TIPS FOR THE HUNGARIAN WANNABE COOKS

MARINATE, MARINATE, MARINATE! One of the most important elements in a tasty, delicious meal is the prep work that goes into your meats.  ALWAYS buy fresh meats from your local butcher, clean it, cut it in cubes, slice it or grind it when you get it home and use the 3 most important spices for the Hungarian cuisine:

SALT, FRESHLY GROUND BLACK PEPPER AND SWEET HUNGARIAN PAPRIKA

After you spiced up your meats you can freeze or refrigerate until used.  It will make a huge difference in the end flavor of all your meals.

VEGETA – AN ALL SPICE, Delicious seasoning for your soups, sauces, meatballs or meatloaf….in just about everything.

 “GOULASH PASTE” (GULYAS KREM),” RED GOLD” (PIROS ARANY) PAPRIKA PASTE AND “STRONG STEVE” (EROS PISTA) HOT PAPRIKA PASTE – Are the other frequently used spicy additions to our sauces.  You can have mild or hot, depending on your taste buds.

“CIMBRU” (CSOMBORD) AND LEUSTEAN” (LESTYAN)- respectively THYME OR SAVORY AND LOVAGE -are two of those more unusual leaf spices that some Hungarian recipes call for.

The usual starting ingredients for many meals include the same 3-4 ingredients:

• Red/white onion
• Green/Red pepper
• Garlic

BEAN SOUP WITH SMOKED MEAT

 

Talk about the ultimate comfort soup. It’s a meal by itself.  I personally developed a method to make this soup easier to tolerate because of it’s gaseous effects :) Soak your beans in cold water overnight and with a couple of bay leafs and some salt cook it the next day for 10 minutes.  Throw away the water, drain your beans and start boiling them, again for another 10 minutes. Throw away that water, and repeat one more time for another 10 minutes of boiling time.  Drain your beans and only after these 3 boiling actions you should ad them to your soup.  It really reduces the unpleasant side effects. 

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1 Lb. of beans – soaked overnight and boiling it the next day 3 times with a couple of bay leaves and salt. Throwing away the water all three times.
2. 4 Tbs. of olive oil
3. 1 red onion – chopped
4. 1-1 ½ Lbs. of smoked loin of pork – chopped in tiny cubes
5. ½ Lb. of smoked sausage (Hungarian)
6. 3 bay leaves
7. ½ Jalapeno pepper – chopped
8. 4 Qts. Of water
9. 1 Tbs. of Hungarian or any sweet paprika
10. 2 Tbs. of Vegeta or salt
11. 5-6 Tbs. of balsamic or apple cider vinegar
12. 1 handful of parsley – chopped
13. Sour cream to serve it with (optional)

TO PREPARE THE ROUX: (OPTIONAL)

1. 3 Tbs. of olive oil
2. 3 Tbs. of all purpose flour
3. ½ red onion –chopped

In a non stick pan heat up the olive oil, add the flour, stirring constantly until the color will become light brown. Now you can add the chopped onion, mixing everything and cooking it for another 2 minutes together, stirring often.  You can set it aside until the soup is half way done when you introduce it to the soup, stirring until all lumps are dissolved and you will see the texture of the liquid changing into a creamier consistency.

In a 6 Qt. soup dish add the olive oil, chopped onions, smoked meat and sausage and cook them together until tender. (About 15 minutes).  Add the water, bay leaves and seasonings and cook them together until the smoked meats are cooked and soft.  Now you can add the precooked beans. In about 30 minutes your soup should be ready. While still cooking, lower the heat to minimum and add the vinegar, check for seasoning and sprinkle it with freshly chopped parsley.

You can let the soup rest a bit and serve it with 1 Tbs. of sour cream in each individual plate or you can omit that if you wish. Sliced red onions and a slice of your freshly baked bread will go along great with this magnificent comfort soup.

This soup is another one of those that settle and thicken overnight so it will taste even better the next day.

My family used a thickening agent called a roux towards the end of the cooking process to give that ultimate creamy texture to the soup. If you are curve conscious you can omit this because it contains flour but if you’re one of the daring ones you can add the separately prepared roux to the soup when the beans are cooked, stirring often until the consistency becomes thick and creamy.

EGESZSEGEDRE!                                                             BON APPETITE!

ANT HILL CAKE – ‘HANGYABOLY TORTA”

 

My sweet Mommy’s creation.  An easy sponge cake soaked in rum and filled with a delicious butter-walnut cream…and the best part: tiny ants chocolate sprinkles to cover the ant hill.

It’s easy to make, adorable and simply delicious!

INGREDIENTS:

FOR THE SPONGE CAKE:

1. 8 Eggs- yolk and white separated
2. 8 Tablespoons of sugar
3. 8 Tablespoons of flour
4. 1 teaspoon of salt

To soak the sponge cake:

1.     I cup of warm water

2.     ½ cup of sugar

3.     ¼ cup of dark rum or 1 rum essence

FOR THE CREAM FILLING:

1.     3 Sticks of butter

2.     1 ½ cups of sugar

3.     1 cup of walnuts - chopped

4.     1 cup of water

5.     1 rum essence or ¼ cup of the real deal (use dark rum if using alcohol)

6.     chocolate sprinkles- little ants:)

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Separate the yolks from the egg whites.  Mix the sugar with the yolks and beat them until creamy.  Beat the whites with the salt until a strong foam forms.  Slowly pour in the egg yolks/sugar mix and start adding the flour, one tablespoon at a time. When mixture is all blended pour it into a non stick pan or grease, flour a baking round pan, place it in the oven and don’t open the door for about 30 minutes.

When you want to check if it’s done, insert a toothpick in the middle.  If you take it out clean without any residue, your sponge cake is done.

Let it cool.

Make the cream filling in the mean time.

Boil 1 cup of water with the sugar until dissolved, add the chopped walnuts and cook it for a few minutes.  Slowly add the butter in small pieces and take it off the stove, mix it until the mixture cools off.  When creamy and cold, add the rum.

Cut up your sponge cake in small cubes. In a deep bowl mix the warm water/sugar/rum and soak all your sponge cake cubes in it.  Take your large strainer and place your soaked cake cubes layered with the cream.  One layer sponge cake cubes, one layer cream.  Make sure the last layer is sponge cake.  Cover it and place it in another bowl in the fridge overnight.

ATTENTION! Don’t use up all your cream while layering the sponge cake.  The next day you will need a decent amount to cover the cake.

The next day you can take out your sponge cake creamy strainer and turn it upside down on your serving plate.  Now it’s a hill!  MAGIC!  Cover it with the left over cream and sprinkle it with chocolate sprinkles.  Voila!

Have fun and enjoy!

EGESZSEGEDRE!                                                                  BON APPETITE!