 3 year old) son to try it I was shocked. He ate it. My first though was that everybody gets hungry after eating only dust particles for 2 years, right? Well, after a week I made it again, and it was eaten again. And he still keeps eating it.

The recipe is simple:

get a pork chop, pound it flat, salt it, sprinkle flour over it, tap it to shake off the excess flour. Fry it on a non-stick pan with a little oil (like 2-3 tbsp).

This is one way Hungarians use cabbage with sugar. The other famous dish is cabbage strudel. Despite the fact that you use sugar in the meal, it is a main course. The combination of cabbage, sweetening, pasta and black pepper might seem weird, but it works together pretty well. Thumbs up for the imagination of the inventor of this dish.

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Cabbage and Pasta Squares

We don’t have a grater or food processor, so I used a good old knife and chopped the cabbage as finely as I could. While the meal looks a bit “rustic” it did not lose anything in quality. If you can’t find pasta squares you could make them by breaking up a lasagna sheet or tagliatelle.

Ingredients

Makes 4 portions

• 2 lbs of grated cabbage
• 1 lb pasta squares
• 3 tbs sugar
• salt
• 3 tbs vegetable oil
• ½ tsp black pepper

Method

• Grate the cabbage, salt it and let it sit for at least 30min
• Heat up the oil in a pan and add the sugar. Caramelize it.
• Squeeze the juices from the cabbage and start to fry it. Add the pepper.
• While frying the cabbage cook the pasta
• Once the cabbage is brown you can add the cooked pasta. Fry it for another 3-4 min.
• Enjoy