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!

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!

Töltött paprika - stuffed peppers

One of the family favorites is the stuffed pepper, and given that the peppers are in season, it was served as lunch today in our house.
I can't find the "appropriate" peppers here, aka TV paprika (tölteni való, meaning to-fill-peppers), but it has never bothered me.
I figured that the bitter taste of the green peppers is heavenly in these stuffed peppers, and apart from their size, yeah, those are HUGE, nobody had any complaints.
When the kids were younger and pickier, I peeled the skin of the peppers after they were cooked and before I chopped them into a mush, but now they don't choke on the skin anymore :D..
There are aspects where life gets a bit easier with teenagers :D.

Ingredients (serves 10-12)
Filling
1.5 pounds (600gr) ground beef, preferably organic
1.5 pound (600gr) rice (we like it with LOT of rice. You can reduce the rice to about 1/2 of the quantity of the meat if you favor more meaty meals)
12 medium green bell peppers
2 medium eggs
1 large, or two smaller onions
vegetable oil (3-4 tsp)
1 tsp paprika powder
1 tsp black pepper1 tsp dried basil or celery leaves
1-1.5 tsp salt (salt to taste) (optional: you can add a tsp of Vegeta (dried veggie, salt, spice mix) but if you choose to add this, make sure you reduce the salt, as this is very salty)

Sauce
1 - 1.5  can tomato puree 15 oz (420 g) ( I like it sourer, so I usually add at least 1.5)
2-3 celery or fresh basil leaves

Roux (rántás):
to thicken the sauce of the bell peppers, you can make a rough. I don't as I tried to avoid unnecessary thickeners, but it can enrich the taste of the sauce.

Serving
sour cream (1 tsp for serving)
fresh bread if desired (as we prepare with lots of rice, only a few family members go for the bread)

Cut around the stem of the bell peppers, and remove the seeds completely. If you have time, do this few hours before and sprinkle some salt inside the peppers, shake to cover the sides with salt, and let them soften a bit. It helps to fit the peppers easier in the pot.
If you don't have time, just remove the seeds and go ahead to fill them.
Prepare a large pot that has wide enough circumference to fit all the paprika's in one layer, or high enough to fit two layers of them. I tend to use my 15-liter pot and have only one layer, but really doesn't make a difference.

Rince the rice well.
In a small pan heat the vegetable oil, and saute the onions, and when they are golden. Remove from the heat, and mix in the paprika powder.
In a larger bowl mix the meat, spices, rice and onions, and eggs until the ingredients are evenly distributed.
Fill the peppers halfway ONLY!!, as the rice cooks, it will fill the peppers till the top.
Place them in the pot and add enough water to cover the peppers.
Cook on low/medium heat for 1 hour.
Add the tomato puree to the pot and refill with water to cover the peppers, plus about 1 inch, 2-3 cm.
Simmer for additional 30 minutes on low heat. At the end, add the rough, and simmer for 5 more minutes. 

Bon appétit!

Tomato-basil salmon

The not so good side of the Costco fish is the LAAAAARGE amount, but only when you can't eat it at once.
Which was the case of the creamy salmon prepped Finnish style..
It is a food that you can eat once, maybe have some of the leftovers next if you have a lazy wife like myself to cook something new again, but honestly, no matter how good it tastes it's kinda enough once, and half a package of the Costco salmon is more than enough.
Soo, I had another 1.5 pound of salmon piece left in my fridge, and was looking for some new way to prep it. A way that was VERY different in taste to avoid complaints..
My little gray cells were heavily working and suddenly I remembered eating tomato/basil topped salmon at a friend's house..

Ingredients (serving 4)
1.5 pounds salmon
2-4 garlic cloves
3-5 tbsp oil
salt, black pepper
10-15 basil leaves, chopped (have some extra to garnish)
1 package of Italian penne, from Costco, obviously (I swear they don't pay me :D)
1 can of organic tomato paste or crushed tomatoes (from Costco, yeeah :) ). Better if you prepare the tomato sauce from scratch, but... honestly... for a school lunch do I want to prepare the tomato sauce myself????

Start boiling the pasta according to the directions from the package.
Meanwhile hop the garlic very finely.
In a deeper frying pen add the oil and fry the garlic, until light golden brown. Add the salmon and fry each side for 3-5 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish, sprinkling some salt on each side . When it whitened on the outside, you can brake it into smaller pieces to speed up the frying. Don't over-fry, it will be too dry.
Now get that pasta off the stove and drain it! :) By now it is probably ready.

Sprinkle some pepper on the salmon, add the tomato sauce and boil it together for 3 minutes. Add the basil leaves, chopped into smaller pieces (the kids won't try to fish them out).

When the pasta is ready discard the water, and pour the salmon-tomato sauce on top, mixing lightly.
Serve while hot, garnish with extra basil leaves if preferred.
The good part is that due to the sourness of the tomato paste, this dish can be served cold as well..

I wasn't sure if the salmon or the view was better at my friend's place, nor how the salmon would taste without the view from my friend's place :), plus, she baked the salmon and topped it with the tomato-basil sauce, everything being made from scratch, but well, you cook with what you've got.. One thing for sure, I haven't got that view..
Yeah, you bet that picture is NOT of my salmon/tomato penne, it is the view I was staring at while eating..
My current view is more like piles of dirt, and more piles of dirt, and some more piles of dirt.. *Sigh*
Luckily there are some chicken coops and poops to brake the monotony :D.

Nah, anyway, I hope I kept you entertained while your partner prepared this easy dish..
Bon appétit!

Rázott, alias "shaken" or nyers lecsó

Ok.. This is cheating, 'cause it isn't really baked or cooked. But it's season, and summer, and I just love it.
Just couple of years ago, khhhmmm..  I reached teenage age and appearance started to matter. And me, the picky kid who ate only the meat sauce with bread, rarely the meat itself, and tho' loved veggies I wasn't choosing it over some comfort food, moved from the block of flats to my grandparent's village with a HUGE garden full of seasonal veggies.
Every evening I went to water the tomatoes, peppers and at the same time pick a handful for dinner.
My favorite was the beef tomato, so I picked a large one, with a medium sized pepper, a yellow, sweetish pepper, and a green onion with a large head.
Night, after night, after night...
I guess, besides the veggies, I loved the ritual as well: first doing my duties, that picking the tasty, fresh reward right away.
Those summers changed my life forever.. Having experienced this, I'm so happy that in addition to our little home garden, the schools around, including our elementary school, started to "grow" some green thumbs as well :).

I prepared this salad for middle one for dinner tonight and I thought I'll take the opportunity to snap a pic and share the story with you.
Our garden offers an amazing variety of tomatoes, thanks to the organic plants I purchased from Costco months ago.
In the picture you can see some of them: green zebra, sweet 100, super sweet 100, better bush and plum tomato. One is more delicious that the other, and they all taste DIFFERENT! What a feast!

Well, the story behind is longer than the ingredient list, plus I described it already, but here it is.

Ingredients for 1 person
1 large tomato
1 medium sized pepper
2 green onions (you can add half or quarter of a sweet onion as well)
1-2 tbsp oil, I like avocado oil for this purpose
salt
pepper (optional) 

In a small bowl, a cereal size bowl, cut the peppers in small finger size, sprinkle with salt. Cut the tomatoes in your favorite shapes, add to the pepper, as well as the onions, cut into small slices.
Sprinkle the oil on top, add more salt if wanted, SHAKE them together, and enjoy!
I suggest serving it with a freshly baked baguette or a slice or two of home made bread.
Or just as is..
Don't forget to dip the bread in the sauce left to clean the bowl completely :D.