Gulyás, which is a soup not a stew, is probably the best known Hungarian dish, even though other nations, the Slovaks, Czechs, and Austrians, have their own versions of it. Interestingly enough, ”In the United States, someone decided that elbow macaroni with ground beef and tomatoes could also be called gulyas (although the innovator changed the spelling to goulash).” – writes Nicolaus Balla and Corthney Burns in Bar Tartine: Techniques & Recipes.
Recently I realized that if I want to stay true to my promise, I need to collect those Hungarian recipes that characterize my everyday cooking and culinary heritage. Let’s start with a meat paprika stew called pörkölt. In my family, we don’t eat too much meat, but when I choose to cook meat, I often go with this, because it’s simple, delicious, and very easy to make.
Many of you might agree, that there is nothing better to eat on a chilly, rainy day than comfort food. This traditional quintessential Hungarian baked one-pot dish of layered potatoes fits the bill. The true star here is the amazing Hungarian smoked sausage, mild or hot.
I love fresh blueberries very much, but in the winter I use frozen ones to make healthy and delicious treats, like these warm pancakes for a lazy weekend morning.
These wonderful walnut cookies – a tray bake, so it’s incredibly easy to make – were in the box of goodies for two family parties during this past holiday season. They were well loved. The combination of chocolate and walnuts, together with the tanginess of the apricot jam, makes them irresistible. Try to bake them, you might agree with me.
Picture yourself in your kitchen wanting to treat your family (or just yourself) to a delicious breakfast, but not wanting to spend too much time there. Yes, the idea for what to make, is in the title: make scones, make these scones. The ingredients are basic, you probably have them at home; the technique is basic, so it’s suitable even for a beginner baker. Serve them with butter and your favorite jam, and add a little whipped cream if they will be treats for an afternoon tea with your friends.
Some of us are fascinated with numbers and we see beauty in them, but maybe don’t know to explain easily why, or what numbers actually are.
One of the most versatile pastries, that always gives you good results, is the famous linzer. You make the dough, you cut out different shapes from it, and then decorate them reflecting the occasion. It can be a circle, a square with flouted edges, a heart, a star, a tree, or your favorite animal if you happen to have a cutter in its shape – anything you like, really.
One of the joys of the Christmas season is re-discovering our treasured Christmas ornaments that are so meaningful for us. Here is a selection of some of those favorites.
“Do you want one?” a student asked me. Not really knowing what she was offering or what I was going to do with it once I had it, I quickly said, “Yes, sure.” I wanted to be polite. It was my first year of teaching at Seattle Preparatory School in Seattle, WA.