Fall broth with acorn squash and kale

Soups are a staple in the Hungarian kitchen, for gathering it is expected to have at least a soup and a main course, and all kids love a good, simple soup. I chose to cook Hungarian until the kids were home as for me cultural identity is an equal mix of food, language, books, traditions, music, and more.. and food takes a highly elevated position :). Now that we are "home alone", also known as empty nesters, I can venture to any taste, any time. Having loads of time at disposal, and no worries about schedules and college admission, also gave me the patients to follow recipes, which I notoriously avoided up till now.

First documented trial is an adaptation of a soup recipe from "Sunday Soup", in an attempt to make smaller portions suitable for the two of us, and maybe even for the kids to try.

 Ingredients

1/2 acorn squash, approximately 350 - 400 g peeled, chopped into about 2x2 cm cubes

1 package bacon, anything between 100-150g

1 medium sized onion

1/2 cup pappardelle pasta, about 2 small handfuls

1.5 liters chicken broth (6 cups), or 1 liter broth + 0.5 liter water, aka 4 cups broth + 2 cups water

1 bunch of kale, maybe about 150g, coarsely chopped or torn in stripes (original recipe asked for Swiss chard, I may try it next time) it should loosely yield about 0.5 liter (loosely fill about 2 cups)

paprika powder (you can omit the paprika powder if you prefer a transparent, pale broth)

pinch of cayenne pepper, and a small red chili pepper for spiciness and serving

5 cm x 5 cm piece or1/2 cup coarsely grated parmigiano reggiano

Preparation

Prepare the acorn squash by cutting in half, peeling it, cutting it into 4-5 slices as it is more convenient, and then cut them into about  2x2 cm, or 3/4x3/4" cubes. We will use only half in this recipe, reserved the other half for later.

Slice the bacon and finely chop the onions (you should have about 200-250 ml, slightly shy of 1 cup), and set aside until you prepare the bacon. 

Saute the sliced bacon in medium size pot (about 4 liters / 4 quarts) util golden brown and crisp. Remoce the bacon from the pot, set aside on a paper towel to remove excess fat.

Add the onions into the hot bacon fat and saute until they get that golden, translucent shine. Remove from the heat and add 1 tsp paprika powder. Stir until combined with the fat. Place it back to the heat and add a cup of broth. Let it simmer for 2 minutes.

Add the cubed acorn squash and pappardelle pasta with  the remaining liquid (broth, or broth+water).

Let it simmer for 13 minutes, as it is indicated on the pappardelle cooking instructions.

Add the kale, and boil for another 2 minutes.

Serve with the small red chili pepper and add some freshly grated, or the coarsely grated parmigiano reggiano.

Bon appetite!

Summery cabbage soup

 

Yayy!! Another childhood favorite! Don't expect anything fancy, but I loved this soup as it is meant to be eaten cold, ad it was soo light and refreshing after a day of work out with my grandma in the fields.

I spent all summers and grandma's, one of the most talented cooks and bakers I've know, and helped her with whatever chores were lined up, from hoe works, hemp soaking and combing, hay turning, canning, watering in the garden, prune picking.. So many memories to look back at..

This cabbage soup was rather typical for the days when we woke up early to go hay turning and she had no time to cook when we got home. The soup was prepared the day before, a refreshing and light ready lunch waiting for us in the cold cellar. What a treat it felt..

Ingredients (serves 6)

2 pounds of white cabbage

1 quart vegetable broth or water. I most of the time use water as I don't make vegetable broth only chicken stock, and all solid fat content should be avoided to be added in this soup in order to be enjoyable cold

salt, pepper, vinegar

1 cup sour cream (+ 1 cup milk if you like)

3 tbsp flour

1 small bunch fresh dill

2 small branches of summer savory

1 small onion, 1 pepper, 1 larger tomato

+ replace the pepper and tomato with 2 tbsp of salsa for convenience

Slice the cabbage into thin slices (1/5 to 2 inch long). Use a mandoline to speed thing up if you like.

In a larger pot add the broth, the sliced cabbages, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, the peeled onion, the tomato cut in half, the pepper cut in two, the dill and savory, and add enough water to cover well the cabbage.

Let it summer on low heat for 30 to 40 minutes, until the cabbage reaches the desired tenderness.

Remove the dill, savory, tomato skin, cooked pepper parts.

Mix the sour cream with the 3 tbsp flour until smooth. Add milk or water if the mixture is too dry instead of a smooth consistency.

Pour some hot soup slowly over the sour cream mixture until a very runny consistency is achieved, and pour it back to the soup. Add extra water until the desired consistency is reached, as well as extra salt + pepper if needed. Let it simmer slowly for an additional 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Add a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of vinegar (add less first and taste, see how much vinegar you like). Vinegar is very easy to add at serving, don't overdo it. Again, I pour the vinegar in a small amount of soup first and only then add it back to the soup..

Serve with extra sour cream and vinegar, offer some fresh bread (country style, sourdough) on the side.

Today I had some ricotta cheese on the table from a separate dish, and added a tsp of ricotta into my cabbage soup... What can I say... I love the smoothness! Will definitely try to add ricotta to other creamy soups in the future for extra richness!

Bon appetit!

Ricotta-lemon gnocchi

 

Sometimes a simple ingredient makes you crave a dish in which it can enjoy it's prime spotlight. 

The lemons looked sooo inviting in the fruit basket that it got my thoughts swirling around a best use for them, but let's face it.. Cooking is relaxing, as long as it is not a chore, and today I wanted something quick, new, tasty, and light, ready in less than 10 minutes.

With ricotta and gnocchi in the fridge/pantry, this was meant to happen :).

Ingredients (serves 3)

1 package of gnocchi (1 pound)

3 tbsp butter

5 tbsp ricotta

2-3 cloves of garlic

1 lemon (zest, and 1/2 of the juice)

handful of fresh Swiss chard  (about a cup chopped)

 

In a small pot bring water to boil. 

In a larger skillet heat the butter, add the smashed garlic cloves, toss until gets a light cream-golden color. Add the lemon zest, stir, add the ricotta, and 1/2 of the lemon juice. Mix until the texture is smooth and creamy and the flavors blend, 2 minutes.

Meanwhile cook the gnocchi according to the instructions, but cut the cooking time short. Mine asked for 3 minutes, I barely cooked them for 2.

Scoop the gnocchi from the boiling water and add them to the ricotta-lemon sauce, let it simmer on very low for another 2-3 minutes.

Remove from heat.

Wash and chop the Swiss chard, add to the top of the gnocchi, and serve with extra lemon veggies.

Bon appetit!

Squash and mix veggie borsch

 

It's squash season, and I had some leftover cabbage, a small Desi squash, half bell peppers, carrots'n stuff that needed to be put to good use. 1 hour later this goodie was born, and I had to think what name should I give. Let's call it Petőfi soup after a Hungarian poet who's poem is titled "What should I call you?" 😁

I love julienned veggies (aka uniform matchstick shaped veggies) in a soup, so I actually took the time to julienne everything that went into the soup, but the kale.

I will put down a list of ingredients that I used, but this soup is really about watcha' you find in the fridge blended into some heavenly goodness of a soup.

I also went for enriching it with cooked spelt that I cooked separately in my Instant Pot, but needless to say you don't need the spelt added, neither the Insta to cook it, it just requires a bit more prep if you don't have a pressure cooker as spelt cooks really slowly (cook it per instruction from the package).

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

2 cups shredded cabbage (~300g or 10 ounces what I used, just because that's how much I had leftover from the tacos we made two night prior)

1 small squash, I used Desi squash as it just grew by itself in my garden, and I love it's concistency

2 larger carrots

1 small onion, it was about 1/4 cup chopped

1 bell pepper

1 large tomato

3-4 cups chicken stock or vegetable broth

1 tbsp dried lovage  (I wish I had fresh), if not available just use parsley, dry or fresh

1 lemon or 1/4 cup vinegar (We prefer the food on the sour side, add both gradually until you learn how you like it)

5-6 palm sized kale leaves, chopped into finger sized slices 

oil for sauteing the veggies

paprika powder

salt and pepper to taste

sour cream for serving

Optional: I always have some mild on spicy salsa in the fridge, and to enrich the taste I added 2 tbsp of salsa to the borsch

Cook the spelt according to the instruction before. Again, you can completely omit the cooked spelt, the soup is delicious without. I was just looking to add some extra texture to the softish veggies, and the crunchiness of the cooked spelt sounded like a good option.

Prepare all veggies.

Chop really finely the onions, chop the tomato, julienne the carrot, squash, and cabbage.

In a larger pot heat up some oil, enough to generously cover the bottom. Add the chopped / julienned onion, cabbage, bell pepper and carrots, and saute them on high heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring often. They should soften, get a nice glossy color. It will give some extra richness to the soup, and will significantly shorten the cooking time.

After about 3-5 minutes add the paprika powder, stir in well, and immediately add the stock and water, (all together should be 6 cups). I added 3 cups stock + 3 cups water. Add the tbsp of lovage/parsley (or a small bunch of either), 1 tsp salt, 1/3 tsp black pepper (or less / more if you like), and the chopped tomato. I also added the 2 tbsp salsa.

Cover with a lid and cook / simmer for 10 - 12 minutes, until the cabbage and carrot is softer, almost ready, but still has a little crunch to it. Add 3 more cups of water, bring to boil, and add the squash to the soup. Adjust the saltiness. I needed to add 1 more tsp of salt, and at the end I still had to adjust the saltiness by adding more salt. Remember tho', you can always add salt, but can't take it away, so add it gradually and taste in between. 

Cook for an additional 5 minutes. The julienned squash cooks really fast, don't add it at the beginning or you'll get a not so appetizing mush.

Meanwhile slice the kale. Add water if necessary and bring it to a quick boil if water was added. 

Remove the soup from the stove and add the kale, 1 cup of cooked spelt, and squeeze in the juice of 1 lemon.

Serve with sour cream, extra lemon slices, and some fresh chili pepper on the side.

Bon appetit!

Sorrel cream soup

 

Sorrel soup..  Sorrel is a FOREVER favorite! So many childhood memories wandering in the gardens behind the houses, or picking sorrel from the field with my friend  for grandma to can it for the winter. I've eaten and cooked so many variations it's hard to count, but this was the latest.

Luckily no need to can sorrel in SD, grows easily all year around, and I caught my youngest on several occasions picking a bunch to eat raw.

If potato powder is used it is ready in no more than 10 minutes, what's not to love? 

The recipe below makes a lovely sour soup. Depends how is your taste bud when it comes to the sourness , adjust the amount of sorrel. Maybe try with a bit lees first? We love sour, so this was absolutely the right amount.

Ingredients

200 gr (7 ounces) fresh sorrel leaves, torn

2 potatoes, Russet or Yukon gold. Replace with 6 heap-full tbsp of potato powder (I always have  Idahoan potatoes in the pantry).

3 cups (750 ml) vegetable broth or chicken stock + 3 cups water  (750 ml)

3 eggs to stir in the soup for some extra protein and calories, can be omitted for a vegan version

salt and pepper to taste

3 tbsp sour cream to stir in the soup (optional) and extra for serving

For serving 

A few extra suggestion: hard boiled eggs, fried bacon bits, pan roasted almonds in olive oil, sprinkled with cayenne pepper. 

Peel the potatoes and cut into small cubes. 

In a medium pot (at least 2 liters / quarts) boil the potatoes for 15 minutes in the water plus stock, adding additional pinch of salt and pepper, depending how salty the stock is or how much pepper one prefers. Start with 1/4 tsp.

Meanwhile wash as tear the sorrel leaves into thirds or halfs. In a small bowl also whisk the 3 eggs.

Stir in the eggs and add the sorrel, boiling them for an additional 2 minutes. Not more, the sorrel looses the color really fast.

Using an immersive blender bled together the potatoes and sorrel until creamy, add the sour cream and mix a little bit more. I tend to not add any sour cream into my soups but rater offer them at serving only, in case someone has lactose sensitivity.

Bon appetit!

Potato soup with bayleaf

When I think of home cooking I always think of simple dishes prepared with love, with home grown ingredients. No recipe, just adding things as I go, and having a slightly different outcome every time. However, I'm so bad at making my kids cook with me, that when a total stranger asked for the recipe, I decided that this simple dish deserves to be saved in this online cacophony of recipes, given that it is a family favorite.

The biggest compliment I ever received for it was from the husband of a friend, from the former Hungarian territories that were attached to Serbia. He was from a Slavic minority, bunjevac, from the Bácska region. He said: "It taste just like my grandma's...". Who was Hungarian. It shows how food unites us across borders, centuries of tormented history, and how mixed our families, heritage and roots are. It strengthened my determination to raise my kids on Hungarian food, to give them a feeling of belonging for a lifetime. I guess I succeeded :), my youngest refused some fish tacos this morning in favor of my potato soup :D.

Now off to the recipe.

Ingredients

3 pounds of red potatoes, pealed, cut in about 1 inch size cubes

8 cups of liquid. This particular soup had 3 cups chicken stock and 5 cups water (I use everything from 8 cups plain water, to any combination of water to broth)

4 bay leaves

1 small bunch of parsley (replace with 1 tbsp dry parsley, or even better, my favorite 1 tbsp lovage aka lestyán in Hungarian)

1 small-medium yellow onion

1 medium to large tomato (any you use in salad will work, I prefer the juicy ones) 

1 pepper, whole or just the core with the seeds and eat the rest in a sandwich (you can use more cores if you had leftovers)

1/4 cup of vinegar (or more if you like), salt, pepper to taste

2 cups of milk

paprika powder

dash of oil (~5 tbsp) + 3 tbsp flour for the rough 

sour cream for serving

Roux 

In a small pan heat the oil, add the flour, and let it brown to a light golden color. The consistency should be of a smooth, soft paste. Remove from the heat, and add 1 tbsp paprika powder (or 2 if you like).

Soup

Peel the potatoes, rinse them well, and place them in a minimum 4 quart pot with the broth, water, and 1 tsp salt. The amount of salt will have to be adjusted depending on how salty your broth is. 

Add 1/4 to 1/2 tsp ground black pepper, bay leaves, the onion, the tomato (remove the stem part), the pepper core (or whole) and the parsley bunch (reserve some for later to add fresh). Boil for 15 to 18 minutes. Add the rough, and boil for 3 more minutes. Make sure the potatoes are done, but not overdone.

Chop in the remaining parsley, and add the 2 cups of milk. I usually add some of the hot soup to the milk in a separate bowl to lightly heat it up before adding it to the hot soup to reduce the chance of crumbling. Boil for 2 more minutes.

Remove the onion, the pepper core, tomato skin, and the bay leaves. Let is cool slightly stirring occasionally to prevent the formation of the skin on the top.

In a small bowl add 1-2 ladles of hot soup to the 1/4 cup vinegar and pour it back into the pot. Again, both the cooling and the pre-heating of the vinegar is just to prevent the milk from crumbling.

Serve with fresh bread (country style or sourdough are the best, but whole wheat, rye, all will work) and 1 tsp of sour cream per serving.

We had German rye bred from a local bakery, Prager's brothers, who must be baking the only good bread in the city, apart of the homemade, of course.

I also love to serve freshly and thinly sliced, lightly salted onion, or crunchy pepper wedges on the side.

Bon appetit!

Stuffed mushrooms (with feta cheese)

 

These are my favorites, because they are just so easy and fast. Not much recipe to share, just a quick guidance.

I prefer portobello mushrooms, but champignons are a good bet, too.

Remove the stem of the mushrooms without breaking the top. Fill the cavity with 1 to 2 tsp feta cheese, press well (again, do not break the top) until the cheese is well compacted, fills the cavity to, roughly, level, and will not fall out even if the shroom is turned upside down. Champignons will need 1 tsp-ish, portobellos about 2 tsp-ish of feta.

Preheat a 1 nonstick pan with 1-2 tbsp oil. I use pans that have sides that are about 1" (2-3 cm), high that is just above the height of the shrooms.

Lower the heat to medium, place the mushrooms into the hot pan and cover with the lid that sits on the sides of the pan.

On medium heat fry the mushrooms until the feta has melted. Remove the lid and fry slightly more to let the water evaporate. Remove the shrooms. Fry another batch, roughly 4-5 champignons / adult, or 1-2 portobellos.

Serve with potato veggies, rice, and salad.

Bon appetit! Enjoy!