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Hungarian Layered Potatoes Casserole – Rakott krumpli

Hungarian layered potatoes casserole is called rakott krumpli in Hungarian. It is a popular comfort food in Hungarian cuisine. It is quick and tasty and not difficult to make, even your kids can help you. Smoked Hungarian sausage is the star in this one-pot dish of layered potatoes and hard-cooked eggs smothered in sour cream. It makes a good dinner alone or stands as a second course for lunch.

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Hungarian Vegetable Marrow Stew With Dill- Tökfőzelék

Hungarian vegetable marrow stew with dill is a wonderful summer dish made with shredded vegetable marrow, a good portion of sour cream, onions and dill. Hungarian cuisine is not all about heavy meat dishes with an overdose of paprika, vegetable dishes are also very popular. It’s light and refreshing, an easy vegetarian meal, done in 30 minutes. It can be served at room temperature, warmed, or my favorite — cold. You can make it vegan and gluten free, just use vegetable cream instead of sour cream and gluten free (brown rice) flour.
The vegetable marrow stew goes well with fried egg, fried sausages, also, it is very popular with pork stew. But you can eat it plain as well.

What is “főzelék”?

Főzelék is a special category in Hungarian cuisine, is a type of thick Hungarian vegetable stew or soup, similar to pottage. It is not quite like a soup, and thinner than a stew. It is simply cooked, typically by simmering, not mashing.Főzelék is often eaten as the main course for lunch or like a garnish for different meat courses. Főzelék was typically a home-made food, and was considered as an ordinary type of meal so traditionally it seldom appeared on restaurant menus but in recent years, as part of the culinary revolution in Hungary, főzelék enjoys a revival and it is much more common to be found on menus, there are even places dedicated to offering various főzelék as main course. Főzelék is often eaten as the main course for lunch or like a garnish for different meat courses.

How to thicken it?

There are 2 options to thicken a vegetable stew.
1. Make a roux. Roux is a classic thickening agent for soups and sauces.Roux takes just a few minutes to make, a mixture of equal part of fat (oil, lard, butter) and flour.It is made by stirring the flour into the melted fat and then tasting it for a few minutes so that the floury taste cooks off.

For the Hungarian vegetable marrow stew I do not like to make roux as a thickener. I prefer the 2. option.

2. Mix four and sour cream, whisk it until smooth, temper and add it the the water that you cook the vegetables in.

What kind of flour to use?

I use all purpose flour, you can use any gluten free flour as well, but you have to experience how much to add to thicken the dish perfectly.
Also, if using all purpose flour, you have to know: the differences in American/Canadien and European wheat come down to the amount of gluten and selenium in each.You may need to use more or less flour than the recipe says for the right consistancy.

Can Hungarian vegetable marrow stew be vegan?

Sure, just add som vegetable cream instead if sour cream, it will be perfect.

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Hungarian Lecsó – Pepper and Tomato Stew

Hungarian Lecsó is a stewed mix of peppers, tomatoes and onions. It is sometimes called “Hungarian ratatouille”.

Lecsó comes in many variations and it can be served on its own, as a side or as a main dish, at any time of the day. It is a healthy breakfast recipe, it might be topped with a fried egg or two or scrambled along with them.

For lunch or dinner, it is usually eaten on its own with bread, or supplemented with a sausage, rice, meat, noodles, etc. In addition, lecsó can be stored in jars and preserved for consumption later in the year, when fresh ingredients are not in season.

It is a nice vegetarian and vegan meal if you serve it without eggs and sausage, but meat lovers prefer cooking it with smoked meat. Quick, easy, healthy recipe to make, done in 30 minutes.

Can I use bell peppers?

Yes, you can use bell peppers. But traditionally, Hungarians make lecsó with yellow wax peppers. In North America, these are often called Hungarian sweet wax peppers or sometimes banana peppers. Use those if you can find them!

What is the best paprika to use?

Paprika is essentially air-dried peppers ground into a fine powder. In Hungary there are eight types of paprika varying in colour and pungency. I prefer using sweet paprika that has a rich red color. I never use smoked or spicy paprika, you can make your dish spicy after you serve, you add as much heat to the dish as you want.

I mainly use paprika from Szeged, but Kalocsa Paprika is also wonderful. Cooking tip: do not burn your paprika, or it becomes bitter.

How to store paprika?

Paprika can go flat if it’s old. Make sure you taste test your paprika before cooking with it in this recipe. Paprika, as it gets older, will lose its aroma and become less pungent. If your paprika doesn’t have a strong flavor or has no smell, it’s no longer good. Store your paprika in an airtight container in a cool, dark spot, either in a spice drawer or the refrigerator.

How do you serve Hungarian Lecsó?

You can have it plain with some fresh white bread. You can pour beaten eggs over and fry together with the pepper stew, this is my favorite version.
You can have it with rice: when you add the peppers to the tomatoes, add some more water, pour uncooked rice in and cook until the rice absorbs the moisture and get tender.

You can make your Lecsó with sliced smoked paprika sausage. Add them to the lecsó just before it is ready, and cook for a few minutes.

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Hungarian Floating Island – Madártej

Julia Child’s favorite dessert, fluffy egg white clouds floating over a perfect crème anglaise (vanilla custard). Smooth and silky, it is the best once it is cooled and the cream settles and thickens properly.

This is a classic European dessert of French origin called “Oeufs a la neige” in French (eggs in the snow) or ” île flottante” (floating island), in Hungarian is called Madartej (Bird’s Milk). Nice and very popular among kids (and grown-up kids). It is easy to prepare, light and extremely delicious.

How to make the perfect meringues?

First trick, do not overbeat the egg white, beat until stiff peaks form, you are done when that peak stays up once you pull the beater out of it.
When you place the egg white dumplings in the hot milk, do not overcrowd them, cook only 4 or maximum 5 at a time. The will puff up and will not have enough place if you place too many egy white clouds.

Do not boil the milk and make it too hot. If it happens, you overcook the egg whites, they will gave a light brown color, shrinks and be flat, not fluffy at all.

How to serve the Floating island dessert?

Serve chilled and beautiful serving bowls. A cold water bath is an easy way to cool down custard fast. Instead of chilling in the fridge for several hours, a cold water bath will get the custard cool to lukewarm in about 10 minutes. After that you can put it in the fridge.

When you serve, sprinkle the egg white clouds with lemon zest. Do not do it earlier because the zest colors the egg white and will not be pretty if it stays like that for hours.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F). Grease and line two 20×25 cm tins with baking or wax paper.

Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt. It is better if you beat it it until creamy, it is not necessary to beat until stiff peaks form, because it will break easily when you fold in. In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks with 6 tablespoons of sugar until creamy.

Carefully pour the yolks over the beaten egg whites and fold gently. You need to make sure all of the air bubbles are encased in batter; otherwise the cake won’t rise properly. The batter will set around the air bubbles when the cake bakes in the oven, allowing it to puff, and then set properly.

Sift 4 tablespoons of flour and 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder over the batter and fold gently. The batter should be airy. Add the baking powder if it is not airy.

Pour the batter into the 2 separate pans and smooth evenly. Bake approximately 15 minutes set aside to cool. Remove the wax papers.

For the filling: Melt the chocolate and cool back until lukewarm. Whip the cream. Mix the melted chocolate and about ¼ of the whipped cream well. Then fold this mixture gently into the remaining whipped cream. Do not break it, keep it airy.

Spread the filling on top of the bottom sponge cake.

For the glaze: Melt 100 grams of dark chocolate and spread it on top of the sponge cake. Put it in the fridge and wait until cools down completely. Then using a long chef’s knife that you’ve heated under hot tap water and dried, score the top into 18 squares. Wipe the knife, re-warm it and dry it, then cut clean through the layer, separating the pieces. (You’ll need to wipe, warm and dry after each cut to keep the edges clean).

Place these squares on top of the filling. Put the cake in the fridge for an hour.

Directions:

Soak the beans overnight.

In a large soup pot cook the cubed smoked pork with the peppercorns, 4 cloves of garlic and bay leaves in 3 liters of water until the meat is half tender.

Pour off the soaking water and add the beans to the broth. Cover and cook until the beans are almost tender.

Csipetke (pinched noodles) can be cooked directly in the soup broth, or in plain water. It is a great accompaniment for this soup. Their name comes from the way they are formed.

In a medium bowl mix together the egg, the salt and the flour, and knead with your fingertips until a soft dough forms. Pinch off small pieces of dough about the size of a lemon seed and roll them.

Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 15 minutes. You can use it immediately if you are in a hurry.

When the beans are almost tender, add the carrot and parsley root slices, the celery root cubes, and the sausage slices. You also add the pinched noodles. When you add the noodles, stir the soup otherwise the noodles will stick together. Cover with the lid, bring back to a boil, reduce the heat and keep cooking until the vegetables are tender. Add salt if necessary.

Roux (to thicken your soup): Heat oil in a pan; add 2 tablespoons of flour, stirring constantly. You need just enough oil to make the consistency of your roux not too thick and not too thin. It should spread out in your pan and bubble a little.
After 2-3 minutes of searing, when it starts to brown, take it off the heat, add 1 clove of minced garlic and stir. Allow to cool and add 1 teaspoon of red paprika powder. Now add some water (or liquid from the soup or cold water) to the roux to thin it. Pour this mixture back to your soup pot and bring the soup back to a boil.

Serve with sour cream.

Enjoy!