Matzah (matzo) ball soup

Few years ago, I shared with you all about the Hungarian Easter Ham and Easter Customs. But as I'd already written it I originates from a half Jewish family, and this year Easter is almost at the same time as Passover, hence today let me share the recipie of matzah (matzo) ball (dumpling) soup, which is a tradtional passover food.

At first cook a kosher meat soup. Make the matzo dumplings and served with the soup, like Eszter. 

Eszter is one of my friends, and she is a talented hungarian jewish gastro blogger, but she has also written a novel. Of course, the theme of her novel is Judaism and jewish dishes.

Try out her recipe! 

Ingredients for the matzo dumplings:

4 eggs

10 dkg (dekagramm) matzo flour

2 matza

1 tabelspoon goose fat

1/2 bunch fresh parsley (minced)

salt, black pepper, ground ginger and nutmeg (to taste)

Prepare:

1. Break the matzo in small pieces and soak in hot water.

2. Mix ingrediantes wih yolks

3. Add the beaten white of eggs gradually to the mixture

4. Create balls (dumpling forms)

5. Let rest the dumplings for at least few minutes.

6. Cook the balls salted boiling water.

Avocado cream

Ingredients:

1 piece of mature avocado
1 or 2 cloves of garlic
olive oil
100 gram yogurt
salt and black pepper (to taste)
1 tbl spoon fresh lemon juice


 Prepare: 

1. Peel and smash the avocado and the garlics and  mix the ingredients with a fork
2. Serve the cream with rye bread and decorate the "green breads" with olives and radish (or another vegetables) and finally serve the children of Shrek and Fiona! :)

Light pink "tiramisu"

"Tiramisu" for children with fresh strawberry :)



Ingredients:
mascarpone cream
yogurt
strawberry
icing sugar (to taste)
a cup of chocolate milk
lady (sponga) fingers

Prepare:
1. Mash the  straberries and mix with the other inredients (yogurt, mascarpone and icing sugar)
2. Soak the ladyfingers in hot chocolate and create the cake, start with a layer of soaked ladyfingers and countinue  with the cream.
3. Decorate with strawberries (as you can see in the picture) and serve!

Kaiserschmarrn (Emperor's Crumb)

"Kaiserschmarrn" (meaning “the emperor’s mishmash”) is a populary Austrian dessert that can also be eaten for breakfast, originated in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. It called "császármorzsa" in Hungarian.

It's a light pancake (with flour and grits (semolina)), cut up while it's frying and topped with fruits and powdered sugar or jam.

Kaiserschmarrn surrounds the ambiguous legend of Austrian Emperor Francis Joseph I and his wife, Elizabeth of Bavaria also known as ‘Sisi’, Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary. 

One of the legends says that Sisi was obsessed about her slim waistline, hence the Empress demanded their royal chef to prepare a light dessert, which eventually became known as Kaiserschmarrn across the Empire. The other theory says that it was invented by Franz Joseph I of Austria himself. According to the another legend Kaiserschmarrn was created in Emperor Franz Josef I's kitchen by a cook who made a bad pancake, but covered up the mistake by adding raisins, cherries, and a whole lot of powdered sugar.

Ingredients:

 1,5 cup  semolina
 4-5 tsp flour
 cups/750 ml milk
 1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 pack vanilla sugar
 3 eggs, separated
  pinch salt
  ½ cup sugar
  butter or oil for frying
  powdered sugar, compote or jam or all three as topping

 Prepare:

1.  Mix together the semolina, flour and milk. Let it sit for an hour or so to let the semolina absorb the milk.
2.  Mix the egg yolks together with sugar and stir it into the milk mixture.
3. Whip the egg whites and a pinch of salt into firm peaks and fold it into the milk/egg mixture.
4. Melt the butter and add the batter. Stir the batter with a spatula or wooden spoon until it starts to form little clumps – crumbs. Depending on the size of the pan this can take up to 30 minutes.
5. Serve hot with powdered sugar or with jam, or with compote or fresh fruits.  

"Sztrapacska"

Bryndzové Halušky  or (English: small potato dumplings (gnocci) with bryndza sheep cheese and bacon and sour cream) is one of the national dishes in Slovakia. Strapačky is a Slovak dish too, similar to Bryndzové Halušky, but Strapačky are served with stewed sour cabbage (stewed sauerkraut) instead of bryndza. Both of these dishes are well-known and popular in Hungary, too, but we call them "sztrapacska". In Slovakia they are often served as side-dish with meats, instead of rice or potatos. 

"Sztrapacska" with vension (deer) stew.

For the recipe of "sztrapacska" click on here.

Knédli

I'm sorry for the quality of the photo, but I used only my phone's camera. :(

Well "knédli" (steamed dumping) it's not a Hungarian, but a traditional Slovak and traditional Czech food. We  also tasted it in Slovakia. But "Slovaks in Hungary" are the third largest minority in Hungary, after Romas and Germans, hence the Slovak dishes are also well-known in the Hungarian villages and towns.

One of the unique staples of Slovak and Czech kitchens is not a dish, but a side. There are several dishes that are traditionally served not with the standard helping of rice or potatoes, but with a dumpling. Now, this isn’t typical dumpling. It isn’t a round ball filled with some meats or vegetables. Instead, it is the size of a large loaf of bread. It is sliced, just like a bread would be, and maybe 4 or 5 slices will be served with your meal.

This dumpling is called parená knedľa (steamed dumpling). Sometimes it’s also referred to as the kysnutá knedľa (leavened dumpling). It is commonly served with saucy dishes – such as various goulashes or stuffed peppers. It is a great combination!

Ingredients: 500g of flour (whole wheat or all-purpose), 0.25L of milk, 1 egg, packet of yeast, 1 teaspoon of sugar, few teaspoons of salt, few days old French bread
Prep time: 3 hours (includes about 2 hours to let the dough rise)

For the recipe click on here.

Palóc goulasch

We'd spent the last few days in Palóc Country, which  is home to Hungary's largest Catholic ethnic minority, in north-eastern Hungary and in the southern part of Slovakia. We'd really enjoyed our trip, and we tasted the authentic and delicious palóc goulasch.




It's made of lamb with green beans :)

Ingredients:

60 dkg lamb (but honestly I've never cooked from lamb, so I guess you can prepare with whichever meats you may find in the fridge (beef, prok, chicken or turkey)

2 tablespoons oil

1 medium chopped onions

2-3 small cloves of garlic

3 carrots

1 turnip

1-2 celery leafs

parsley

4 medium sliced potatoes

1 and 1/2 tablespoon Hungarian red paprika powder

ground black pepper and salt to taste water

450 gram French (green) beans

2dl sour cream

1 tbs flour

1. Heat the oil in a large pot and the sliced onions and sauté until they get a nice golden brown color. Add the meat cube and sauté together until the meat begin to whiten. Sprinkle them with paprika powder and sauté a bit more.

2. Add the salt and ground black pepper and the pressed garlics, pour water enough to cover the content of the pan and let it simmer on low heat for the meat is half-cooked. Add the diced vegetables, the celery leaf, and parsley and some more salt if necessary and add some more (2-3 cups) water too.

3. When the vegetables are already half softened put it in the green beans.

4. When the beans and the meat are almost tender add the sliced potatoes. Let it cook until the potatoes are also soften.

5. Mix a flour with the sour cream in a soup-plate and add one big spoon soup, mixed well. When cool enough the soup carefully add the whole mixed and boil again.

Bon Apetit!

Well, this soup is not really a palóc dish, but the recipe with the sour flavors is not far from the world of the palóc kitchen and the soup is also central in the palóc cooking. The legend of the palóc soup (or palóc goulasch) you can read here.