Emperor's Crumbs» potato

Valeria’s Potato Torte (Cake)

Valerian — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 18:23:39 +0000

There is not a mistake in the title – yes, it is Valeria. Valeria was my grandmother, who I never met, but I was named after her. Everybody in the family remembers her as an amazing cook and queen of Hungarian recipes. During the war (WWII), she ran a small workers’ kitchen, and her cooking is still remembered by those who outlived her. The problem with my grandmother’s recipes is that she wrote them for herself. She did not write a lot about how to prepare this cake, at which temperature to cook it, how long to cook it, what kind of cake pan to use. I tried to check online and asked some friends but when I mentioned the ingredients, they said “no flour? you must be missing a page!”. So I looked into early twentieth and late nineteenth-century cookbooks, and there it was. Potato torte, at least 4-5 versions. Mr. Kugler (a Hungarian pastry celebrity from the early twentieth century) explains a lot about the cake, but my questions were still unanswered. It seems that since then this recipe has been forgotten. So we had to experiment and bring it back. The main difference between my grandmother’s and Mr. Kuglers recipe is that my grandmother wrote it during or right after war, so she used a limited range of ingredients. Her version of the cake is great not only for people with gluten intolerance but for people watching their fat intake and for people who watch their wallets. A great cake for hard economical times.

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Valeria’s Potatoe Torte

This is the cake part of the recipe. We used Russet potatoes, which worked great. The recipe calls for three eggs, but our eggs were small so we used 4. You can experiment with the filling. We tried to mix cocoa and chocolate into the potatoes and we layered that with chunky cherry preserves. The results were ok but not great. I think the original filling is more suitable. You can also try any ordinary buttercream frosting but then forget about the cake being good for people watching their weight! You can also eat it without filling like a coffee cake. In that case add some vanilla and more walnuts.

Ingredients for the cake

½ pound floury potatoes

3 large eggs

½ cup sugar

½ cup walnut halves

Ingredients for the filling

½ pound potatoes

Up to ½ cup sugar

½ cup walnuts halves

rum

1 Tbsp butter

Method

1. Cook the potatoes until soft, then mash them or put them through a ricer.

2. Let them cool a bit, but while they are still warm add the egg yolks, sugar, and ground walnuts. Mix well.

3. Beat the egg whites to form soft peaks, and gently fold into the previous mixture.

4. Pour it into 2 nine- inch round pans and bake it at 350F for 20-25 minutes. You wll see that the top is getting a bit golden.

5. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then turn out from the pan and frost as desired.

The recipe for filling:

Cook the potatoes until soft, mash them in a medium bowl, beat in the other ingredients. Enjoy!

Potatoes with Parsley

Valerian — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:10:22 +0000

I have never seen this except in Central Europe. But here it is a classic, served as a side dish with deep fried items. My best combo: parsley potatoes, pork chops in flour (see the recipe) and peach or pear compote. Such a treat!

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Parsley potatoes

Ingredients

Makes 4 portions

2 pound of floury potatoes

2 large onions

3 tbs vegetable oil

1 cup or more fresh parsley, chopped

Method

Peel and cube the potatoes. Boil them until soft, then drain. (5-8 min)

Warm up oil in a large pot, add the onions and salt and saute them over low heat. Once translucent, add the drained potatoes and mix. Saute for another 5 min.

While still hot, add the parsley, toss and enjoy.

Roasted Potatoes with Brussel Sprouts

Valerian — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:15:41 +0000

My parents make roasted brussel sprouts and potatoes together with different types of Hungarian sausages (paprika sausage, blood sausage and liver sausage). The result is an amazing well-balanced meal floating in grease.

Example of the “hurka”, hungarian blood and liver sausage

Katy is a vegetarian (…I know, how could I have married her ? ) and she will not touch the this fabulous sausagy heavenly meal. In order to introduce her to brussel sprouts I made up this adaptation. The onions and the garlic partly imitate the full flavors of the sausages. It is a fantastic combination; roasted brussel sprouts are just amazing and a good way to (re)introduce this super food into your diet.

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Roasted Potatoes with Brussel Sprouts

To make this meal good is up to you. If we talk in person I would tell you the ingredients and then it is up to you to decide how much to use. This is the beauty of this meal, it is so flexible. You can use it as a side dish or as a main dish.

Ingredients

Makes 4 normal portions or 1 portion for me

3 pounds of potatoes

2 heads of garlic

4 onions

1/2 pound brussel sprouts

vegetable oil

salt

pepper

few strips of bacon-optional

Method

Steam or cook the brussel sprouts in a water with little bit of baking soda (helps with the gas issues…if you know what I mean ). I cook them for approximately 20-30 minutes. Let them dry.

Peel the potatoes, cut them into preferred chunks (half moons, cubes etc). Peal the onions and quarter them. Cut off the tip of the whole head of garlic.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Grease up the baking dish and add the potatoes, brussel sprouts, onions and garlic. Massage them with more vegetable oil. Spread them evenly in the pan and put on the top a few strips of bacon and put it into oven for approximately 1hour-1hour and 30min. In middle of the process I turn the items in the roasting pan. Once the potatoes are getting brown it’s ready.

Once they are out of the oven I salt them I add pepper and eat them. Usually I must share them with my family, but what the heck.