Monthly Cooking Thread - March 2020

[Jamestown1630]

I went to a 'Fat Tuesday Potluck' last week, and one young lady brought Shrimp Etouffee, which I had never had. Instead of rice, she served it over grits, and I was in Heaven.

Here is Chef John's recipe, thoughtfully adapted to frozen shrimp because it's all that many of us can procure:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx1yprdgs80

We're coming up on Asparagus Time, and I'm looking for new ways to use it. We can get it nearly all year now, but find the nice big ones in Summer. We usually put it on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast it. But if you have favorite recipes, please share.

-JT

[EBH]

Probably not able to get it on Amazon.

Compiled by the Dorcas Guild of the Magyar Ev. and Ref. Church in Elyria, Ohio Sold for a whole $1 back then. The one I have was the 11th printing.

Dedicated to Our Hungarian Mothers from whom we have come to know these Hungarian Dishes

There’s only two Poppy Seed recipes in it. The filling on the Cake recipe is:

1/4 cup of mild
2tbs. of butter
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup of sugar
Pinch of salt

Scald the mild and butter. Beat egg yolks: add sugar and salt. Combine with hot milk and cook. If thicker filling is desired, add a little cornstarch.

I wonder if your great grandmother used a similar recipe for the filling, but added the poppy seed to the filling, instead of the batter?

There is a recipe in here for Flaky Squares and filling them with nuts. the doiugh recipe looks like a a possible puff pastry. Rolled out and folded over 4 times, chilled and rolled again and folded 3 times.

Keep in mind many of the women learned a recipe and then made it their own with a family twist.

[EBH]

Well, well, well...hahaha I stand corrected on finding it on Amazon!

https://www.amazon.com/Hungarian-Recipes-Compiled-Dorcas-Magyar/dp/B000JPG7JO

[nopardons]

Those dropped balls are a bit like the stuffed wontons, that you get in Chinese wonton soup; except that the Chinese use wonton skins and the meat is chopped pork.

When I first had Japanese food and the meal started with sunomono, I nearly fell off my chair laughing, as it was SO close to Hungarian cucumber salad! LOL

And the supposed French crepe is a thicker version of the Hungarian palacsinta. But THAT, at least, has an answer/clue; Escoffier's head sous chef was a Hungarian transplant.

[nopardons]

The Paprika Weiss Hungarian Cook Book, has a recipe for Makospatko, or Poppy-seed Horseshoe, which is sort of like the one my great grandmother made and the ONLY Hungarian cook book I have, that has such a recipe.

I either learned most recipes I know through osmosis ( sitting in the kitchen watch my great grandmother, grandmother, and/or my mother cook, or from the recipe cards my grandmother wrote, which I have 2 boxes of.

But many thanks for the recipe and IF I can share any of my recipe with you, please feel free to just ask! :-)

[nopardons]

LOL...many, many, MANY thanks for the link; I’m going to order it!

[nopardons]

Please see my post#123; it was meant for you!

[Jamestown1630]

Tell us how to make the Hungarian-style cucumber salad.

[Jamestown1630]

Asparagus is one of the things I want to grow when I have a garden.

I know I’ve posted this before, but it’s a great, quick dish, using asparagus:

Chicken Primavera

¼ Cup Butter

1 lb. Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, cut into strips

18 spears Asparagus, cut into one-inch pieces

2 Leeks, cleaned and trimmed, and the white part only cut into ½ inch slices

1 Cup sliced Mushrooms

1 red Bell Pepper, cut into strips

4 T. Vermouth, or dry white wine

½ Cup Whipping Cream

1 T. Dijon Mustard

¼ Cup grated Parmesan Cheese

½ tsp. Freshly ground Black Pepper

1 lb. Fettuccine or pasta of choice, cooked and drained

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until it is cooked through, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from skillet and keep warm.

Add Asparagus, Leeks, Mushrooms, Red Pepper, and 2 T. of Wine to the skillet; cook for 2 minutes. Remove from skillet and keep warm.

Add Whipping Cream, remaining 2 T. of Wine, and the Mustard, to the skillet. Cook until thickened and bubbly, stirring constantly. Add the Cheese, Black Pepper, and reserved Chicken and Vegetables. Stir to combine, and taste for seasoning. Serve over the cooked Pasta.

(I don’t really like the taste of Vermouth, and use white wine or leave out.)

[MomwithHope]

Love Ted talks. This is my favorite an oldie but a goodie - How to make a clarinet out of a carrot.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BISrGwN-yH4&t=122s

[MomwithHope]

I got into a tomato eating binge when I was about 7 or 8. Garden tomatoes it was all I wanted to eat. After a few days I came down with hives. First and only time.

[Jamestown1630]

LOL! That’s brilliant.

(Someone in the comments called it a ‘carrinet’.)

[Jamestown1630]

I went whole Summers eating Tomato Sandwiches for lunch - white-bread toast, mayo, tomato slices, salt and pepper.

Still one of the best foods in the world, to me - even when the tomatoes aren’t that great.

[Jamestown1630]

The parchment paper is essential. I ruined my husband’s brand new enameled cast-iron pot by just greasing it and leaving out the parchment :-(

[MomwithHope]

I’ve been making it this winter. My favorite bread. I use a heavy 9” steel cake pan and foil on top. My first job at 14 in Chicago was at a Serbian bakery 2 blocks from my house. I made .75 an hour and worked Saturdays and Sundays 6am to 1. They made a similar bread but it was larger and flatter. Called it sewer cover bread. Not quite that big but close.

[MomwithHope]

Wait... What???My Serbian grandmother made poppyseed cake all the time.

[MHGinTN]

Just found this ... sounds delicious!

[Jamestown1630]

It is. I like it best with pastas that have lots of nooks and crannies to hold the sauce.

[Liz]

Looks utterly deelish.

[nopardons]

Didn't I give it you before?

Oh well, for you and those who missed that thread:

cucumbers ( at least two large ones ! )

sugar

salt

vinegar

water

Because of the shrinkage, using at least 2 cucumbers is not going to make a lot of this side dish and I don't measure anything, so this is all to taste; mine.

Peel 2 large cucumbers and using a GOOD,old fashioned, run of the mill potato peeler, starting at the small end, peel extremely thin slices of teach cucumber, salting each couple of layers that you've placed in a large, deep china or glass bowel.

Using the lid to the bowel ( if it has one ), or paper toweling, cover the well salted cucumbers for at least 4 hours or overnight on the counter!

With a colander in the sink, take a handful of the cucumbers, squeeze, rinse under running cold water, and place in the colander. When all the cucumbers are done, run under cold water, swirl the cucumber pieces around, and then let drain thoroughly.

I a new bowel ( that has a lid ! ) place 3 table spoons of sugar, 2 of white vinegar, 2 of cold water and when fully drained, all of the cucumbers, stir, and taste. Add more sugar, vinegar, or water to taste, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.

This goes well with roast chicken,chicken paprika, roast turkey,and most kinds of goulash.

[nopardons]

I was looking for a poppy-seed horseshoe recipe; not cake. But yes, Hungarians do it in a cake too.

The Huns came from somewhere near Siberia, perhaps, so who knows where the original poppy-seed CAKE originally came from. :-)

And whilst Hungarian paprika is THE best and widely used in Hungary, that IS an "import" of the damned Muslim Ottomaninvaders! The ONLY good thing to come out of that mess.