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!

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.

Gnocchi with butternut squash and gold beet

It's summer, and a verrrrrry hot one, no good (by Trump :D).
It means we don't really feel like eating all the meaty meals, but would rather stick to a lighter one. 
Speaking for myself, I was also in for something new.
Gnocchi is known as an italian potato dumpling, but it is actually a Hungarian pasta as well that's running under the name of nudli.
It is one of my childhood favorites with nothing but tossed in roasted bredcrumbs and a pinch of salt.
Today I was in for some boost from those beautiful butternut squashes I found, as well as the bunch of fresh golden beets. The outcome got a thumbs up from every family member.

The nudli (gnocchi) could be home made, but I was way too lazy and settled with some store bought ones, more precicely some Costco bought gnocchis. Worth every penny, not to mention that $5.9. A steel..
The topping is also very simple, and could be a side dish on its own.

Butternut squash topping (baked for 30 min at 350F/180 C)
Ingredients
1 medium sized squash
4 garlic heads
salt (about a small teaspoon, but alter based on your taste, try with less and add salt as needed)
freshly grated peppercorn mix
olive oil (2-3 tbs)

Gold beet topping (baked for 20 min at 350F/180 C)
Ingredients
2 large gold beets, peeled
2 garlic heads
salt (a large pinch, but alter based on your taste, try with less and add salt as needed)
freshly grated peppercorn mix
olive oil (2 tbs)

Gnocchi
1 bag (16 oz) home made, or store bough gnocchi

Fresh leaves
Fresh beet leaves, thinly sliced (try other salads, too, I think a rucola could work well)
or pea shoots

Serving
fresh-fried bacon slices

Preheat the oven to 350F, 180 C. Lay parchment paper in two smaller, or one large tray. I used two smaller ones because I removed the beets a bit earlier from the oven, and it was way more convenient to remove the whole tray than scoop them out from the larger one. However, if you have one large tray, go for it, it might be a bit of inconvenience, but all worth it.

Peel the butternut squash, slice and chop into about 1"x1" cubes, maybe a bit smaller, like 2x2 cm.
Slice the gold beets as well into 1/6" thin slices, about 2-3 mm thin.
Place a parchment paper in both trays and spread the squash cubes into one, and the gold beet slices into the other. Sprinkle with salt, ground a little peppercorn on top, and drizzle with olive oil, until they are lightly coated.  Mix with your fingers, or just joggle the trays to coat them.
Place them uncovered in the preheated oven, and bake for 10 minutes.
Turn the beets, mix in lightly the squash, and bake for additional 10 minutes.
Now you can remove the beets, and leave the squash for additional 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven.
Prepare the gnocchi/nudli according to the instructions, and serve while hot, topped with some bacon and beet leaves.
Enjoy!

Bon appétit!

Wild mushroom terrine

Where should I start? I stumbled upon another favorite!!
Maybe I shell start with the fact that Costco sells very nice and fresh mushrooms.. :D
I can't wait for the Chanterelle mushroom season and the big trays sold by Costco, but meanwhile I had to settle with something easier to find.
Hubby got home a tray of Portobello mushrooms and they had to be used.
I usually make either mushroom paprikas (stew Hungarian style) or just saute them filled with feta, but I felt I want something different.

A friend bought me a cookbook for last Xmas and I remembered that it had some pretty easy and as such tempting looking French recipes. So, I opened The Little Paris Kitchen by Rachle Khoo and found in no time the recipe above.
It is baking in the oven, so very curious what the end result will be..

Ingredients
1 pound, 0.5 kg preferably mixed, wild mushroom
4 eggs
1 cream fresh (sour cream) 200 g, 1 cup
2 cloves garlic
2 shallots finely chopped   
1/2 tsp or less salt
1 pinch nutmeg ( I used smoked paprika powder as I didn't have nutmeg)
2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
5-6 tbsp butter or oil for frying

Prepare two small 8 ounce (05. liter)  loaf pans lined with parchment paper.
Slice the mushroom if needed to have equal sized pieces. I cut the Portobello mushrooms in 4.
Heat a pan with the butter, add the finely chopped garlic cloves and shallots, and when the shallots start to brown, add and sauté the mushrooms. I had to sauté them in two batches.
Fry each side for about 5 minutes, all together ~10 minutes.
Meanwhile preheat the oven to 350F.
Remove the mushrooms from the pan, place them on a plate covered whit kitchen paper to get rid of the excess oil.

Beat the eggs, add the sour cream (cream fresh), pinch of salt, nutmeg, and the chopped parsley.

Place the mushrooms in the pans and pour the egg-sour cream mixture in equal quantities to cover the mushrooms..
Bake for about 20 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and let it cool down slightly. Best serves till warm, about at room temperature.

You can remove the loafs from the pan or slice them in the pan.
Bon appétit!

Šaltibarščiai - aka "cold soup" - from beetroot

 

As the name might suggest to my fellow Hungarians, this is everything but Hungarian dish :), however, it is summer, and hot, and the last thing I felt like eating was a warm soup.

Not to mention how I miss our travels through Europe, which feel so far away as it is hard not to get homesick.

One of my favorite soups was the cold beetroot soup. OK, all cold or hot beetroot soups were one of my favorites, and I even posted already one here, but it was time for the next one.

This is I think my absolute favorite Baltic beetroot soup, and we are still in season for making it.
The difference between the one posted earlier and this? For this you'll need the WHOLE vegetable, including the leaves and the stem.
It also requires one healthy godness: buttermilk.

If you are not yet convinced you should prepare it, let me tell you that is ready in 20-30 minutes, depending what tools you have at hand and how effective you are, of course :). For me it takes 30 minutes, 'cause I'll be searching for various cooking tools for at least 10 minutes.. *sigh*

Ingredients (serves 6)
1 bunch of young beetroot, with leaves
1 medium/small cucumber
1 bunch of chives
1 small bunch of dill
1 liter (quart) buttermilk
salt, pepper
radishes - optional

Serving
hot boiled potatoes, 1-1.5 / person
boiled eggs
dill, chives 

In a small pot put couple of potatoes to boil in their skin.

Cut and clean the beetroot heads, cut the in 4 and put them to boil for about 5 minutes in ~ 1 liter of water.
Meanwhile cut the stem, and the leaves in small pieces and stripes.
Remove the beetroot from the water with a skimmer. DO NOT discard the hot water!
Add the chopped stem to the water and boil for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile in a food processor crush the beetroot heads.
When the stems were boiling for 5 minutes, add the beetroot leaves and boil for additional 5 minutes.
At the end add the crushed beetroot and boil the together for additional 2 minutes.
Chop the chives in very small pieces, ad well as the dill.
Peel and grate the cucumber.

Drain the boiled beetroot, but again, DO NOT discard the water!
Place 1/2 - 1 egg / person to boil. I like it with the yolk still orange and soft, so I add them to boiling water and boil them only for 4 minutes.

Place the beetroot in a glass serving bowl (any bowl), let it cool slightly. Add the buttermilk, salt (I added about 1/2 tsp), pinch of black pepper, mix, and slowly add the wonderfully dark red water in which the beetroot boiled.
Last, mix in the chopped chives, dill (save some of both for serving!), and the grated cucumber.
If you chose to add radish, do not forget to either chop or grate those too and mix it in the soup.
Drain the potatoes, skin and cut in half or four.

Serve with hot boiled potatoes on the side, with some extra Greek yogurt if preferred more sour, the boiled eggs and some chives and dill for garnish!

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.

Tofu Kimchi medalions

Visits to our "local" Asian shops always end up with loads and loads of ingredients one doesn't really know what to do with, but this time I went there with a plan.
I am replacing some of our meaty meals with vegetarian meals, and will try to reduce our meat consumption, at least when it comes to the youngest and myself.
Now that's all thanks to our... backyard chicken. We just LOVE them :).

Tofu seemed to be a natural meat replacement for our breakfast, and I couldn't 'till morning to prepare these patties.


Ingredients
2 cups tofu
1 cup well fermented kimchi
3 green onions¼ cup flour (2 tbsp)
2 eggs
1-2 clove garlic, finely chopped
salt to taste
4-5 tbsp sunflower oil for frying
1 tsp hot red pepper if you prefer it more chilly, for us the kimchi was enough for start (Ming's artisan chilly sauce would probably be a perfect match, but be aware, it is shit hot :D)


Finely chop the kimchi and place it in a strainer to get rid of the excess liquid.
Shop the green onions in small pieces and chop or press them through a garlic press.

In a medium sized (2 l - 2 qart) bowl mix the eggs with the flower. Crumble the tofu in the egg-flower mix into small crumbs, add the chopped onions and garlic, and salt to taste.
Mix them well.

Heat a frying pan with 1-2 tbsp oil, and scoop tablespoon sized amounts of mixture in the pan. Press down gently to make flat, about 1 cm, 1/4", thick patties.

Fry on medium heat 2-3 minutes each side.
Slide them in a plate and let them cool until just lukewarm. They tend to fall apart easier when they are too hot, but their consistency becomes very easy to handle ones they are colder.
Mine are a bit nubbly as I added more kimchi than the recipe asks for.

It is an easy snack to take to the beach or pack for school lunch.
Bon apetite! 

Creamy beetroot soup ala Baltic style

The flu decided to mess with me, and kept me in not so good mood for some days. With the sun shining is not so bad, but my energy level is halved, to say the least.
I baked fresh bread and promised accompanying fresh salad with it for dinner for the family, but maybe because of my flu-ish mood I wanted something warm, something liquid. I think European soups are the best food on Earth for whatever occasion, but especially for somebody sick..
Why European in particular? Because the "soups" here in US are so thick, they remind me of the Hungarian főzelék, which is of course great, it just has nothing to do with soups :).
I bought some, much more than needed, beetroot at the local Sprouts because the organic beetroot bunch was sold for a steal, $3 for 2 bunches, each with 3 tennis ball size beetroot.
I made a huuge amount of soup, but here I share with you the recipe for just a decent sized 4-5 person family.
With Easter coming, it is a food to keep in mind, it is a delicious way to use up all those hard boiled eggs you have left over or your hubby brought home from locsolás :).

Ingredients
2 tennis ball size beetroot
1 similar size potato, preferably the type meant for mashed potatoes
salt, pepper
1 small onion
water
500 ml, half quart natural, unflavored yogurt, I used Bulgarian yogurt
2-3 tbsp oil, use olive oil if you prefer
water, about 1 litre, 1 quart
lemon to taste

Serving

yogurt or sour cream to serve. If you wanna get fancy, and add to the taste, mix some finely grated horseradish in the yogurt/sour cream

hard boiled eggs, at least 1 egg/person
It can be also served with hot boiled or baked potato wedges
rye bread, or white bread, fresh or toasted, whichever you prefer

Peel the potato and the beetroot.
In a medium, about 3 litres, 3 quarts, pot add the oil, chop the onion finely, and over medium heat fry the onions.

Toss in the beetroot and the potato, let it simmer shortly in the hot oil, and add the water, just enough to have the content of the pot, eg. the beetroot and the potato covered. Add salt and black pepper to taste.
Let it simmer on medium heat under a lid, for about 20 minutes, until the potato is soft, and the beetroot is "crunchy"- soft.

Let it cool a little, and in a food processor blend until smooth, at least as smooth as possible..
If you prefer smother taste, choose a less sour yogurt instead of the Bulgarian yogurt. we are a sour-tooth family, I can never add enough vinegar or lemon, so we love the sourness of both the yogurt, and even some extra lemon juice.
Mix in the yogurt, adjust sourness with additional yogurt or and lemon. Serve with the sour cream/yogurt and the hard boiled eggs.
The most wonderful thing about this soup is that can be served hot or cold.
If you choose to serve cold, adds to the harmony of the taste if you serve with hot, fresh boiled eggs (or hot boiled/baked potato wedges), but don't stress about it, they are good cold as well.
Enjoy!

Gluten free Karelian pies

Today I felt like doing some healthy (or fancy, or necessity, depends who you ask) stuff.
I decided to make gluten and lactose free Karelian pies, and not only, but have them for lunch with a cup of coconut milk, in the half shade of the patio.
They were good, they had a bit stronger taste and more rich color than rye, and they were sooo much more meticulous to make :(. The gluten in the white flour from "normal" pies is more forgiving and elastic, and the end result looks so much better than with gluten free flour...
However for those who can't eat gluten it is a fair deal.
However, the filling made with both almond and coconut milk were absolute gorgeous! I will seriously consider changing for coconut milk for our regular porridge.
Next, I will also experiment with other gluten free flour mixes for easier-to-work-with dough, milder taste and lighter color.

Ingredients
380 ml (1 1/2 cup) buckwheat flour
130 ml (1/2 cup) sweet white sorghum flour
200 ml water
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp sunflower oil

Porridge
0.4 l sushi or short grain rice (it should stick together not like the Basmati rice for example)
0.5 litre (2 cups) almond or coconut milk (head for them to Costco for a good price)
1 litre (4 cups) water
1/5 tsp salt

For brushing
1 dl sunflower oil
1 dl almond oil

Cook the rice in the water for ~10 min, then add the almond milk, season with salt and cook under lid over very low heat for additional ~25 min, until the rice is soft enough but not over boiled. It should be a quite soft, easy to spread. Stir occasionally.
Let it cool under the lid, meanwhile prepare the dough. It can be made the day before, to shorten your preparation time.

In a bowl mix the buckwheat flour with the salt, sorghum flour, and water. It should be a rather soft though, barely dry enough to separate from the walls of the bowl.
Knead them together, roll it in a ~5 cm (2 in) rod, and cut ~1 cm slices from the rod.
Roll the slices into small balls.
Half of the dough is enough to cut and roll at a time, or it will dry, and leave the dough you are not working with under a cloth all the time.
Now roll the small balls into circle-oval shapes (~10-12cm), quite thin, using a lot of buckwheat flour on and under not to stick to the table.
Place an oval shaped, flat scoop of rice in the middle (~7mm thick), leaving about 2 cm of though around the rice.
On the sides fold the dough on top of the rice, and start lifting with your finger the rest of the dough and kinda folding it on top of the rice towards the top. Turn and repeat with the other side until it looks BETTER like the ones on the picture. :D
Mix some oil with almond milk, about 2/3 oil - 1/3 almond milk.
Place the piirakka-s in the tray. Spread some oil-almond milk mixture on the piirakka, sides as well.
Bake them at 300 C, (550 F), for ~10 min on the top most rack, (or second top most), until bits on the top get a little golden-brown shade.
Meanwhile mix some more oil with almond milk, approximately half-half.
Remove the piirakka from the oven and spread the oil-almond milk mixture ALL OVER the piirakka, bottom, sides, top.
Place them under a cloth and let the piirakka soften.

Serve with chopped hard boiled eggs mixed with butter, scrambled eggs and many more...
We also placed a slice of ham & cheese on top, and let it in the oven for couple of minutes for the cheese to melt..
Enjoy!

OBS. Cut the dough slices depending how big pirrakka you want. I cut about 22-25 g / piece dough and got a generous half-palm sized piirakka, one, with topping, would definitely be enough for breakfast for the kids.

Zakuszka - Aivar, but not quite

This is the "sacred" vegetable spread that, again, sneaked into the Transylvanian Hungarian kitchen from the Romanian kitchen, but originates somewhere in the Balkan, former Yugoslavia. Please don't make me break down from which country in the modern Europe's map, I have absolutely no clue will it be Serbia, or Croatia, or whatever.. If they know it at all :). Anyway, the Romanians in the south happily incorporated it into their kitchen with roasted egg plant. I've seen it confused with the egg plant spread, but if you see in the recipe mayonnaise, you can be sure it is not the zakuszka.

From there was just one door away to get incorporated into the Transylvanian Hungarian kitchen, you can bet with slight modifications, or not so slight, as it is made in three variations:  the original eggplant, with cooked beans, and with mushrooms.
Not a surprise, first of all the Hungarian kitchen has lots of bean based meals, and the Transylvanian forests are full of mushrooms...Plus, Egg plants is not something that grows originally in Transylvania.
Some make mixed versions adding both egg plant and beans.

I learned that the name zakuszka in Slavic doesn't mean any specific meal, it is rather translated as "little cold bite", a buffet meal, an entree, a starter.. Well, it is true, it is a cold bread-spread bite :), served as a snack, breakfast, or starter.
There is NO such as BEST zakuszka recipe, everybody tries a new recipe when sounds promising, and has their preference when it comes to beans, egg plants or mushrooms. Some add even a 1 kg of cooked, pureed carrots (not us..). I like all the variations... OK, if I have to confess my favorite is the one with beans, but just gimme any :D.
One secret is to have everything minced (except the beans and mushrooms) fine or nubbly (again a personal choice) and cooked on low fire for very long time until the flavors mature nicely together.
The one below is the recipe from which I like the most the zakuszka (made by my mother in low). Don't ask from where it comes from, it is one of the many circulated among the women in our village :).

Ingredients
2 kg (4.4 pounds) paprika, kapia (capia?) paprika, (you can use pimento peppers or red bell peppers) - believe me or not, this is such a varied meal that you can add 3 kg (6.6 pounds) paprika as well if wanted (I have heard even of 5 kg but I wouldn't try, that's more like the aivar, and is not really appealing)
1 kg (2.2 pounds) onions
1 kg (2.2 pounds) tomato, or 0.5 litre (2 cups) fresh tomato juice (some like it more sour, if you too, add up to 1 liter tomato juice)

To give the taste:
1 kg (2.2 pounds) of smaller white or pinto beans, or 1-2 kg (2.2 - 4.4 pounds) egg plant (up to you, really) or 1 kg (2.2 pounds) mushroom
salt, ~2tsp (add gradually and adjust the taste, depends what salt you use..)
pepper, as much as you like, add at least 1 flat tsp
bay leaves, ~5-7 pcs
1 liter (4 cups) sunflower oil (I suppose you can use olive oil as well, I just don't like the taste of olive oil in Hungarian meals 'cause that's not what I got used to)
1-2 chili paprika, optional

Serving
fresh bread

Needs some preparations for all your ingredients, and about 3-4 hours of your time.. *Sigh*..
Now let's take the ingredients one by one..
Tomatoes: drop the tomatoes in hot water for couple of minutes and peal them. Cut into cubes and start sauteing until the texture of the tomato is more like a pure. My Grandma didn't like the seeds, so she ran the tomato pure through a tool dedicated for the purpose, but you can use a sieve. Or just sticking to ready tomato sauce is also a good idea :).
Beans: boil the beans, if you chose to add beans. Some like the beans pureed (for me it is too pasty..), others whole. You choose :). The best are the "firstling" (??) beans, we called them "zsengés paszuly".
Mushrooms: you need to saute the mushrooms in some oil, if you chose to add mushrooms for 2-3 min.
Peppers & egg plants: At the same time start to roast the peppers and the egg plants (if you chose to add egg plants) on a grill, until you can peal them easily. The egg plants especially should be quite black, and might look like burned, but not to worry. You need to kinda burn off the skin :D. When ready peel the skin off (help yourself by dipping the egg plants or just your fingers in cold water). Chop the egg plants finely, or use a mixer to get a creamy texture.
If you want to free yourself from extra work can leave the paprika un-grilled, the smoky flavor is however a nice extra to the zakuszka. 
Peal them, and mince the paprika.
Mince the onions, and start simmering them in half of the (hot) oil until glassy, add the minced grilled (or un-grilled) paprika. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper.
If the paprika was un-grilled let it simmer just as you did with the onions for a while. 
Let it slowly cook together for ~about 30-45 minutes at low heat. It shouldn't boil to much, but rather barely show some tiny bubbles on top. If you had grilled pepper 30 min might be enough, if you added them raw let them cook longer.
Stir occasionally.
Add the tomato pure, and boil for about 1 hour at very low heat. When you taste it and the flavors have kinda nicely blended, you can add the left half of the oil, the egg plant cream, - or beans, - or mushrooms and let them cook together for additional 30 - 45 minutes. The mixture should be shiny rather then juicy..
If you add beans or mushrooms, be careful not to overcook them anymore.
The result will be an awfully big portion, but don't panic. The big portion is needed for the great taste, and you have two options:
- it can be divided it into smaller portions and store in the freezer. Before serving remove from the freezer and let it defrost in the fridge. Enjoy.
- place the ready zakuszka in jars, put them in a basket closely together wrapped around with hot towels and pillows and let them cool down in the warm bed. They should have a layer of oil on top, carefully not to mix it store them in the chamber.

Bean soup - 20 minute meals

I like to eat home made and tasty food, but sometimes time is an issue. I suppose it's not just me...
I noticed in Finland that people tend to buy ready made food on a regular bases on the way home (I get creeps just thinking of those tasteless "laatikko"s.. grrr...) (and here they go to fast food or cheap restaurants) because they think of the cooking as some kind of tiring gourmet exercise, while an everyday cooked meal is not, or at least shouldn't be.
We have invented couple of 20 minutes meals (or just brought them from home) that are tasty, healthy and are ready in ~20 minutes, about the same time it takes to dress up a family and drive to the nearby fast food. The ingredients are all non-perishable, canned, with minimal effort is easy to guarantee that you have some hiding in your storage.
If you can afford spending 20 minutes in the kitchen after you arrive home (and the kids won't roll on the floor in a terrible temper tantrum caused by hunger), this is a meal one can consider.
They have now organic canned beans on discount at Sprouts, so it looked like a perfect opportunity to empty and refill our provision, besides, yesterday only the dog and the youngest wanted to eat baby ribs, everybody else was fed up of meat.
A big plus eating these easy, home made meals is that your kid won't get used to the mass taste of fast food and will be a more balanced eater.
Sorry for the big portion, I never made it smaller, even with this quantity is a battle who gets to eat a second round. I took a pic with less zest to show the "content", you will however have a much more juice soup, just like most of the Hungarian soups are..

Ingredients (makes 4 litres)
3 tbsp oil
3 flat tbsp flour
1 small yellow onion
200 g frozen green beans, preferably cut into ~ 1 in pieces (if you don't have any in the freezer don't panic, is gonna be good enough without)
1 can organic pinto beans
1 can organic kidney beans
1 can organic white beans
1 can black beans
spices: salt, black pepper, paprika powder, vinegar
optional (but good): 1 small tomato cut into 4, 1 tsp minced red paprika pure or 1/2 small  fresh paprika (any type)
2-3 tbsp fresh Italian parsley (chopped if you like, leave it un-chopped if you don't like the parsley floating in your soup)
PS. Feel free to replace any of the beans with another one, I just like a colorful plate and tend to put more types of beans because of the look rather than the taste.

Serving
sour cream
fresh bread (optional, if you wanna skip bread)
spring onion, or thinly cut and salted onion slices, or paprika slices (optional)

In a pot put the oil to the heat, when the oil is hot add the flour, stirring continuously "fry" the flour just for 1 minute or two until gets golden, remove from the heat, add the tbsp paprika powder, stir it in the oily flour base (we call it rántás), and pour in water, about 2.5 litres. Put it back to the stove, and the onion and the green beans, the fresh or minced paprika, the tomato and cook it for ~15 minutes. The frozen green beans should be cooked during that time. You can remove the cooked tomato and paprika if the family doesn't like them.
Meanwhile empty the bean cans in a strainer and wash them thoroughly, I never liked the sauce of the cans as it is so thick, and I have no clue what they used to thicken it.
Add the beans to the pot, season with salt until you like the taste, black pepper (~1/4 - 1/2 tsp) and add 2 tbsp of parsley, bring to boil, now add ~1 l milk (1/4 gallon), and boil for an additional 5 minutes at lower heat. Be careful not to have your milk running all over you stove, you might want to stir occasionally.
Let it cool down for a while, then add some vinegar. How much? it depends on you. From 0.3 dl to 0.5 dl to none or more, it is all a personal taste. It is wiser not to add too much if you haven't tried yet, you can add more when served individually (but watch the quantity, being so small is becoming tricky).
Serve as is, with a tbsp of sour cream/plate, sprinkled with more fresh parsley, with spring onions, onion slices, or paprika slices. In my opinion the sour cream is a must :D, and the onion is also on the edge to deserve the "must" category.
I think it took me longer to write this blog then to make today's lunch.. :)
Bon apetite.

Puliszka - polenta - 20 min meals

Puliszka is not a Hungarian, it is a Transylvanian Hungarian dish :).
It sneaked into the Transylvanian kitchen from the Romanian kitchen, with adjustments of course.
The Romanian "mămăligă", or puliszka, or polenta, was (is) made of fine corn grits, almost flour, cooked for very long time, dumped onto the table, cut into slices with a thread, and consumed with smoked bacon or sheep cheese (the shepherds were mainly Romanian, or some Székely = a Hungarian group of people living at Transylvania's borders mainly in the Carpathian mountains).

The Hungarian "puliszka" however is made of corn grits, cooked for much shorter time, and consumed as side dish with.... there are sooooooooooo many possibilities you can eat your "puliszka" with :)....
This is one of them... and something I love this puliszka for is the fact that can be served in 15 minutes. Ok, 20 if I count the time it takes to bring the water to boil and add the cheese.

Ingredients (4 modest portions)
3 cups water
1 cup corn grits
1 tsp salt
1-2 tbsp oil
!!!! I had the wrong water vs corn grits and I just noticed the mistake! So please add water MORE and less corn grits or it won't work..

Serving
feta cheese (sheep or cow), or blue cheese, or cottage cheese
sour cream (optional, but sooo good)
spring onion, chopped (optional)

Put the water to boil with the salt and oil. When boils add gradually the corn grits, stirring continuously. Reduce the heat.
You can choose to stir for about 12 minutes, or stir for couple of minutes (~5 min), and then let it cook under a lid for additional 10 min (reduce the heat even more..). Remove the lid, stir well again, and is ready.
When ready serve still hot with cheese, sour cream and sprinkle with freshly cut spring onion..
After adding the cheese you can let it stay a little for the cheese to melt on the puliszka, but add the sour cream (and onions) just before eating. The contrast of hot puliszka, warm cheese and the cold, fresh sour cream is just soo good :D.

Ps. If you don't know whether people like or not onion, just clean the onions and let people decide and have it bit by bite.. :)