PEACHY MUFFINS

These are soft, delicate muffins with a subtle peach flavour. Every time I make them  I am blowed away by its delicate flavour and lightness.

PEACHY MUFFINS
1 cup canned peaches in light syrup*
1 egg
1/3 cup oil
1/4 cup full fat buttermilk 
1/2 tsp vanilla
½ cup from the reserved peach syrup
2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
cooking spray

*Make sure you use light syrup. Heavy syrup will make the muffins too sweet, thus upsetting the balance of delicate flavours.

• Drain the peaches and reserve the liquid.
• In a bowl coarsely mash the peaches with a potato masher.
• Add the egg, oil, milk and the vanilla.
• Add 1/2 cup from the reserved peach liquid.
• With a fork whisk the peach mixture together.
• In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder and sugar.
• Combine the flour and peach mixtures until just incorporated.
• Generously spray a large 12 tin muffin pan and fill with the batter.
• For larger muffins fill only ten cups.
• Bake the muffins at 400F for 20 minutes.
• Partially lift muffins to stop the baking process.
• Muffins are best eaten right out of the oven.

CREAMED SPINACH - SPENÓT FŐZELÉK

I couldn't eat it as a kid. Just try eating a whole lot of this with only a slice of bread. Only if nothing, absolutely nothing is there to eat and you are hungry. But I was never that hungry on weekdays. Other than pasta days there was a vegetables soup followed by a plain vegetable stew and bread. Fast forward a few decades and creamed spinach looks good as a side dish. Now we are talking. This is kind of nice.

CREAMED SPINACH

8 cups of fresh spinach
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
1/2 garlic clove, minced
milk
salt and pepper

• In a medium sized pot bring water to boil.
• Wash the spinach and drain.
• Cook just until limp.
• Drain and plunge into cold water.
• Squeeze out all the juices, and chop spinach finely.
• In a pot make a roux from butter and flour.
• Add the garlic.
• Stir the chopped spinach into the roux.
• Add milk to make thick sauce.
• Cook and stir until bubbles break the surface.
• Slowly simmer for 2 minutes.
• Season creamed spinach with salt and pepper.

8 cups of cooked spinach

Chop fine

Yields 1 traditional serving

or 2 sides

CHOCOLATE WHITE CHOCOLATE CHUNK COOKIES

These are very chocolaty.

CHOCOLATE WHITE CHOCOLATE CHUNK COOKIES

3/4 cup butter at room temperature

1-1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2/3 cup cocoa
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups white chocolate, coarsely chopped

• Cream butter and both sugars until light and fluffy.

• Add the vanilla and the eggs, 1 at a time; mix well.

• Add the cocoa and mix again.

• Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into the bowl.

• Combine until well incorporated.

• Fold in the chopped white chocolate.

• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

• Drop the dough with a rounded tablespoon on intervals.

• Dampen hands and flatten dough slightly.

• Bake at 350F for exactly 15 minutes (cookies will seem underdone).

• Remove from oven and let cool slightly on pan.

• Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

• Yields: 32 large cookies

BAKED and BREADED CHICKEN CUTLETS

Make sure the breadcrumbs are from white bread. Brown bread and sourdough breadcrumbs tend to burn. Panco is Japanese breadcrumb. It is lighter and lower in calories than regular breadcrumbs.

BAKED and BREADED CHICKEN CUTLETS

2 large eggs, beaten
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1-1/2 cups Panco and/or breadcrumbs
parchment paper
cooking spray
1-2 Tbsp light olive oil 

• Line a baking pan with parchment paper.
• Spray the paper with cooking spray.
• Sprinkle the paper with 1-2 Tbsp olive oil if desired.
• Filet the chicken breasts to desired size.
• Lay clear wrap on a cutting board assigned to cutting meat only.
• Place 2-3 chicken filets on the wrap.
• Lay another sheet of wrap on the top.
• Lightly pound each fillet with a meat tenderizer.
• Place the eggs and the bread crumbs in separate bowls.
• Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
• Dip each breast into the egg to coat it lightly.
• Hold the chicken over the liquid to let the excess drip back into the bowl.
• Place the chicken in your choice of breading.
• Turn it over and press it into the breading to coat well.
• Arrange the breaded chicken filets in the prepared pan.
• It is fine if they touch, because tenderized meat tends to shrink a bit.
• Pray the tops with cooking spray.
• Bake until firm to the touch.
• Turn over and bake for 5 minutes longer.

OVEN FRIES

Oven fries were popularized by Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod, Canadian television hosts and former international-level athletes. They are best known for their television segments called BodyBreak, which have been in intermittent production since 1988. The program is considered a cult classic among Canadian pop culture. 

OVEN FRIES

6 medium sized red potatoes

1 Tbsp olive oil
Parchment paper
Cooking spray

• Preheat oven to 400F.
• Line a large baking pan with parchment paper.
• Spray the pan with cooking spray.
• Wash and cut the potatoes into evenly-sized wedges.
• Place them in a large bowl.
• Sprinkle with 1 Tbsp olive oil.
• Toss to coat.
• Lay the potatoes in the prepared pan in a single layer.
• Bake for 35 to 40 minutes.
• Meanwhile shake the pan and gently turn the potatoes a couple of times.
• Remove from heat and sprinkle with salt.
• Serve immediately.

 

POTATO PASTA - KRUMPLIS TÉSZTA

Known as krumplis tészta, also known as gránátos kocka and grenadírmars, Hungarian potato pasta is a simple dish made from pasta and potatoes and is seasoned with Hungarian paprika. It can be eaten as a meal or as a side dish. Because good Hungarian pasta is not readily available where I live, I make my own from 1 egg and a handful of flour. Of all the commercial pastas available in North America, the bowtie pasta is probably the best substitution for Hungarian square pasta. However there is no substitution for good quality Hungarian Paprika, so don’t attempt to make this without it.

POTATO PASTA
3 potatoes -- diced
1/2 onion -- diced
2 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp + 1/2 tsp Hungarian paprika
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup of homemade square pasta or commercial bowtie pasta

•  In oil sauté the onions until transparent.

•  Add the potatoes and salt.

•  Stir in 1 Tbsp of Hungarian paprika.

•  Pour in just enough water to cover.

•  Simmer for 10 minutes.

•  Allow the water to evaporate.

•  If using homemade pasta it cooks in 2 minutes.

•  Otherwise cook the pasta TENDER adjusting to package directions.

•  Strain and rinse the pasta under cold running water.

•  Drain really well and add to the potatoes.

•  Add the remaining 1/2 tsp Hungarian paprika and heat through.

•  Recipe makes two main dish servings.

PRESSURE COOKER CHICKEN SOUP - CSIRKELEVES KUKTÁBAN

This is a quick soup with a delicate chicken flavour. Pressure cooking is easy and fast. Read the manual and observe the safety rules. For soup making you need a large pressure cooker.

Use one whole leg and half a breast or a corresponding quantity of chicken meat from gizzards, wings, backs or other leftover chicken trimmings, or a RAW carcass of a chicken with some meat left on the bones. But do NOT use cooked chicken or the bones of cooked chicken – you can’t make a soup from those things only pig slop.

PRESSURE COOKER CHICKEN SOUP

3 whole chicken pieces - this is the minimum 

2 carrots, peeled
1 onion, quartered
2 parsnips, peeled
1/3 celery root (when available)
fresh parsley
1 bay leaf
1 tsp peppercorns
1 small peace of peeled fresh ginger root

• Place the carrots, onions, parsnip, parsley, celery root, bay leaf, peppercorns and ginger root in the bottom of a pressure cooker.
• Add the chicken pieces and salt.
• Pour in the water. Make sure the water is well under the waterline; this is marked on your cooker.
• Lock the lid and set over high heat to bring the pressure up.
• Adjust the heat to maintain medium pressure and cook for 20 minutes.
• Remove from heat and let the pressure cooker sit for 5 minutes.
• Take the cooker to the sink and run very cold water on the top.
• When the valve lowers with a sigh it is safe to lift the lid.
• Take out the chicken, clean it up for serving and set aside.
• Take out the carrots, parsnip and celery root and set aside.
• Pour the broth through a fine sieve into a clean pot.
• Discard contents of the sieve.
• Spoon off most of the fat and discard.
• Add your choice of already COOKED dumplings or soup pasta.
• Add the chicken and the vegetables back into the soup.
• Bring the soup to a boil and serve.
Serves 4

Note: Pressure cookers that require rubber rings are unreliable and having to continually replace the rings are both time and money wasters. It is well worth investing in a good pressure cooker that requires no rubber rings. 

EASY SUGAR COOKIES

Traditional sugar cookies tend to be doughy and hard to shape. The butter laden variety is delicious and somewhat easier to roll, but quite high in fat content. This one is a nice alternative. This one is a light, crispy cookie that is easy to handle and a child can decorate it. Scroll down...

EASY SUGAR COOKIES
3/4 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

• In a large bowl cream the shortening, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.

• In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt.

• Combine flour and shortening mixtures until well blended.

• Chill for 1 hour for easy rolling.

• Roll out dough 1/8" thick on a lightly floured surface.

• Cut into 2" rounds

• Re-roll leftovers and cut more rounds.

• Place on parchment lined baking sheet.

• Bake at 350F for 12-14 minutes for crispy cookies.

• Makes 42 cookies

     

LIGHT CHOCOLATE GLAZE

Here is a light chocolate glaze for cakes, cupcakes, and loaves. The entire glaze is less than 300 calories.

LIGHT CHOCOLATE GLAZE

3 Tbsp cocoa
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp milk

• Combine cocoa and sugar in a glass measuring cup.

• Melt the butter and stir in the vanilla.

• Add the butter mixture to the cocoa mixture.

• Heat 2 Tbsp of milk and stir into the cocoa mixture.

• Spoon the glaze on the top. 

LIGHT CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

LIGHT CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

4 eggs

2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp Splenda
2 Tbsp cake flour
2 Tbsp cocoa
2 Tbsp water
Cooking spray

• In a large bowl beat the egg yolks and sugar until thick, lemon-coloured.
• Sift the flour and cocoa over the yolk mixture and fold in.
• In a separate bowl beat the egg whites until hard peaks form.
• Beat in 2 Tbsp of water into the flour mixture.
• Gently fold the egg whites into the yolk mixture.
• Generously spray a non stick muffin tin with cooking spray.
• Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake in preheated 375F oven until done.
• Gently loosen cupcakes from the pan and let them rest for 3-4 minutes.
• Remove to a cookie rack and glaze with LIGHT CHOCOLATE GLAZE.
• Yields: 12 medium cupcakes

Unglazed: 42.5 calories per cupcake
Glazed: 64.5 calories per cupcake

FRENCH TOAST for one

Don’t mess around with wonder bread, or with milk and such.
All you need is good quality white bread, some eggs and pure vanilla extract.
And of course nothing finishes it off like real Canadian maple syrup.

FRENCH TOAST for one

2 thick slices of calabrese bread or something like that, cut in two
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
vegetable oil
REAL maple syrup!

• Crack the eggs into a medium-size bowl.
• Add the vanilla extract and whisk well.
• Lightly oil a non-stick frying pan.

• Heat the pan on medium heat.

• Dunk each piece of bread into the egg mixture.
• Make sure the bread is totally covered.
• Cook the bread in the frying pan on low heat until both sides are light brown.
• Transfer to a plate and serve with real maple syrup.
• Fruit preserve is optional.

YOGURT CHEESE

Yogurt cheese is a great substitute for sour cream and crème fraiche. Yogurt cheese tastes much better than any low fat or fat free sour cream. Yogurt cheese can even be used in place of crème fraiche. Crème fraiche is a thick cream used in sauces and soups or to compliment fruit. Although Yogurt cheese is not as stable as crème fraiche, for instance it doesn’t whip, but with a little sugar or sweetener stirred into it - yogurt cheese is a wonderful addition to all kinds of fruits and fruit based desserts.

YOGURT CHEESE
1 cup of fat free plain yogurt [without gelatine] will yield close to 2/3 cup of yogurt cheese.

• Place a cheese cloth lined sieve over a bowl and let the yogurt drip for 8 hours or so. Discard the liquid and refrigerate the yogurt cheese.

CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

These will be as good as the ingredients you put into them. Good quality chocolate chips, [never Trophy] and full fat milk products are essential. Always use parchment liners. 

Chocolate Chip Muffins 

3 cups flour 

3 tsp baking powder 

1/2 tsp salt 

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature 

1 cup sugar 

2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature 

1 tsp vanilla extract 

1/2 cup 3.25% buttermilk 

1/2 cup 14% sour cream 

1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips 

• Preheat oven to 400F and line a 12 cup muffin tin with parchment only liners. 

• In the beater bowl combine the butter, sugar, baking powder, salt and vanilla, and beat on medium-low speed until light and fluffy. 

• Add the eggs and the yolk, one at a time, beating well after each addition. 

• Add the flour one cup at the time stirring with a wooden spoon just to combine. 

• Slowly add the buttermilk and sour cream and just stir to combine. Be sure not to over mix. 

• Add the chocolate chips and gently fold them into the batter. 

• Fill the muffin tins and bake in the preheated oven until the tops are lightly golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

HUNGARIAN PAPRIKA

Aaaah… paprika!

Paprika is produced by grinding the dried deep red paprika pods of the pepper plant. Not all paprika is created equal. The best paprika in the world is Hungarian Paprika. Most Hungarian paprika is produced in Szeged or in Kalocsa. My grandmother preferred “Szegedi Paprika”, but then she was born and raised in Szeged. Depending on what part of Hungary your ancestors came from, you might be convinced that Szegedi or Kalocsai paprika is better. Frankly I cannot see a difference. What really matters is the grade. So look for words like "csemege" or "különleges".

In Hungary you can find 8 brands of Hungarian paprika in varying colour and pungency:

KÜLÖNLEGES (Special quality) - this is the mildest has the most vibrant red colour.

CSÍPŐSMENTES CSEMEGE (Delicate) – is a mild paprika with rich flavour.

CSEMEGE (Exquisite delicate) – is slightly more pungent than the Delicate.

CSÍPŐS CSEMEGE DELICATE (Pungent Exquisite) is even more pungent.

ÉDESNEMES (Noble sweet) – is the most common type, slightly pungent with bright red colour.

FÉLÉDES (Half-sweet) – is a medium-pungent paprika.

RÓZSA (Rose) – is light red in colour and mildly pungent.

ERŐS (Hot) – is the hottest and has light brown-orange colour.

But all of this is irrelevant for us here in North America. What we can get here is sweet or hot. And we are lucky to have ANY grade as long as it was produced in Hungary. If it’s not imported, it’s not Hungarian, even if the label says so. If it doesn’t say “product of Hungary” forget it. If it was packed somewhere in North America, who knows what was put in it? At best it will be a mix with some Hungarian paprika in it, but more than likely you are getting a glorified version of Spanish paprika and all that is good for is a bit of color on top of your potato salad. Don’t bother with supermarkets or Amazon. They don’t have the real stuff either.

Once a friend brought me a bag of “Hungarian Paprika” from the largest spice store in Vancouver. I took one look at it, I didn’t even have to sniff it, I knew it wasn’t the real stuff. It lacked the intense color and aroma of Hungarian paprika. 

Find a small specialty store, preferably in a larger center, that handles a variety of Hungarian imports. Or do as I have done, order it on-line. Wrap it really well and put it in the freezer. It should last for a couple of years. Otherwise the shelf life of paprika is only six months. It won’t go bad, but the aroma and the color will start to loose intensity. Those small tins of Hungarian paprika that sit on the shelf at the deli passed their prime some time ago. 

    

I have been asked where I get my paprika. I used to order it in bulk from a Hungarian deli in California. The quality of their last shipment was... well questionable. So that source is gone. In a pinch there is a small Asian store that used to sell hot Hungarian paprika. The paprika was definitely Hungarian. Not first class, but far better than Spanish paprika. It was hot though. I would say medium hot. But the last time I went in they only had 1 pound packages of “Hungarian Style Paprika” I wasn't happy with the color, but I needed it and brought a package home. It didn't smell like Hungarian paprika, and the flavor... I don’t even know how to describe it… ground up bricks must taste like that. Then finally after a month 4 small packages of real Hungarian paprika arrived from Germany.  I opened one and I lost myself in the paprika aroma. We are saved for now... But with supply chains continually changing, ordering paprika remains a challenge. 

If this helps, this is what it looks like

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

This is the best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever and once you tried it, you won't try another one. Good chocolate chip cookies are both soft and crunchy at the same time. Remember, not all chocolate chips are created equal. I prefer large Callebaut chocolate chips. In case you cannot find Callebout; Real Canadian Superstore and Extra Foods both carry the  'Decadent' brand of  chocolate chips,  but make sure they are the jumbo size. Use softened butter; it will beat up fluffier than cold butter. When shaping the cookies, do not press the dough together, you don’t want hard, dense cookies. For this same reason don’t make the cookies small either. One batch should yield 15 cookies. Any more than that and you are sacrificing the texture these cookies are famous for.

Do not press the cookies into a solid ball, handle them lightly.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp soda [no more]
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups good quality jumbo chocolate chips
1-1/2 cups roasted, chopped nuts (optional)

• Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• Preheat the oven to 350F.
• In a large bowl beat the butter, sugars, vanilla and egg until light and fluffy.
• In a separate bowl sift together the flour, soda and the salt.
• Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir to combine. The dough will be very soft, but do NOT add more flour.
• Add the chocolate chips and give it a stir to combine.
• Loosely gather up a cookie sized chunk of dough with your fingers and plunk it down on the prepared cookie sheet at 2 -3 inch intervals. It is crucial not to squeeze the dough at any time. Don’t shape it at all. It will settle into a lovely round shape as long as you leave sufficient space between the cookies to grow.
• Bake the cookies for 12 to 15 minutes, or until lightly browned.
• Allow the cookies to solidify before moving them onto a wire rack to cool.
Makes 15

I made these for a party with 1-1/2 cups of white and 1-1/2 cups of dark Callebaut jumbo chocolate chips and 1-1 /2 cups of whole roasted hazelnuts. (and doubled the recipe) They were divine!

  

PURPLE CABBAGE – LILA KÁPOSZTA

The quintessential Christmas Side Dish in Hungary. I recall one year Vera neni couldn't get purple cabbage, so she cooked white cabbage for the Christmas Eve meal. She kept apologizing to everyone at the dinner table for serving white cabbage... I thought the white cabbage was fine. My concern was the breaded deep fried carp. For one day of the year I became a vegetarian. 

1957 Christmas Eve [My mom and Jetti neni] at the table

PURPLE CABBAGE

1/2 red cabbage
2 Tbsp salt
3 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp caraway seeds
ground pepper to taste
vinegar to taste

• Thinly slice or coarsely shred the cabbage.
• Pour 1/4 cup of water on the cabbage and toss.
• Generously sprinkle with salt and toss.
• Let salted cabbage stand for 2 hours.
• With clean hands squeeze out all the moisture.
• In a saucepan, heat up the oil.
• Add the cabbage, sugar, caraway seeds and ground pepper.
• Do NOT add water. Cover and SLOWLY simmer.
• When the cabbage is “crunchy tender”, stir in a little vinegar to taste.
• Serve hot.

For those who are no fan of caraway seeds, grinding the seeds in a spice mill or in a coffee grinder is most beneficial.

and when fresh fruit is in abundance:

  

I treated 1 cup of chopped apricots with 1/2 Tbsp Fruit Fresh and 3 Tbsp sugar and let it stand for half an hour. Then I added the apricots to the pot just before serving. Very nice.

APPLE PIE

The Apple Pie Story

One upon a time the new Hungarian immigrant landed a part time job and even got paid for it, sometimes the paid part didn't materialize, but this time it did. He ventured into a humble eatery in Saskatoon city and ordered himself the cheapest item on the menu, "apple pie with ice cream". He didn't know what apple pie was, but he already knew about "ice cream". He figured it had to be something sweet with ice cream in it, because the new immigrant had a fearfully sweet tooth that for the most part remained unsatisfied. If you never been an immigrant you couldn't know how taste deprived a new immigrant can be in a strange land. Well maybe your parents or grandparents or great grandparents knew it at one time. The new immigrant was elated! He ate that apple pie with ice cream and he knew he found gold. The day went on, it was his day off after all, and just couldn't get it out of his mind all the sweet deliciousness he had earlier. A few hours passed before he went back to the eatery... embarrassed to order the same thing... you guessed it, he ordered "ice cream with apple pie". 

APPLE PIE 
Pie Pastry for double crust
Pie Filling:
3 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp Fruit Fresh
3 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
6 tart apples, peeled and thinly sliced
1/8 cup butter

• Roll out the bottom crust 1/8" thick
• Lay crust in the bottom of the pie pan.
• Press crust gently into pan, leave excess hang over edge.
• In a large bowl combine sugar, Fruit Fresh, flour, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
• Add the sliced apples and mix to coat.
• Fill the pie pan with the apples and dot with bits of butter.
• Roll out the top layer.
• Cover the filling with the top layer.
• To seal the edge pinch and crimp all around.
• Cut several steam slits into the top.
• Bake for 35 minutes at 425F until pastry is golden and the filling bubbles through vents.
• Let stand for 30 minutes to allow juices to settle, then slice.

PIE PASTRY

I used to call this the Mrs Walker Pastry. Once upon a time Mrs Marybell Walker and her friend Evelyn Jackson went to Seattle and there they both had great pie. Since they were from Canada, the owner of the coffee shop gave them his pastry recipe. It was good, but over the years I made it even better.  The amount of water in the recipe was left to the imagination. Then one day I started adding eggs to the water, and I do mean eggs, because when you make a dozen of these pies you will need a lot of eggs. The last time I made pies I made nineteen.

 

So it’s a lardy recipe, but you needn’t to fall over. Instead consider for a moment that people used to cook with lard all the time and yet they were skinny. But these days we are health conscious and we exercise and we wouldn’t touch lard with a ten foot pole and yet most of us are overweight. Certainly, this is not because of lard, because Crisco stopped us from eating lard long time ago. In truth lard is  healthier than artificial fats, like margarine and shortening. 

 

One other different thing about this pastry is it is not chilled. How this works is irrelevant, it just works. Try it, you never had a flakier, lighter and better tasting pastry before mine. I for one find shortening based pastries heavy, no matter how much people chill the stuff.

 

PIE PASTRY

1 cup lard, soft

1/4 cup butter, soft
3 cups flour
salt to taste
2 eggs + cold water

 

• Beat the lard and the butter until very fluffy.

• With a wooden spoon gently stir in the flour and the salt. Do not beat.

• In a measuring cup, beat the eggs slightly and add ice water to make 2/3 cup liquid.

• With a wooden spoon combine the egg mixture with the flour mix.

• Recipe can make up to 5 pie crusts. For lattice pies, large, decorative pie plates and fluted edging you will need considerably more pastry.

 

HUNGARIAN NUT ROLLS - BEIGLI

The most popular Christmas pastry in Hungary is beigli. Traditionally it comes in two flavors, walnut and poppy seed. It's become fashionable to make it with chestnut or some type of fruit filling. But walnut and poppy seed fillings will endure. Folklore says that the walnut is protection against bad magic and poppy seeds bring wealth to the home where beigli is served.  Every family has its own beigli recipe, I only recently I got a hold of my mom’s, but since I have been making beigli for nearly half a century myself, I am reluctant to mess with tradition. Because of the work involved, most people make more beigli than needed. As a result everywhere in Hungary people are encouraged to sample the leftover beigli... sometimes well past the New Year. With each bite you compare the flavour, the softness and the butteriness of the fillings... which incidentally deteriorates as the days pass. But ten to one, everyone holds onto the belief that one's own beigli is vastly superior to everyone else's. Bakery beigli tends to be expensive and is often a source of disappointment. That's because bakeries sneak breadcrumbs into the walnut filling, in fact there are recipes around with breadcrumbs in the filling. I am not being immodest by saying my beigli is the best! 

HUNGARIAN NUT ROLLS

9-1/2 cups unsifted flour

2-1/3 cups soft butter
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
3/4 cup sugar
5 eggs slightly beaten
1-1/2 cups lukewarm milk
5-1/4 tsp yeast
1/4 cup dark rum
1 egg white for glazing
beigli fillings - click on the link

• Dissolve 1 tsp sugar in milk.
• Sprinkle with yeast, let stand 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile measure the flour by the 1/2 cup scoop-and-sweep method into a very large mixing bowl.
• Add the soft butter and rub into the flour until the butter is uniformly distributed throughout. uniform.
• Next add the sugar and lemon zest and combine.
• Finally add the eggs, yeast mix and the rum and form a dough.
• Kneed the dough on a board for full 10 minutes.
• Divide the dough into 5 rounds.
• Cover and let it rest in a cool place overnight. Do not refrigerate or freeze.

• Next day, bring the dough rounds to room temperature.
• Meanwhile prepare the fillings.
• Roll the first round into a rectangle.
• Spread with 1/3 of the walnut filling, leaving 1 cm edge all around.
• Tuck in both ends and loosely roll up in jellyroll fashion.
• Repeat with other rounds, making 3 walnuts, 2 poppy seed rolls.
• Place on greased cookie sheets without touching.
• Glaze the tops with beaten egg white.
• Chill for 1/2 hour.
• Poke sides with fork, to prevent filling spilling out.
• Glaze with beaten egg whites again for marbleized effect.
• Place in a preheated 350F oven.
• Reduce heat to 325F immediately.
• As rolls begin to get color, reduce to 300F.
• Bake for 45-60 minutes until golden brown.