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!

Green pea pottage

 

A family favorite, but I never thought about adding it to the blog because I did not have a recipe, as usual. I cook what I ate a child, stick my nose in the pot, and adjust the taste. It's such a simple dish, too... Why would anybody not Hungarian cook it?

The reason it's here now is my BFF, Janine, who asked for the recipe for her kids at our last get together.  While it's been at least two months, I finally have it to share.. 

Traditionally Hungarian, but adjusted to our own taste, as we don't like the white thickening added to it originally, and I definitely add lots of ingredients that are stolen from some international kitchens.

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

cooking oil, I use avocado or sunflower oil

1 medium or 1/2 large yellow onion

3 pounds frown green peas

1 cup bone stock

2 tbsp all purpose flour

paprika powder, salt, pepper

2-3 tbsp of mild or spicy red pepper/tomato/garlic sauce, a kinda salsa. I use pinjur, adjika, ajvar, or just spicy red pepper paste, whatever I have in the fridge. I also prefer the spicy version of each, but whichever works for you.

1-2 tbsp fresh salsa, but again, just chop a tomato and some fresh onion, or leave it out completely. I like the taste of the fresh tomatoes from the salsa in addition to the pepper paste from above.

Sometimes I throw in a tsp of chopped lovage leaves, but it is not necessary.

Additions

Serve with sunny side u eggs, fried bacon, fried sausage, or just plain

The best part? Ready in 30 minutes.

Chop the onions. Heat some oil at the bottom of a 3 quart casserole dish and sauté the onions until golden, with some (or none) browned spots.

Remove from the heat, add a tbsp paprika powder and mix well with the oil and onions. Reduce to medium heat, place the dish back to the heat, add a good dash (2-3 tbsp) of water, and cook stirring continuously until the water evaporates.

Add the frozen peas, let them thaw a bit, then add 1 cup of bone broth (could be water), and  1/4 cup of water. A total of 2 1/4 cups, or 600 ml (250 ml bone broth, 350 water).

Add a tsp of salt, black pepper to taste (I confess, if I cook that's 1 tsp black pepper 😋),  add the adjika, the fresh salsa, and bring to simmer. Cover the dish, and let it simmer for 8-ish minutes.

Meanwhile in a small sauce pan add  2-3 tbsp oil, heat it up, add 2 tbsp flour, and make a light roux. We will use it to thicken the pottage. You can still ad a tsp of paprika 😜 if  you feel the Hungarian gods whispering in your ear "more paprika". Oh, well, or just stick to the roux.

Add the roux to the pea pottage while still simmering, mix it well, and let the roux thicken the pottage while stirring continuously. If you feel like there isn't enough sauce around the peas, just add another 1/2 cup of water (125 ml). If you added some extra water mix it thoroughly until the sauce is evenly covering your peas like a shiny velvety blanket.

Let it sit for a few minutes while the eggs, sausage and bacon is ready.

Voilá!

Serve with fresh bread, it is just heavenly to dip the bread in the sauce and clean the plate with it, instead of licking it.😉

Bon appétit!

OBS.

If you don't have adjuka, ajvar, or salsa, no worries. Just chop 2 medium mild or spicy red peppers, 2-3 medium to large tomatoes, and 2-3 garlic cloves. Add them at the beginning after sautéing the onions, and let them cook thorough before adding the peas. 

Sour egg drop soup (blended) with poached eggs

 

OK, I love the taste, family is not over the moon about the texture of the drizzled eggs, but we all like a good vinegary, sour soup. Plus, its ready in 15-20 minutes (like really, it is ready!) and it has 3 ingredients plus the spices. Best for a light dinner.

So I came up with the no-brainer idea to use my immersion blender and make the soup creamy. Well, why not?

I made the soup a but thicker, as there will be no texture from the egg ribbons, at it should. If you wanna keep the egg ribbons I would use only about 2 tsp of flour in the roux.

Ingredients

For the roux

1/4 cup oil, I prefer sunflower of avocado

2 - 3.5 tsp all purpose flour

1 tsp paprika powder

For the soup

3 eggs + about 4-6 pouched eggs, 1 egg per serving / person

2 cups of vegetable or bone broth (you can add an extra cup instead of 1 cup water)

1 1/2 tsp to 1 tbsp caraway seeds is a teabag, or cotton bag, to be able to remove them easily (if you don't want them swimming in your soup), depending how strong you like the flavor

1/2 small / medium yellow onion, I added a 1/4 of the huge Costco yellow onions (optional)

salt, black pepper, 

1/8 to 1/4 cup vinegar

croutons for serving

In a small, 2 quart, pot heat the 1/4 cup oil, when hot (in just couple of seconds... ) add the 2 tsp flour if you'll keep the egg ribbons, or 3.5 tbsp flour if you will blend it all together.

Whisking constantly wait until the flour's color changes from white to light cream, remove from the heat, add the paprika powder. Pour in the 2 cups broth and 4 water, 6 cups all together.

Place the pot back to the heat, add the caraway seeds, 1 tsp salt, a good pinch of black pepper, the onion, and bring to low simmer.

Let it simmer for about 10 minutes, allowing the caraway aroma to flavor the soup. Meanwhile whisk 3 large eggs in a separate small bowl.

After 10 minutes remove the onion from the soup, and at low simmer, using a wooden spoon,  stirring constantly, pour SLOWLY in the eggs. At the end you have nice egg ribbons from the stirring.

Now.. That's what is totally irrelevant for me, as at this point I blend the whole soup into a creamy liquid with the immersion mixer. Remove the caraway seed bag, not to mixed the cloth in accidentally.. 

Add the vinegar, as much or as little you like. Don't leave it out tho, the caraway seeds and the vinegar are the only spices that make this soup taste good.

I poach the eggs directly into the soup, by dropping them into the soup from as low as I can tolerate the heat (don't dip your fingers in the soup tho' ;) ). I drop each egg in different locations, and just scoop the a bit up with the spoon to make sure the don't sink and stick to the bottom. Bring back to boil, and you can turn off the heat. The hot soup will finish cooking the eggs.

Wait for few minutes, like 5-7 minutes, and serve with croutons, or just bread.

Bon appétit!

Kohlrabi soup with fresh dill

I was craving an old favorite, but... I remembered the main ingredient wrong. One of my forever favorite soups was a zucchini soup, and for the life of me can't figure out why I thought it was a kohlrabi soup when I saw some beautiful fresh kohlrabi at Sprouts. They looked so inviting, just had to come home with me... So, I ended up making a kohlrabi soup!

I decided to julienne my vegetables to give them a kick from simply cutting into cubes, or slices, but it doesn't really matter. They are a bit clumsy, my bearded dragon bit off the tip of left middle finger, and well, the skin is flipping, and painful, and all that, which doesn't help when cutting anything. Next time, hopefully, I'll make a better effort..

Ingredients for the basic soup

1 medium sized kohlrabi , it made 500 g (~1 pound) chopped

6, about 10 inch, skinny carrots, also 500 g (~1 pound) carrots chopped

a smaller celery root, aka celeriac, 150 g celery root (~1/2 pound), aka celeriac, it was about a good third of huuuuuuge celery root, I used the rest for a casserole the day before

150 g, one larger parsnip

1 tbsp flour

1 medium onion chopped, I used half of the, again, huuuuuge onions they sell at Costco

2 tbsp tomato sauce

1/2 bell pepper ( just added the seed part)

1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup vinegar

paprika, salt, pepper 

1 tbsp flour

3-4 cups vegetable/bone broth

a small bouquet of dill

sour cream & bread for serving  

 

Add ons - the choices are endless!

PASTA

• I added home made cream of wheat dumplings (aka grízgaluska)
  
• home made flour dumplings (galuska)
• gnochi
• A handful or rice (white, or half cooked brown, otherwise brown rice won't cook)
• orzo

MEAT

• ground beef or Italian sausage (castings removed)
  
• meat dumplings
• shredded, cooked chicken breast added towards the end
  

In a larger pot, I used a 6 quart, add enough oil to cover the bottom of the pot well.

Add the chopped onion and saute until they look glassy. Remove from the heat, add 1 tsp paprika, mix well, put back to medium heat. Add a dash of water to just barely cover the onions, and let the water evaporate, stirring constantly.

When it is reduced back to oil & onions again, add a bit more oil and add the sliced/chopped vegetables, saute them for about 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly. Sprinkle the 1 tbsp flour on the veggies, and mix thoroughly. Add the broth, and enough water to cover it filly + about an inch extra just for the veggies. 

Add 1/4 tsp black pepper, the 2 tbsp tomato juice, throw in the bell pepper, adjust the saltiness to your liking, a flat tsp is a good guess if the broth was low sodium. Remember, you can always add salt, but hard to take away, so be cautious until you feel comfortable. 

Simmer for an additional 15 - 20 minutes, depending how you chopped the veggies, how much they softened while sauteing, and how crunchy you like them. Julienned veggies will obviously need less time, while cubed veggies will need a bit longer.

IMPORTANT 

If you are adding meat or dumplings, rice, etc, directly into the soup,  count into consideration the coking time. Rice needs about 12-15 minutes, add them at the beginning. Meat and meat dumplings should also be added when you add the broth, etc.. However, gnocchi and flour dumplings needs much less cooking time, add them only towards the end.

1-2 minutes before your soup's simmering time is  over, add the chopped dill (add as much or as little dill you like). Reserve some for serving.

It is also a good time to throw in the shredded chicken meat if desired.

Remove from heat, let it cool slightly, and add 1/4 cup vinegar.

 

Serve while hot/warm, with sour cream to be added into the bowl, as much as desired.

 Bon appetite!

OBSERVATIONS

I added about 7 cups of water. If you are adding any addition, count in the extra need of liquids. Any dumpling, rice, pasta, will absorb a significant amount of water (and salt, too).

I like a couple of slices of jalapeno, too, to make my soup a bit spicy but still keep it fresh.

The warm, shredded chicken breast can also be added directly into the plates, bowls.

The Sheriff wife's masterpiece - Főispánné remeke

I am still digitizing my grandma's recipes. This one I think is originally from a baking powder cookbook, Vancza, because I found similar ones on the web.

Most of them have flattened and cut stripes, I like to roll them out, that's what I did as a kid, and is just what I prefer now, too..

It is a sweet, soft, meringue top cake, with some preferably sharper jam, traditionally apricot, but sour cherry, lingonberry works very well, too.

Ingredients

500 g flour

200 g lard, or 230 gr butter (2 sticks)

150  g sugar

pinch salt

1 tsp baking powder

dash of vanilla

3 eggs, separated, will use the 3 egg yolk, room temperature

1/2 small preserve, jam

1 lemon zest and juice

about 4 tbsp of sour cream

Meringue

150 g powder sugar 

the 3 egg whites

Extra butter and four for the tray

 

Crumble the flour, lard or butter, sugar, vanilla sugar, pinch salt, baking powder, add the 3 egg yolks, mix. If necessary,  start adding the sour cream spoon by spoon, until all flour clings together.

Place the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes, it will be easier to work with.

Preheat  the oven to 380 F, 190  C. Grease well a 22 x 35 cm, or 9" x 13" with butter, and sprinkle lightly and evenly with flour.

Remove from fridge, put 1/4 of the dough for the top, and roll the remaining dough between two parchment paper sheets into a square to fit the pan.

Place the dough in the pan.

Spread the jam on top.

Whisk the 3 egg white with the powder sugar until stiff peaks form. Make sure there is no egg yolk in the egg whites, and both the bowl and the whisk should be dry and clean. The meringue is quite a peculiar thing, any impurity can prevent you from getting the right consistency.

Pipe or spread the meringue on top of the jam, and last but not least either roll out the leftover dough and place the stripes diagonally in both directions on the egg whites, or roll the dough into stripes, and do the same.

I added some fruits for fun, but it might make the egg white too wet, so just leave it out for the first time.

Bake them for about 40 minutes on the lower shelf of the oven, until the top starts to brown.

 

Let is cool completely, cut into squares, and enjoy!

Bon appétit!

Jam traybake - kavart tészta

 

Going through all the mess in the house, another recipe book surfaced, this time one with my favorite recipes from my grandma's cakes, in fading ink. I guess it is time to retry them all and digitize them before they fade forever.

The simplest of all is a traybake, made with few ingredients and jam, an easy and cheap one from the good ol' communist days of empty shelves. 

The flavor resembles that of a banana bread without the bananas, but if you have some laying around bananas can be added. I did.

I also reduced the sugar amount in the recipe from 300 g to 200 g knowing that I'll add the bananas, plus, due to over the 22 years of low sodium & lower sugar cooking we would probably not like it with that much sugar/flour ratio.

Ingredients for the basic cake (really good on its own)

2 large eggs

200 g (1 cup) sugar (the original recipe asked for 300 g sugar)

300 g (2 cups) flour

1 lemon zest & juice

2 heap-full tbsp of jam (I added strawberry to make a strawberry-banana bread, but anything works very well), it would be 4 tbsp measured strictly by American tbsp standards

1 tsp cinnamon (optionally add cloves, and cardamom, too)

1 tsp vanilla essence 

pinch of salt

250 ml (1 cup) milk

1 tsp  baking soda (you can add 1/2 tsp baking powder + 1/2 tsp baking soda if you don't like the taste of one or either of them in a cake)

1/2 cup flavorless cooking oil

Optional (my grandma's recipe did not ask for any, but I used to sprinkle walnuts anyway)

bananas (I mixed in 3 bananas that I had on the counter, overripe to be eaten as is)

walnuts, pecans (1/2 - 1 cup), preferably soaked (I didn't have any pre-soaked nuts, so I just chopped about 1 cup of pecans and divided it on top of the two breads)

Preheat the oven to 360F, and line a 22cm x 35 cm tray (9" x 13") or two banana bread trays (5" x 9") with parchment paper, or grease with butter and sprinkle with flour to prevent sticking.

Sift the flour, and mix in the salt and the dry spices, and add the baking powder to the flour mix, and / or the baking soda to the milk.

Whisk the eggs together with the sugar, add vanilla, the 2 tbsp of jam, the lemon zest and juice, 

At this point you can mix in the banana, if you add any.

Then pour in the milk (with the baking soda), add the cooking oil, mix thoroughly. Sift in the flour, and mix for 5 minutes until smooth (grandma's recipe asked to be mixed for 10 minutes, but I don't know if that is really necessary, especially with a stand mixer).

Mix in the soaked, drained nuts. I like them soaked because they will not absorb the moisture from the cake. If you did not soak them n worries, just sprinkle them on top of your batter. That's what I actually did, I very much like some crunchy nuts on top of my cake 😄.

Bake on the middle oven shelf for about 40 minutes until golden brown.

Remove tray(s) to a rack, cover with a kitchen towel, and let it rest for about 10 minutes. You can then remove it from the tray if you wish, or cut them into smaller, easier to store, blocks if necessary, or just leave them in the tray until serving. As it stands the moisture dissipates thorough the cake and makes it wonderfully moist, and I prefer to let it sit for about 2 hours (at least) after baking.

Do not cut into tiny serving sizes before you are actually serving them, they dry out much faster. I like the IKEA cake plate with cover, keeps the cakes moist and it looks awesome, too. Stores without any issues for 2 days at room temperature. It doesn't last longer in our family.

Bon appetite!

Corn flour - milk cake, aka mâlai dulce

The polenta from last night reminded me of a cake I ate last summer at a bakery, more like a pastry shop, in the former capital of Transilvania, Cluj Napoca. While walking around the Opera I found two places, the pastry shop, and a street food vendor that served delicious yeast dough filled with all sorts of great things.

While my son was enlarging his head with mathematics, I quickly googled the net to find some recipes, and as I got home I adapted one to be my very own 5 minute whip-up cake.

On the internet everyone is claiming that they ate this at grandma's. Hmmm... Seriously? Apparently I have not visited my Romanian friend's grandmas, because last summer was the first time I ever ate this cake, but it definitely felt like I missed something out in my childhood for not eating this!!!

Maybe they weren't Transylvanian grandmas, but rather Oltenian grandmas who baked this.. will just keep musing.. That should make me feel a bit better for missing out.

Will let you know tomorrow how it tastes, or look likes, keeping fingers crossed that at least remotely will resemble the pastry shop's cake, but tonight I am typing the ingredients and amounts in to be able to reproduce it in case it turns out good.

Ingredients

1 1 /2 cup corn grits, aka polenta

1/2 cup grits (cream of wheat)

1/2 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

lemon zest of 1 lemon

3 large eggs (I used 3, but wasn't fluffy enough, so tomorrow will bake one with 4)

1 cup sugar

2 cups yogurt ( I actually used my last bottle of creamy kefir with a little extra store bought)

1 cup milk

1/2 cup oil

1 tsp vanilla essence

Serve on its own with a tea, or with a dollop of jam, maybe even whipped (sour)cream if you wanna be extra fancy. I will definitely try it with some whipped sour cream tomorrow.

Preheat the oven to 320 F, 160 C.

Grease a 9" x 13" (30 cm x 40 cm) with butter and flour, or line with parchment paper.

Mix the dry ingredients together (corn meal, grits, flour, salt, baking powder).

Beat the eggs gradually with the sugar, add vanilla, yogurt, milk, and oil, and mix in the dry ingredients until the batter is smooth, no lumps at all.

Bake on the medium rack for 45 minutes, until light golden brown.

Just checked mine, and the smell is ahhhmahhzing!!! Can't wait to get it out of the oven, and I already feel the guilt for eating those coconut thins that were way too sweet, and not needed in my diet. 😜

Bon appetite! 

Ps. Now you are on a journey of developing this recipe to perfection. If you have time wait until I bake some more varieties, but if you are adventurous join me and bake along to fix mistakes :).

Cabbage soup aka paradicsomos káposztaleves

 

Oh my, since .... ever I am a tomato addict. I can eat tomatoes with tomatoes.

One of my favorite soups is a cabbage soup in tomato juice, and just like my father, I can eat it every week, for consecutive days. We called it lucskos, but as the dish is prepared in so many ways in different region, I just go with the simplified cabbage soup. 

I like it in the most simple way possible, no meat, no extra fuss, just the broth, cabbage, and tomato paste. Surely this can be made richer with sautéed onion, sautéed bell peppers, bacon, or smoked ham, but for me... less is more. Plus, I like to be done with the preps asap. Lazy home cook here..

Unfortunately hubby did not like it for a looong time, and the dumb-ass I am I did not make it for the family. It turns out, the kids love it too!, so it is back on the table.

We typically have a bunch of cabbage left after our taco nights, and that gives me just the right opportunity to make it.

Ingredients

2-3 pound of cabbage

1 15 oz, 425 g can tomato puree

1 liter ( 1quart) vegetable broth

3-4 tbsp of roux (rántás) with paprika

salt & pepper 

sour cream for serving (leave out for diary free)

Replace the vegetable broth with 1 heap full tbsp of Vegeta (which is basically dried soup veggies mixed with salt)

 For the roux

3-4 tbsp oil

3-4 tbsp flour

paprika powder (sweet, spicy, smoked, go for whatever you like), I use the spicy 

To prepare the roux 

Heat some oil in a small pan, and add 4 tbsp of flour. Mix constantly until light cream color. Don't be tempted to leave it alone, once it heats up it is basically burned, too, so you wanna stick to the whisk for this. Remove from teh heat, mix in the paprika, and set aside.

Prepare the soup

Slice the cabbage in thin slices, add into a 4 quart pot. Pour over the broth and tomato sauce, add 1/2 tsp black pepper, and adjust the saltiness. If you are using Vegeta, wait until it dissolves completely, you don't want to add extra salt if not necessary. Add water until the cabbage is covered.

Bring to boil, and simmer for 45 minutes. You can simmer slightly less, or more, depends how crunchy you like the cabbage. I actually like this one less crunchy, so I tend to simmer it longer.

When cooked it's time to decide how thick you like your soup. Add more water if needed, adjust saltiness, and add the roux. Cook for a few minutes until slightly thickens.

Many people add the sour cream to it at this phase, I like to leave it out for serving. Everybody can add as little or as much as they want, and people on a diary free diet won't have any trouble.

Serve with the sour cream, croutons, toasted or fresh slices of bread.

Bon appétit!

Brownie cheesecake

 

This is recipe I learned from a Hungarian (actually Transylvanian) girl living in Paris about 20 years ago, and was a favorite back in Finland. I (thought) lost the recipe. Looked for it desperately among my emails for some time with various search words, nothing. I was convinced it fell victime to one of my cleanups. *sigh*

Needless to say, I was over the moon when I found it in a recipe book scribbled along the "Jälkiruoka", aka desserts, and could not hold back, had to bake it the next day..

It is still a hit!!

Ingredients

For the cheesecake

250 g ricotta (go ahead and replace it with farmers cheese it you don't have, or want to buy ricotta, just swap out a dollop of cheese with heavy cream, as farmers cheese is a bit heavier than ricotta)

150 g farmers cheese (2/3 cups)

35g powdered sugar (4 tbsp, I added 50 g as I measured 4 heap full tbsp of sugar, but it was OK)

vanilla essence

2 eggs

120 g heavy whipping cream (4 fluid ounce)

15 g flour (2 tbsp)

For the brownie

200 g butter

300 g chocolate (Girardelli  chocolate chips, or some high quality baking chocolate that melts smoothly will work)

6 eggs

200 g powdered sugar

vanilla essence

150 g flour (20 tbsp or 1 1/4 cups)

large pinch of salt

 

Preheat the oven to 360F or 180C and line a 9" x 13" tray that's about 2" deep with parchment paper. In centimeters that would be a 20cm x 30cm x 6cm high baking tray.

Prepare the brownie batter

In a double boiler, or bain marie, or best, simply in a bowl over simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter, mixing until smooth and shiny. Let it cool slightly.

In a separate bowl beat lightly beat together the eggs with the sugar and vanilla. If you beat the eggs too much it becomes more spongy, which is usually not very well received among brownie lovers, but we like it, so I just beat it as I please at the moment :D. Add the melted butter and chocolate, combine folding slowly, and add the flour ans salt. Don't overmix the batter, it is really not necessary.

Pour the batter into your prepared baking pan.

 Prepare the cheesecake

In a clean bowl beat lightly beat together the cream with the sugar, (don't whip it fully into a regular whipping cream consistency), mix in the cream and vanilla, and finally the eggs. Fold in the flour.

Transfer the batter into a piping bag, push the hole of the piping bag into the brownie batter, and disperse the cheesecake batter in random swirls into the brownie (DO NOT COMBINE THE TWO BATTERS TOGETHER!!) 

It is best if the cheesecake batter is all under the brownie batter, but as you can see I was not really paying attention this time, and the cheesecake shows on the top.. Hey, it is just as good, but if you are more careful you'll have a crunchy brownie top thorough the cake, rather just in spots.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

Let it cool completely, at least 2 to 4 hours.

I like it cut into perfect 5cm x 5 cm (1.5" x 1.5" squares) or smaller (like 4x4).

 Bon appétit!

Tomato soup

 

New recipe in da house, and one to stay, for sure.

My hot zoupp'a'day new year commitment was failing today as I had little in the fridge to work with, so I improvised, and added a twist to my childhood favorite tomato soup.

If in California do as Californians, and put those lovely organic citrus form the yard to a good use. Our Navel orange trees are ripening, so I added the zest of half a large navel orange, and to help the taste blend I went over-and-above, and added a dash of vodka. Shhhh... no need to tell hubby, he doesn't touch any alcohol, it would be hard to explain myself why I spike his soup. 😅

Ingredients (yields a little less than 3 liters / quarts)

vegetable oil to lightly cover the bottom of the pot + 1/4 cup (60 ml) more to make the roux

1/2 large or a medium yellow onion, chopped

1 liter (4 cups of chicken broth)

2 cans of 400 g, 14.5 ounce canned diced tomatoes

1 heaped tbsp (add 2 as you please), of minced green bell pepper paste (or Ajvar)

1 tbsp butter

3-6 garlic heads

zest of 1/2 orange

1 dash of vodka (1 liquid ounce, or 30ml, basically a Hungarian "kupica")

4 heaped tbs all purpose flour

1 tbsp dried lovage leaves or chopped dried or fresh celery leaves. If none available you could probably use parsley or basil, but I'll be honest, I haven't tried.

salt & pepper

To serve

yogurt, 1/2 - 1 tpsp / plate to be added when served

For topping and sides there are MANY options. Tonight I will use baguettes with toasted provolone, Swiss or Gruyere cheese on top.

My grandma also served her tomato soup with a heap of mashed potatoes placed on one side of the soup bowl and poured the soup on top.

 You can also reuse already cooked rice and quinoa from the fridge, or add 1/2 cup to the broth when you leave it to simmer,

Boiled potato wedges and simple croutons will also work wonderfully. Try them one by one!

 

In a large pot that accommodates 3 liters heat some oil and saute the onions.

When glossy, or lightly browned at the edges add the broth, the 1 tbsp pepper paste, 1 flat tsp salt, 2 cans of tomato, including the sauce, the orange zest, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp black pepper. Bring to boil.

Add the vodka and simmer for 15-20 minutes. 

In a small pan heat the 1 tbs butter and add 3-6 garlic cloves, brown the lightly, and add them to the simmering soup.

While the soup is simmering prepare the roux. 

 

Heat 1/4 cup of vegetable oil of you preference ( I like avocado or sunflower, but olive oil is great, too) add 4 heaped tbsp all purpose flour, and on medium - high heat fry them to a nice creamy color, stirring constantly.

Add 1 liter of cold water, use an immersive blender to make a smooth broth. Add the 4 tbsp of roux, and bring it back to boil stirring constantly, until the roux cooks and thickens the broth.  Adjust saltiness. I had to add 1/2 tsp salt.

 

Serve while warm, with your chosen topping and side.

Bon appétit!

Green tomato - sorrel soup

 

Very excited about this one, not only all main ingredients came from my yard and raised beds, it is also a very fond childhood memory, us, kids, picking sorrel

It is a new soup for me that I tried once and immediately fell in love with. As with everything I'm not a person of recipes, I will prepare how and what I feel good for my own taste.

Using what I have is my main priority. I get frustrated of complicated recipes, and well, basically I never follow any recipe for cooking, like I definitely do for baking.

Soo.. long story short, don't forget this is home cooking, twist it to your taste. The ony trick, if you haven't gotten one yet, go get an immersion blender like... yesterday, but latest now..

Here is what I used today.

Ingredients (for about 2 liters - 2 quarts) of soup

50 g (half a stick) of butter

2-3 tbspoons of vegetable oil 

1 shallot , I used half of those giant onions that sell around here

300 g green tomatoes

200 g of sorrel 

750 ml (3 cups) of  broth (I used chicken-little beef and veggies broth I made in the InstaPot)

500 ml + 500 ml (4 cups) of water 

2-3 boiled yellow gold potatoes (or 4-5 tbsp Idaho potato flakes)

salt and pepper

Greek yogurt (any yogurt, really) for serving

 

Boil the potatoes (or microwave them for about 10 minutes using a lightly closed plastic bag, reuse one from the veggie packaging), peel and chop them into smaller chunks.

Chop the onions, small enough to saute fast, but don't fret about the size, they'll be pureed.

Chop the tomatoes into small chunks, or you can use a turmix to puree them slightly. 

Chop or tear the sorrel into smaller pieces, like half or a third of a leaf.

Melt the butter, add the onions and start sauteing, adding small amount of oil as needed, not to stick the onions to the bottom.

When glassy add the tomatoes and the sorrel, saute them for about 2-3 minutes, and 500 ml (2 cups) of water. Add the broth, salt and pepper to taste, and when starts boiling reduce the heat to low / medium low to just simmer, coverand simmer for 25 minutes. Add the remaining 500 ml of water.

Reduce from the heat, use the immersion blender and blend it all together, add 2 potatoes and blend well. Check consistency, if prefer thicker add the extra potato. Same with the potato flakes, add 4 tbsp potato flakes first, and add more to adjust consistency of needed.

Serve with yogurt and your favorite bread or crackers. I love Finnish rye bread buttons, lightly toasted naan, or toasted bread cubes, anything you have in the cupboard, really.

Bon appetite!