Tribute to the Hungarian champions of the Olympics in London

This post is not about me now. This post is devoted to those Hungarian champions who were fighting to make our small country acknowledged in the whole world.

Thank you so much! We appreciate it a lot!

If you are interested in the recipe click here.

Hungary's birthday cake 2012

In Hungary every year a special birthday cake is prepared to celebrate the country's foundation. 

The National Guild of Hungarian Confectioners selects the best recipe submitted by confectioners from all over Hungary. Lots of wonderful cakes were nominated for the price, but only one could have won!

In the year of 2012, the winner is the apple-poppy seed cake from Szabolcs county by Kokó Confectionery from Veszprém. Congratulations!

Source: http://augusztus20.kormany.hu/magyarorszag-tortaja-2012

The guild also thought of those people this year who cannot eat any food consists sugar. In order to promote health-conscious lifestyle, the Chamber of Hungarian Confectioneries have launched a special competition in strong co-operation with Egy Csepp Figyelem Foundation (One Drop Attention Foundation): the event runs under the name the “Sugar free Cake of Hungary”. 

Aaaand the winner iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis: sugar free apple cake with gooseberries. 

Source: http://augusztus20.kormany.hu/magyarorszag-cukormentes-tortaja

There is only one question left: where can I buy and taste them? Here is a list of those Hungarian confectioneries that are officially allowed to sell the two cakes from 20th August 2012. Don't miss to try and please, let me know how you liked it! Can't wait to have some feedback. 

Pörkölt, the Hungarian goulash

The sun is shining, everybody is hungry, wonderful smell is hanging above the patio (and above the whole neighbourhood as well), men are standing around the fire, goulash/pörkölt is currently in progress. 

Ingredients for the pörkölt:

• 2000 g pork shoulder cut in cues
• 3 medium onion
• 5 cloves garlic
• 2 medium red coloured Californian paprika
• 3 tomatoes
• 40 ml dry red wine
• 20 ml water
• salt, pepper
• ground cumin
• red paprika powder
• 4 Tbsp. lard
• 3 1/4 Tbsp. chilli (Erős Pista)
• 3 Tbsp. soy sauce

Ingredients for dumplings (nokedli/galuska):

• 1000 g flour
• 2-3 eggs
• 2 Tbsp. salt
• water for the texture of the dough
• water for cooking/boiling dumplings

Ingredients:

Melt and heat lard in a Kotlich on camp fire over medium heat. Cook onions in oil until soft, stirring frequently. Add red paprika powder (carefully! make sure it doesn't burn otherwise it's bitter) then meat cubes and freshly pressed garlic. Add the cubed meat and while stirring the meat will begin to fry, releasing its natural juices. Sprinkle salt and pepper over it while adding herbs and chilli. The meat should thus be cooked in its own juices for about 1,5 hours. 
Then: add vegetables cut in smaller pieces, red wine and let it cook/sauté for another 2-2,5 hours. Once the juice has virtually evaporated, a small amount of water or dry wine can be added. The liquid must never cover the meat. Don't forget to stir once in a while.
Serve hot/warm with dumplings/rice/noodles/smashed potatoes/parsley potatoes. 

For the dumplings: combine all the ingredients. Add as much water as needed to get a quite thick dough. Stir until dough is smooth and no longer sticks to spoon.
Bring salted water in a large pan to boil.  

Preferred tool for making dumplings is a spaetzle plane. 

Push the batter through a spaetzle plane propped on the pot, or use a spoon to tear off pieces of the batter and drop them into the water. Drop dumplings into rapidly boiling water; boil covered and cook until rise to the top of the water.

Hungarian fried bread = langos

Langos, sometimes called Hungarian pizza, became part of the country's cuisine centuries ago when it was introduced by the Turks during their occupation. Today it's a favourite street and fair food and It is usually eaten as an appetizer or snack, mostly simply rubbed with garlic and sprinkled with salt. Variations are to serve langos with rasped cheese, sour cream and/or dill. There is also a sweet version known: with cinnamon sugar or powder sugar.

Ingredients:

• 0,5 kg flour
• 20 ml kefir
• 2 eggs
• 25 g yeast
• 10 g salt
• 1 sugar cube
• 10 ml milk

Directions:

Get 10 ml hand warm milk (do not use hot one. it kills the natural bacteria in the yeast)  and combine with 1 sugar cube. Put yeast to it, let it raise.

Add flour, kefir, eggs, and salt into a large bowl (the dough will rise, you really need a large one) and as much milk as it is needed to get a soft dough. mix it well. 

Cover it with a clean fabric kitchen towel. Let it raise for about 2-3 hours.

Put the raised dough onto a lightly floured wooden pastry board. Flatten and stretch dough to about 3-4 cm thickness. 

Take out about a handful of dough and work it to make a large pancake. I started by squishing it in the middle and then going around the edges pushing the dough out. It also helps if you first wet your hands with cold water. This will make the dough more malleable.

Place the into hot oil and fry each side until it gets golden brown. 

Serve warm. Rub the top with garlic, top with rasped cheese. It's absolutely up to your taste. 

Note: the dough itself can be hold in the fridge covered by kitchen film for maximal 3-4 days. Make sure you take a large bowl, it raises in the fridge!

Pictures here

Garlic sauce

I love the taste of garlic and this sauce is one of my absolute favourites. I am almost able to serve and eat it with everything, whether it is a sauce of a sandwich, tortilla or gyros or in a liquid form  (extra milk added)  salad dressing.

Ingredients:

• 160 ml yoghurt
• 120 ml mayonnaise (light)
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 1 Tbsp. milk
• salt, pepper
• pinch sugar
• salad herb mix (I always use the brand KANIA bought in Holland at LIDL. We can also make our own mix from freeze dried parsley, chives, purple onions, garlic, paprika, onions and added ground pepper.

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Let it cool for at least 1-2 hours in the refrigerator. The longer the better, according to my experience and taste, the optimal (let´s say best) time would be one night. 

Note: make sure you leave garlic sauce in a closed Tupperware box, otherwise your whole refrigerator will smell like garlic. 

Mayonnaise

Nothing is easier then making your own mayonnaise. BUT! We also have to think about those that just have been starting to cook. This recipe is the result of a long time testing, experimenting and trying. It is simple and easy, doesn't require manual work nore octopus arms. For us it works, and I hope others will think the same and will tell me their positive experiments.

Directions:

• 3 egg yolks
• 1/4 Tbsp. salt
• 1/4 Tbsp.pepper
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 250 ml oil
• 2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 Tbsp. vinegar

Directions:

Put egg yolks, salt, pepper, sugar and mustard into a blender and mix them well. While constantly stirring with blender, add carefully oil. As final touch, add vinegar. Mix it well. Immediately ready to serve. 

Breakfast sticks

"Eating breakfast is the secret to staying healthy, according to evidence unearthed by doctors in the US."

Except for weekends, breakfast is often the meal that either gets ignored or rushed through. Grabbing a piece of apple while drinking the last drops of your coffee as you head out the door? Sounds familiar, ha? Well, with creative and inspirating ideas such as a flower shape fried egg or this one here not anymore!

Ingredients:

• 2 slices of toast bread
• 150 g ham
• few slices of zucchini
• a few small pieces of red paprika
• smoked cheese

Directions:

Toast the bread slices then cut them into small pieces. Do the same with ham, zucchini and paprika.
Thread the pieces according to your taste onto the skewers.
/If you think, that eating raw paprika and zucchini you simply cannot accept, roast them/
 Serve the skewers on cheese bed.

Raspberry lemonade

In the last few years, drinking lemonade is hip and popular again. We love it as well, as for it is healthier and more refreshing then coke, sprite and the others. It is raspberry season, so I decided to surprise myself with this flavor. So easy to make and feels so good on a hot day like today.

Ingredients:

• 1,5 hands full of raspberries
• 200 g brown sugar
• 1 lime
  
• 500 ml sparkling water

Directions:

Mix raspberries, sugar, sliced lime with water. Bring to boil while continuously stirring.  Let it cool. Then filter the "syrup" through a fine sieve. Press the lime and raspberry pieces through, the seeds and bigger pieces are going to get stuck in the sieve. 
Mix it with ice cold sparkling water. Serve with ice cubes. 

Enjoy cooling off in the heat and hang on!

Colored sugar hearts

A kind and dear friend of us is recovering from sickness. To make her happy, I decided to give her my self-made heart shaped sugar cubes. That's why the colour combination of the Dutch flag. The orange ribbon cannot miss of course. :-)

Ingredients:

• 125 g sugar
• 3 1/4 Tbls. food colouring

Directions:

Mix the ingredients and press your damp sugar into little silicon ice cube or bonbon molds.
Once you’ve pressed the sugar firmly down into the mold, turn the mold over and the hearts will fall right out onto the baking paper/plate.
Let them dry for one day. Put them into a nice jar, a small glas or ceramic bowl.

Nice gift idea, but also a perfect accessoire for tea parties as well.

Idea: the colour and heart is absolutely to your taste. feel free to change them.
Red = Valentine's Day, mother's day
Pink = baby shower
White = bridal shower, Christmas
Yellow, light green= Eastern
Blue = winter time

Flower for a flower!

Today it's a wonderful sunny day! And a day like this requires something creative and heart-warming, which was inspired by a good friend of mine.

Well, it's not really a recipe. (Almost) everybody can make fried egg. It is much rather a good idea to make our beloved ones smile, even on a tough morning.

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• salt, pepper
• butter
• flower form

Directions:

Melt butter in a frying pan over medium-law heat. Place the flower form in it.  Crack the egg into a bowl and carefully let it slide into flower form. Add salt and pepper to taste if desired. Fry the egg until the egg white has solidified and set. 

Serve hot, decorate with chives. Make leaves and stalk from chives. Enjoy your meal!