Fruit Dumplings (Slivkové knedle) 2 cups flour 1 egg, slightly beaten 2 tablespoons melted butter ¼ teaspoon salt Mix egg butter and milk. Add salt. Sift flour on a board and add first mixture, kneading until smooth. Cut dough into small pieces and wrap evenly around the fruit ( make sure to pre-pit your fruit!). Seal well all around. Drop dumplings in a large pan of boiling salted water immediately, sprinkle with melted butter and keep in a colander over hot water until ready to serve. Arrange on a platter, sprinkle with some more melted butter and sugar. Crumbled pot cheese, ground poppy seed or bread crumbs fried in butter can be used for topping. Honey Roll with fruit (Medová roláda s ovocím)
Ingredients for Dough: 300g plain flour, 50g butter, 130g powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 2 eggs, 2 tablespoon honey, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ginger spice or 4 crashed cloves 1 egg for topping Ingredients for stuffing: 6 tablespoons plum jam 200g walnuts (chopped) 100g risen (washed) 100g dry plums (chopped) 50g dark Chocolate Prep Time: 2 hours 1. Sift the flour and add sliced butter, eggs, and powdered sugar, baking powder, honey, cinnamon, cloves. Turn ingredients into dough. Cut dough into two halves and let sit for 2 hours in cold place. 2. Roll out one, thick about 0.5cm. Spread plum jam, and add chopped nuts, washed/dried risen, chopped plums, and grated chocolate. Then roll it up all together. 3. Roll the second one the same way and add stuffing. Then roll it up all together. 4. Put scramble egg over the rolls with brush. 5. Transfer to a baking pan, put it on baking paper. Bake it slowly on 180 degrees, until golden brown. 6. Let it cool down and sprinkle it with powdered sugar and cut it on small pieces. Lamb in a potato flat cakes (6 serves)
Ingredients: 750g lamb buttock 80g oil 100g onion 2 cloves garlic 50g sterilized champignons salt 150g frankfurters 100g Edam cheese Potato flat cakes 600g potato 100g fine-ground flour black pepper, salt marjoram 1 egg 40g fat Chop the washed meat to noodles and fry it on a little oil. On the rest of oil fry the fine-chopped onion, add the crushed garlic, strained sterilized champignons and the fried meat, salt and stew. Clean and grate potatoes, add flour, blac pepper, marjoram, an egg, salt, and knead the dough, from which fry on the fat cakes on both sides. For one portion fall two flat cakes. The baked flat cakes stuff with the prepared stuffing and garnish them with roast frankfurters and grated cheese. Serve with cabbage salad. Rind Biscuits – Pagatche
500 g flour, plus more for work surface 1 sachet (7 g) dried yeast 1 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon granulated sugar 250 ml milk, lukewarm 100 g pork rinds, ground 1 egg 1 egg for egg wash coarse salt for sprinkling Knead all the ingredients for the dough together for about 5 minutes. Leave the dough in the bowl, flour it lightly, cover with a clean tablecloth and let it rise for 1 hour in a warm place. Take the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and using a rolling pin roll out a square shape. Fold the dough into a third, fold the remainder in half and in half again. Roll the dough out again and repeat the folding process. Roll out for the last time to a thickness of about 3 cm, use a sharp knife to make a shallow grid cuts on the surface. Use a round cutter to cup out circles and transfer them onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. Leave to rise for 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 120°C. Before placing pagatche in the oven brush the surface with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Sour Bean Soup (Kysla fazulova polievka) (4 serves)
Ingredients: 300g beans, 5 - 6 potato, 2 bay leaves, 2 cloves of garlic, 1.5L of water, 3 whole black peppercorns, 3 slices of smoked bacon, sour cream, 2dl milk, 1 - 2 table spoon flour, 1 tea spoon salt, 1 - 2 table spoon vinegar, 1 tea spoon sugar Prep Time: 1.5 hours, plus a day to soak the beans 1. Rinse the beans, place them in a large pot and add 1.5L of water. Let it sit overnight. Some people like to use fresh water, but the traditional way is to use the same water in which the beans had been soaking. Either way, the soup will turn out good. 2. First, add salt 1 teaspoon, but this is just an estimate. Add 2 cloves of crushed up garlic, 2 bay leaves, and 3 black peppercorns. I also added 5 -6 potato, cut into half-inch cubes. This is optional, but I like this soup better with the potato. Add the ingredients and bring to boil. 3. Take 3 slices of smoked bacon, and cut it into small pieces. Fry the bacon for about 3 minutes. You want it to turn pink, but not crispy brown. Add into the soup. 4. Let the soup cook until the beans and potatoes get soft. This will take about 40 minutes. Then, make a mixture of sour cream, milk and flour. You want to use about 2 or 3 tablespoons of sour cream, maybe little bit more of flour, and enough milk to make the mixture liquid. Slowly pour it in while stirring. Cook it for another 10 minutes, until the sour cream mixture completely dissolves. 5. Next, add one teaspoon of sugar. Finally, add vinegar 1 teaspoon, which was boiled separately, add it cold. You want to go slow, and keep trying the soup after each addition. It’s very easy to ruin it by adding too much… And there you have it, Slovak sour bean soup! Enjoy! České buchty – Czech cakes
1 cup all-purpose flour ½ cup finely ground walnuts or almonds 1/3 cup powdered sugar ½ cup and 2 tablespoons butter 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup powdered sugar to coat Leave butter out at room temperature for two hours or until soft, then cut into small pieces. Grind walnuts in food processor until very fine. Mix butter sugar, egg and vanilla, then add ground nuts, and flour. Prepare a smooth dough, cover and let rest for two hours in the fridge. Roll the dough between the palms of your hands to make a long snake, the size of a thick pencil. Cut the dough with a glass or cookie cutter to assure uniformity. Shape into crescents, put on a greased sheet pan or on a sheet pan lined with baking paper and bake in preheated oven at 350 F for about 10 minutes until slightly golden around the edges. While they are still warm, toss in powder sugar. Let Vanilla Crescents cool then hide them in a sealed container in a cold room until Christmas. České buchty – Czech cakes
You will need: 2 lbs. of pork roast 2-3 cloves garlic caraway seeds salt For dumplings: 1 and a half to 2 cups flour (Wondra or all-purpose flour mixed with farina) a pinch salt 1-2 eggs 1 cup milk 1-2 white bread rolls, cut into cubes 1 tsp baking powder For stewed cabbage: 1 head of cabbage (red or white; red is healthier) 2 (or more) tbsp lard or butter 1 onion 1 tsp caraway seeds sugar salt vinegar Rub the meat with crushed garlic and salt; sprinkle with caraway seeds, and roast. Pour a bit of water under the meat if it’s lean. It should release enough fat to keep it from sticking. Roast covered, later uncovered, until tender. For the dumplings, mix all ingredients until combined, add the bread cubes last. The dough should be of medium consistency. Shape it into 2-3 longish loaves (approx. 8”), resembling very short baguettes. Dump them in a big pot of boiling water and simmer for 20-25 minutes. Fish them out and slice about 3/4 inch thick (it’s easily done with a nylon thread, but you can use a very sharp knife too). The dumplings are supposed to be very soft and have a neutral, bready taste - you use them to sop up the meat juices on the plate. Cut the cabbage into thin strips and quickly blanch in boiling water; strain. On a bit of lard, sautee one chopped onion, add the cabbage strips and a teaspoon of caraway seeds (or more if you wish). Cook until the cabbage strips are translucent and tender (if the cabbage is too dry and sticks to the bottom, pour in a bit of water). Season with sugar, salt and vinegar. The cabbage should have a gentle sweet-and-sour taste that complements the heady flavor of the pork. České buchty – Czech cakes
One of the best czech meals 3 lbs Sirloin Roast 2 Cups Water 1 Cup Vinegar 2 Carrots, Chopped 2 Ribs of Celery, Chopped 2 Parsnips, Chopped 1 onion, Chopped 5 pieces of Allspice 6 Peppercorns 2 Bay Leaves 4 Tbls All Purpose Flour 1 16oz container Sour Cream 1 Cup Beef Broth 1/2 Tsp Thyme 1. Combine water, vinegar, vegetables, all spice, peppercorns, and bay leaves into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for ten minutes. 2. Cool marinade to room temperature. 3. Pour marinade onto roast in baking dish and cover. 4. Refrigerate marinated meat for at least twenty four hours. (I recommend you marinate for at least 48 hours). Flip roast over every 12-24 hours to both sides adequately absorb marinade. 5. When ready to roast, season meat with salt, pepper and thyme. Place roast into roasting pan and cover with marinade and vegetables. Place roasting pan in preheated 350 degree oven. Roast for about 1 hour and 45 minutes. 6. Remove roast from oven and place on cutting board. Reserve remaining juices from roast and discard vegetables. 7. Begin sauce by combining flour and sour cream in saute pan over low heat. 8. Slowly add reserved marinade and beef broth to heated sour cream and flour mixture. 9. Stir sauce for seven minutes over low heat. Flour should be dissolved and mixture should be adequately thickened. 10. Serve sauce over thinly sliced beef. 11. Serve over dumplings. Pönnukökur - Pancakes
These pancakes are quick and (fairly) easy to make, and how you serve them depends on the occasion. Rolled up with sugar, they make an excellent addition to afternoon tea (or coffee, depending on your preferences). Spread with jam and folded up with whipped cream, they are a delicacy fit for festive occasions. 200 gr. flour 2 tsp. sugar ½ tsp. baking powder ½ tsp. salt 2 eggs Vanilla essence for taste ½ liter milk 50 gr. melted magarin/butter Take skillet or Icelandic pancake pan and melt the butter in it. Allow to cool slightly. Mix up the dry ingredients and add the milk to make a thin paste. Add the egg(s). Add the margarine/butter (don't wipe or wash the skillet after melting the fat). Cooling the fat is important, because if it is too hot, the egg(s) will curdle and make lumps in the dough. Experiment with the thickness of the dough. Heat the skillet over high heat and lower to medium. Pour on a portion of the dough, just enough to cover the pan (this is a skill that will come with practice). When the underside is golden brown, turn over and fry the other side. The pancakes should be thin - a proper Icelandic pancake is only about a millimeter thick! Stack the pancakes on a plate. Serving suggestions: Sprinkle with sugar and roll up, eat and enjoy - either warm or cold! Jam and jelly, especially rhubarb, blueberry or strawberry, is also excellent on rolled pancakes. "Sunday best" cream pancakes: Cover the centre of each pancake with your favourite jam or jelly, add a couple of tablespoons of whipped cream (pancakes must be cold), fold in half, and again in half. |