Tag Archives: Hungarian

Breads and Pancakes

Kifli

Rich crescent rolls filled with nuts or cheese, very similar to Hungarian beigli.

  • 1/2 cup warm milk
  • 2 T yeast
  • 1 T sugar
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 6 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 lb. butter
  • 1 t salt
  • 6 egg yolks
  • 1-1/2 cups sour cream

Dissolve yeast in warm milk with 1 tbsp sugar. Mix 1/2 cup sugar, flour, butter and salt until crumbly.

Form a well in center and add the yolks, sour cream and yeast mixture. Knead lightly.

Refrigerate overnight, covered. Roll into tennis-sized balls. Roll each ball into a circle. Fill and roll into crescents (see fillings, below). Let rise.

Bake at 350F until golden.

Nut Filling:

Beat 1 egg. Add 1 cup ground nuts, 1/2 cup packed brown sugar and 1 T cinnamon.

Cheese Filling:

Combine 1/2 lb. cottage cheese, 2 to 4 T sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp lemon peel, 1/2 cup raisins

Meat and Poultry

Segadin–Hungarian pork and sauerkraut stew

Székelygulyás: a rich pork and sauerkraut stew (goulash), perfect when accompanied by dumplings, noodles, potatoes or rice.

This simple and straightforward recipe was translation by Dad from Az Ìnyesmester Szakácskônyve (The Expert’s Cookbook).

Ingredients for Segadin (a Hungarian pork and sauerkraut stew)

  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 T lard (or oil)
  • 2 lbs. pork
  • 2 lbs. sauerkraut
  • Flour
  • Sour cream

Brown the finely chopped onion in 1 T lard, with paprika. Add 2 lbs. diced pork. Cook until tender. In separate pan, warm 2 lbs. sauerkraut. Thicken with flour. Mix together with pork and sour cream to taste.

Wesselburenkraut 19.06.2012 18-35-26
By Dirk Ingo Franke (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Soups and Stews

Goulash Soup

A hearty Hungarian beef soup.

  • 1 lb. stewing beef, cubed
  • 6 cups beef broth
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 3 white potatoes, peeled and cubed
  • 1 t paprika
  • salt and pepper

Brown beef well in oil. Add onion and cook until soft. Add paprika and stir for a minute to release fragrance, then throw in the preheated beef broth. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer until beef is tender. Add potatoes and continue simmering until potatoes are tender.

Noodles and Dumplings

Hungarian Liver Dumplings

Májgombóc

Recipe from Az Ìnyesmester Szakácskônyve (The Expert’s Cookbook)

  • 6 oz veal, pork, or chicken livers
  • 1 T chopped onion
  • 1 T chopped parsley
  • Lard for cooking
  • 1/2 to 1 bread roll
  • 1 egg
  • breadcrumbs

Finely chop the liver and run through. Add onion and parsley. Saute in lard. Add ½ – 1 bread roll, softened in milk. Add 1 egg and a few more crumbs if necessary. Season with salt and pepper. Cook in water or broth.

Meatless Main Dishes

Lecso 2

Another Lecso  … also spelled Letscho.

  • 8 oz. tomatoes
  • 1 lb. green peppers
  • 1 large onion
  • 1-1/2 oz. bacon fat or drippings
  • salt and pepper

Slice the onion into thin rings and cook in the hot fat till they shrivel, but do not turn brown. Wash the green peppers, take out the seed cases and the inside veins. Slice them into rings and add them to the onion in the saucepan. Fry lightly and then add the quartered tomatoes. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Put the lid on and cook very slowly till the tomatoes get – mushy and the peppers are tender. Serve hot.

Although this has no meat in it, to make it truly vegetarian and vegan friendly, substitute vegetable oil for the bacon fat or drippings! Add a sprinkle of smoked paprika for extra flavor.

Desserts and Sweets

Dobosh Torte

Our Hungarian relatives made this dessert for me on my twelfth birthday, and I will never forget the layers upon layers of cake interspersed with the creamy chocolate filling.

  • 7 or 8 eggs, separated
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 tsp. vanilla

Cream egg yolks with sugar until fluffy. Add flour gradually with the vanilla. Fold in stiffly beaten whites. Grease a cookie sheet and lines with greased wax paper. Pour dough on sheet and bake about 15 to 20 minutes at 350ºF. When done, turn out onto a towel sprinkled with sugar. Peel paper from the cake. Let cool, then cut into four equal oblong slices, then again to make 8 layers.

For Filling:

  • 1 stick butter
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1 pkg. chocolate bits, melted
  • 1 whole egg
  • Vanilla
  • Whipping cream

Cream sugar and butter until smooth. Add chocolate, egg and a few drops of vanilla. While beating, add the whipping cream slowly until the mixture is the right consistency for filling and spreading.

Spread thinly between the layers and on the outside of the torte.

Meat and Poultry

Hungarian Stuffed Cabbage (Cabbage Rolls)

Hungarian stuffed cabbage with minced pork, pork ribs, bacon, and pork sausages.

My paternal grandfather was from Hungary, and Dad spent the first few years of his life in that country before the family emigrated to Canada. Grandpa J brought with him the art of making sauerkraut, and he was always proud to show us the heavy crock of bubbly sauerkraut that often sat in the corner of the basement, sending a somewhat malodorous scent out into the cool space below the house.


Töltött káposzta (Hungarian Stuffed Cabbage, or Cabbage Rolls)

  • 300 g minced pork
  • 50 g diced smoked bacon
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 egg
  • 80 g boiled rice
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • Salt, pepper and paprika to taste
  • 300 g pork spareribs
  • 1 bay leaf
  • water
  • 1 kg full leaf pickled cabbage (sauerkraut), drained and rinsed
  • boiled smoked sausage
  • 2 T fat
  • 40 g flour
  • paprika
  • Sour cream

Mix minced pork with diced smoked bacon, onion, egg, boiled rice, crushed garlic, salt, pepper and paprika. Roll filling in 4 pickled cabbage leaves, tucking in the ends.

Cook 300 g sparerib of pork in a little water until tender, add the bay leaf and sauerkraut. Make hollows in the sauerkraut for the four cabbage rolls, nestle them inside, cover, and cook until tender.

Carefully remove the cabbage rolls from the bed of sauerkraut and set aside, keeping them warm.

Prepare a roux from the 2 tablespoon of fat, 40g flour and paprika. Add some of the sauerkraut liquid to it to make a smooth paste, then return to the sauerkraut pot and cook until thickened.

Cut any meat chunks into small pieces and serve with the cabbage rolls, boiled smoked sausage, and sour cream.

Serves: 4


Soups and Stews

Burgonyaleves (Hungarian Potato Soup)

This Hungarian potato soup is such a basic, simple soup. My grandmother used to make it regularly.

Burgonya=potato, leves=soup in Hungarian. Krumpli is another word for potato in Hungarian, and potato soup can also be called krumplileves.

Recipe from Az Ìnyesmester Szakácskônyve (The Expert’s Cookbook)

Grandma's Potato Soup

Ingredients for Hungarian Potato Soup

3/4 kilo (1-1/12 lbs) potatoes
Salted water
Flour
Oil or lard
Chopped or grated onion
Paprika
Sour cream for serving

Peel, cube, and cook the potatoes in salt water until tender.

Make thin browned flour roux with the flour and oil or lard and add to soup to thicken.

Lightly fry the chopped or grated onion and paprika and add to the soup.

Serve with sour cream.