A fantastic dessert

The name is Somlói galuska which means something like Dumplings Somló-style, but I doubt it has anything to with the Somló Hill area. And it's only called dumplings because of the form, but it's actually basic sponge-cake with a twist.

So, you'll need a big batch of basic sponge cake batter that you divide into three equal portions. Leave one as it is, add cocoa to the next, and ground walnut to the third. Bake them one by one on a greased baking tray and let them cool a bit.

Make a syrup from water, rum, vanilla extract, lemon peel and sugar.

You'll also need vanilla custard made from egg yolks, milk, vanilla extract, and a little flour.

Place one sponge-cake on a tray, sprinkle with syrup and spread third of the custard on it.

Place the next sponge cake on top and repeat the process with the remaining two layers. Some recipes call for raisins between the layers and apricot jam and cocoa powder on the top.

Set the cake aside and prepare the chocolate syrup/topping : melt dark chocolate, add rum, sugar and vanilla to taste and a little water or milk. Heat until smooth then cool.

How to serve?

Cut pieces from the layered cake with a spoon (thus the dumplings), drip some chocolate syrup on them and top with whipped cream. I swear, it's heavenly!

Cottage-cheese dumplings

Hungarian cottage-cheese(curd-cheese) is a bit different from the ones you can buy in the US, but I think any type will do. If you happen to find ricotta that's also fine. In Hungary, look for "túró"

So, mix approx a pound of cottage cheese, 2-3 whole eggs, sugar to taste, vanilla-sugar or vanilla extract, a pinch of salt, a tablespoon of flour and approx a cup of semolina ( or farina, Cream of Wheat, grits....you know what I'm talking about). Add as much of the latter as needed to make the mixture hold together. If the cottage cheese is of the drier type, you might want to add a little sour cream, too.

Heat water in a big pot, add a little salt, and when it's boiling, form small balls of the cottage-cheese mixture with wet hands and put them in the water. Don't cook too many at once.
Cook them for about 5 minutes, but at least until they start floating in the water. If you want to make sure they're done, take one and cut in half. If the inside is solid and has holes in it, then it's just fine!

Heat breadcrumbs with a tablespoon of butter in a large pan until golden and roll the dumplings in. Serve hot, with sour cream and castor sugar/granulated sugar.


yeah, a bit old picture :)

A kosher recipe a week 2. Pomegranate chicken

A family favorite, originally a Rosh Hashanah dish of Moroccan Jews.

Ingredients :

1/4 cup or 50 ml of olive oil

1 tablespoon of minced garlic, I usually just put them through my garlic "press"

1 (3 1/2 to 4-pound, 1500 g+) chicken, cut up, we usually cut them into quarters

1 pomegranate, halved

1/4 cup or 50 ml dry white wine

Juice of 1 lemon or about 2 tablespoons of 100% lemon juice

1 tablespoon cinnamon- sugar

Salt and pepper to taste.

Method :

Preheat oven to 375°F or 190°C. In a cup, mix oil and garlic, and let it stand for about an hour. Brush garlic oil over chicken with a brush or feather. Place the chicken pieces in a shallow baking dish. Drizzle any remaining oil over the chicken pieces. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, basting several times with pan juices, until skin is browned and juices run clear.

Remove 1 tablespoonful of seeds from the pomegranate. Set aside for garnish. Squeeze juice from remaining pomegranate through a sieve into a small bowl.

In a small non-reactive saucepan, mix pomegranate juice, wine, lemon juice, and cinnamon and sugar. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and cook for approximately 5 minutes or till it thickens to taste. Season sauce with salt and pepper to taste.

Put the roasted chicken to a serving platter and pierce each piece several times. Pour sauce over the chicken. Garnish with pomegranate seeds and serve at room temperature.

We usually serve it with mashed potatoes. To keep it kosher, use pareve margarine and/or broth for the potatoes. Grandma serves it with rice, my stepmom prefers fries.

A quick Shabbat dinner

As Matthew and I got home rather late, I had to improvise with the Shabbat dinner. Being a semi decent Jew I managed to bake some challah, and once the oven was all fired up, I decided on utilizing the pre-heated oven.

I got out one of the Thanksgiving turkey baking bags and threw in a 3 lb chicken in one piece, salted and with home made spicy butter under its skin. The butter was mixed with some salt, parsley, a generous pinch of garlic, thyme and white pepper.

In the bag went 5 large apples peeled and cut up, 1 lb canned peaches without the juice--my kids drank that separately--, 3 lbs of potatoes chopped up, two large carrots, and because my kids love it, 1 lb of mushrooms. They stayed in the bag till they were about 98% done, then I removed the bag and let the juices evaporate for an additional 10 minutes.

I served it with challah (of course) and white grape juice for the kids.

A kosher recipe a week 1. Hungarian Jewis Egg Dips

What you need:

4 hardboiled eggs, cut/grated/broken with a fork

1 kosherized chicken liver

2 tablespoons of goose lard, chopped

2 onions, finely chopped

1 teaspoon of salt

some ground pepper

Cook the onion in the lard, then add the chopped liver, salt, pepper. When cooked, mix with the egg. Serve with bread or toast and fresh tomatoes, cucumbers.

Lecsó, Letscho or whatever you wanna call it

This dish is very popular in Hungary, I have seen it on many a menu in Poland, bought it in jars in Germany and canned in Ukraine and Russia.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons sunflower oil or goose lard
  
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 2 lbs green bell pepper, sliced
  
• 1 lbs of medium tomatoes, cored and sliced
• 1 hot Hungarian green pepper
  
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Hungarian paprika, as neede, if hot green peppers are not available, use hot paprika
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten or 1 cup of rice uncooked
• 1/2 lb of sausages or hot dogs, sliced
  

Preparation

1.

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat oil or lard and add onions and bell pepper. Sauté until beginning to soften, 2 to 3 minutes. Cover and simmer very slowly for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2.

Add tomatoes and sausages and continue to simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and hot paprika to taste. Add eggs, mixing well. Simmer, covered, for 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

Alternatively, you might want to add some Hungarian style sausages, or hot dogs, or even rice. In case you add rice, you do not need to add the eggs.

Chicken pound cake

Originally posted by Andi on Konyhamóka.



Line the pound cake mold with baking paper.

After putting salt and pepper on chicken breast slices, make a layer out of it in the mold.

Add eggs, salami, chives and grated cheese in the next layer.

Cover with bacon, Canadian bacon or ham.

Cover with another layer of meat and then add whatever is left from the other ingredients.

Bake cca 90 minutes on 250°C (480°F).

Serve....