EGGNOG CAKE BAR

Are you going to keep this? It’s been here since Christmas. Said he when he picked up a small container labeled 1-1/2 cups eggnog from the top basket of the freezer. Give it to me. Said I, and put it on the counter to thaw. Then I looked for a recipe on line. Four eggs… that will do! Then I went about setting out the eggs and the butter to soften. I noticed right away the frosting would be too much so I put out half the butter the recipe called for. I didn’t see the copious amount of sugar, 2 whole cups, until I was into making it. We will half that of course. But that was not all I left out. I also left out half the oil… too much fat. Then I left out a whole teaspoon of salt, what was it to combat all the sugar? NO salt! It’s a cake. I also left out the vanilla extract. It would just muddle the eggnog flavour. What sort of chef wrote this recipe? Should I acknowledge the chef? Better Not. 

After all that the cake bar turned out lovely! I used a rectangular cake pan, upon reflection I could have used a square pan. Would I make it again? I would if I lived long enough. But when I look over how many cakes I made during the last decade, I have to admit at seventy three… there is not much time left for repeats. Good thing the weather is nice and a food lover is coming over for a backyard visit today. The cake will be eaten. We relaxed a bit of late, I no longer wipe down everything that comes in the house and started to pick up my grocery orders instead of delivery, But compared to the majority we are still in lockdown. Covid of course is not yet done with humanity. I predict the coming fall will be particularly bad. Meanwhile here is my version of a delightful cake, it could come handy much later. I am always late... always, like now.

EGGNOG CAKE BAR 

Cake: 

2/3 cup unsalted butter, soft 

1/3 cup oil 

1 cup sugar 

4 eggs, room temperature

2 cups cake flour 

1 tsp baking powder 

2/3 cup eggnog 

Frosting: 

1/3 cup butter, soft 

1-1/2 cups icing sugar 

2 Tbsp eggnog 

• Preheat oven to 350F. 

• Fully line a square baking pan. [I used a rectangular cake pan]

• Add the butter, oil and sugar to the beater bowl and beat until soft and fluffy.

• Add the eggs one by one, fully incorporating after each one. 

• In a separate bowl whisk together the cake flour and baking powder. 

• Lower the speed of your beater and begin to add the cake flour mixture alternating with the eggnog. 

• When fully incorporated, scrape down the sides of the beater bowl, increase the speed and give it half a minute of beating. 

• Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan and smooth out the top with an offset spatula. Place in the preheated oven and bake until top has a resistance when touched. 

• Remove cake from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. 

• When the cake is fully cooled down, prepare the frosting. If you make it ahead, be sure to whip it again before frosting the cake. 

• In a clean beater bowl whip the butter and icing sugar to a fluffy consistency. 

• Add the eggnog gradually, beating well after each addition. 

• Whip it well and spread the frosting on top of the cake.

FRIEND'S EAR - BARÁTFÜLE

Which one is it, barátfüle or derelye? People talk about barátfüle and derelye interchangeably while others insist they are two completely different dishes. It turns out they are. Even the names reflect that. I was familiar with the kneaded dough version and thought the name difference was simply a regional preference. Then I discovered breaded barátfüle from potato dough. I already had a derelye recipe and henceforth I will refer to the breaded version as barátfüle. Anyway, that’s the one shaped like an ear. 

I made barátfüle today. For filling I used [apricot] lekvár; a slow cooked, thick fruit jam. Commercial jams and jams made with certo are much too runny for barátfüle. However making a small amount of lekvár is easy; just slow cook a bit of fresh or frozen fruit with sugar. 

My barátfüle turned out completely different from what I expected. I thought the lekvár will make it overly sweet… but the potato pasta and the apricot lekvár sang in complete harmony; each part complementing the other. I was hooked. I started with three pieces… then for the rest of the afternoon I kept going back for one more.

What is Lekvár? 

Since most food blogs got it wrong, what Google says about Hungarian lekvár is also wrong. 

1. Lekvár is a thick jam. It does not spread or run like other jams. 

2. Lekvár can be made from every fruit grown in the continental climate zone, not only plums. 

3. Cannot make lekvár from prunes, aka dried fruits. 

4. Lekvár can contain a small amount of fresh lemon juice, but there is no water or juice in lekvár. 

FRIEND'S EAR

4 cups cooked and mashed potatoes 

2 cups flour 

1 egg 

1/2 tsp salt 

1 tsp sugar 

Filling: less than 1 cup apricot lekvár 

Breading: 

2 Tbsp oil 

1 cup fine breadcrumbs 

• Cook the unpeeled potatoes until easily pierced with a knife. 

• Peel and mash until smooth. 

• Let it cool down completely. 

• Meanwhile heat a large non stick skillet on medium heat. 

• Add the oil and the breadcrumbs and give it a stir with a wooden spoon. 

• The oil will clump into the breadcrumbs, but keep stirring. 

• When the breadcrumbs are uniform, remove skillet from the heat and set it aside. 

• The residual heat will complete the toasting and this way the breadcrumbs can stay in the skillet without burning. 

• Add the flour, egg, salt, and the sugar to the cooled down mashed potatoes. 

• Combine until smooth dough forms. 

• Transfer the dough to a well floured surface and roll it out 1/4 inch thick. 

• Using a very large cookie cutter cut circles. 

• Remove the dough between the circles and set it aside for re-rolling. 

• Place a chunk of thick lekvár in the middle of each circle. 

• Using a small brush lightly wet the perimeter of only half of the circle. 

• Fold the other half over it and press down with a finger to close forming the ear shape... [or the perogy or whatever you want to call it] 

• To further reinforce the edge I like to press it down with a small fork. 

• I transferred each batch of ears to a floured tray. While you work with the remaining dough you don’t want them to stick to the tray. 

• Next bring a large pot of water to full rolling boil. 

• With a slotted spoon one by one lower up to eight ears into the water. 

• Using a fork I gently move a fork along the bottom of the pot making sure that no ear will stick to the pot. • When all the ears come to the surface, cook three to four minutes longer. 

• One by one lift them out and transfer them to the skillet with the toasted breadcrumbs immediately! 

• Gently turn them over, shaking the skillet until every ear is covered with breadcrumbs. 

• Repeat the cooking and rolling into the breadcrumbs until you run out of ears. 

• This does not need sugar sprinkled on top; the barátfüle is perfect without it. 

• My recipe yielded a total of 24 ears. For half the amount, cut the potatoes and the flour in half, but leave the rest of the ingredients as they are. Use a whole egg etc. This a forgiving dough…

FILLET OF PORK - NATÚR SZELET

 

This is my lazy day breaded pork chop. The natúr szelet is also one of the components of the iconic Erdélyi Fatányéros. I keep telling myself to gather a few people and make a traditional Fatányéros. I had it a few times in restaurants, but it always looked like a lot of work. Picture it! Three variously prepared fried meats arranged in a circle on a large wooden tray with an omelet and and a slice of bacon pinned through with a pocket knife, and the various sides, the salads and pickles spilling all around the meats. Google fails to impress with visual clues... they don't make the Fatányéros like they used to. So until I do it up right, you just have to take my word for it. In the meantime here is one from Fatányéros.

FILLET OF PORK 

4 lean boneless pork steaks 

1 cup flour 

oil to fry 

salt to taste pepper to taste 

• Trim off all the fat and lay a couple of steaks on a cutting board. 

• Cover with plastic wrap. 

• Pound out very thin with a meat tenderizer. 

• Season both sides with salt to taste. 

• Add the flour to a square baking pan. Since the fillets are large, the handiest for this purpose is a square baking pan. 

• One by one dip the pork fillets into the flour, fully covering on both sides. 

• Transfer fillets to a dry tray. 

• Place the largest skillet on medium heat. I use a heavy stainless steel skillet, but you can use a wide bottomed heavy pot too, something suitable for deep frying. 

• Add about an inch of oil to the pan and heat it up. 

• Gently slide the fillets into the hot oil and fry them to a nice golden colour. 

• Sprinkle with ground pepper to taste.

HOW TO DIVIDE A BONE-IN HAM

A large bone in ham can feed a lot of people. A whole ham no longer works for us, and buying it in bits can get expensive. When ham is on sale before a major holiday, I bring home a large ham and carve it up. Not one bit of the ham goes to waste.

 

The bone is wrapped up for stock. Larger cuts are packed for roasting and steakettes. From the fattier parts I cut cubed ham for pasta dishes. The fatty small bits are ground up in the food processor for several dishes. The leftover fat is rendered and put in a plastic tub for various ham based dishes. Everything is portioned out, labelled and packed into the freezer.

CRISPY COD MEDALLIONS

 

For this I buy frozen wild pacific cod. They come in chunky strips which I cut into cubes. Cod is very soft and falls apart easily. The secret to making cod medallions is to cube the frozen cod chunks 10-15 minutes after they are taken out of the deepfreeze. After this they will rapidly thaw so use them as soon as you can. Dip them into beaten eggs, roll them into Panco, deep fry them and serve immediately. That’s all there is to crispy cod medallions. 

CRISPY COD MEDALLIONS 

2 pieces of FROZEN wild pacific cod 

1 beaten egg Panco [Japanese breadcrumbs] 

oil for deep frying 

salt to taste 

• Let the frozen cod chunks sit on the counter for 15-20 minutes. 

• Cut them still frozen into cubes. 

• In a small bowl beat the egg with a fork. 

• Dip the cubed cod into the egg wash. 

• Roll them into Panco, making sure they are fully covered. 

• Gently drop them into the hot oil and fry them to golden crispy. Panco browns pretty fast so don’t over fry. 

• Sprinkle with salt to taste and serve immediately.

MUSHROOM SAUCE - GOMBÁS SZÓSZ

This luxurious sauce is not to be confused with stroganoff. The delicate complexity comes from white wine. I used less wine than the recipe called for; I think just a hint of wine is better. Toss it through cooked pasta or serve it with roasted meats. The wine of course can be replaced with water in which case the heavy cream will become dominant. I wouldn't add stock though, it would only muddy the delicate flavour and making it “lighter” would be a shame. 

MUSHROOM SAUCE 

2 cups of mushrooms 

1 Tbsp oil 

2 Tbsp butter 

1/4 cup minced onions 

salt to taste 

sprinkling of dried basil 

2 Tbsp water 

1/8 cup medium dry white wine 

1 Tbsp flour 

1/3 cup heavy cream 

water as needed 

• Place a non stick skillet on medium heat. 

• Add the oil and the butter. 

• Add the onions sauté until translucent. 

• Slice the mushrooms and add to the skillet. 

• Salt it to taste and add the basil and 2 Tbsp water. 

• Sauté mushrooms 3 to 4 minutes. 

• Stir in the flour and then the white wine. 

• Heat it through. 

• Next stir in the cream and heat it through. 

• Finally add a bit of water to make sauce consistency. 

• Heat it through and serve immediately.

NUTMEG BANANA CAKE BAR

This cake bar is so easy to make and yet so soft and delicious! For flavoring use only nutmeg. On its own the nutmeg adds a second layer of flavour to the banana. It does not muddy the flavour cinnamon and vanilla extract would have. The full fat Greek yoghurt enhances both cake and frosting. One more thing I should mention. This is a convenient one bowl cake. Still it is a good idea to follow the recipe; dumping the ingredients into the bowl at the same time can produce all sorts of challenges. 

 

NUTMEG BANANA CAKE BAR 

1/2 cup softened butter 

11/4 cups sugar 

2 ripe bananas 

3 eggs 

2 cups cake flour 

1/2 tsp nutmeg 

1 tsp baking soda 

1/2 cup plain 10% Greek yogurt 

1 batch of Yogurt Frosting 

• Preheat the oven to 350F. 

• Fully line a 9 inch square baking pan. 

• Beat the soft butter with the sugar until fluffy. 

• One by one add the bananas, beating after each addition. 

• One by one add the eggs, beating after each addition. 

• Add the nutmeg and the baking soda and beat to combine. 

• Gradually add the cake flour and the yogurt and beat to combine. 

• Transfer the batter into the prepared baking pan. 

• Place in the preheated oven for 30 minutes or until done. 

• Let the cake cool completely on a wire rack. 

• In the meantime prepare the Yogurt Frosting. 

• Spread the frosting on the top, slice and serve.

YOGURT FROSTING

The texture is just as velvety and the flavour is every bit as tangy as if we used cream cheese. Yogurt is a great alternative. It is less stable than cream cheese, so it is best to add the yogurt gradually and as needed. For the same reason anything less than 10% fat content could pose a challenge, in which case adding the yoghurt bit by bit is especially important. Notice the absence of flavoring, not even a drop of vanilla. Since Yogurt Frosting will most likely be pared with either dense or strong flavored cakes it then makes sense not to compete with cake flavour.  

 

YOGURT FROSTING 

1/2 cup soft butter 

2 cups icing sugar 

1/4 cup or less 10% plain Greek yogurt 

• Beat the soft butter until frothy. 

• Gradually add the icing sugar and beat the mixture for 4 minutes. If at any time the mixture becomes too stiff to beat, add a tablespoon of yoghurt to loosen it. 

• Gradually add more from the yogurt and only beat to combine. Do not overbeat; this will make the frosting runny. You may not need to add the entire 1/4 cup of yogurt. Just add enough for spreadable consistency.

HUNGARIAN GARLIC RIBS – FOKHAGYMAS OLDALAS

If the crowd to the Annual Ribfest at Riverside Park is any indicator, Canadians love pork ribs! Of course they never had the best, Hungarian ribs; ribs the way our grandmothers used to make them. It was never slathered with paprika sauce or with sauerkraut. Sauerkraut ribs are actually German and it doesn’t make it a Hungarian dish if your Hungarian friend or relation made it that way. Shared mistaken factual assumption is a pet peeve of mine… If a Hungarian makes pizza, it doesn’t make pizza Hungarian… right? The sauce on ribs is only to give some flavor to bland ribs and Hungarian ribs are anything but bland. And take that slow cooker away from here that is no way to cook anything… ever. 

The three requirements to roasting Hungarian ribs are; pre-salting, lard and roasting covered at 300 degrees Fahrenheit. I don’t list garlic, because garlic is a given; no ribs of any kind should ever be prepared without it. 

Hungarian ribs are generally short ribs, unfortunately short ribs are not always available. I had a strip of long rib and a smaller piece of short rib and I made these two beauties yesterday. I am not sure how we like it more, hot out of the oven or cold… with a piece of rustic white bread and a crunchy dill pickle. Oh and don’t throw away the lard drippings… have a zsíroskenyér or jazz up the roux for a főzelék. 

HUNGARIAN GARLIC RIBS 

fresh pork ribs or fully defrosted  

salt 

garlic

lard 

• Depending on size, it may take longer than overnight to fully defrost in the fridge. 

• Wash and pat dry with paper towels. Be mindful not to cross contaminate, wash the sink, hands and utensils with hot soapy water. Juice from raw meat must not come into contact with other foods not destined for the pot or the oven. 

• Place the meat on a tray. 

• Salt both side of the ribs and sat them on the counter for at least 2 but no longer than 4 hours. 

• Peel several cloves of garlic and cut them into slivers. 

• Transfer the salted ribs to a clean roasting pan. 

• Slice into the meaty parts and slide the garlic slivers inside. 

• Top the ribs with bits of lard; I used 1/4 of a cup for mine. 

• Fully cover with a lid or with aluminum foil and place in the oven. 

• Turn the oven to 300F and leave it for a couple of hours. 

• After two hours check on the ribs every hour until they have roasted to a nice golden colour. Mine took 3 hours. More ribs take longer roasting time. 

• Do NOT increase oven temperature. 

• Do NOT remove covering except for checking the progress. 

• When ribs are done, remove from the oven and with the lid on let them rest for 10 minutes before serving.

CSONGRAD MEATBITES - CSONGRÁDI APRÓHÚS

Call it Brassói or Csongrádi, not quite sure what came first or if there is even a difference, apróhús or bite sized pieces of meat, originates from the southeast part of Hungary. Since Brassó, the city, was taken away and Csongrád, the county, remained in Hungary, lets just call the dish Csongrádi! If any of this doesn’t make sense, check out the Treaty of Trianon and the city of Brassó. None of this is a personal whim of mine, after all, one of my Hungarian cookbooks also calls the dish Csongrádi, There it is on page 37 of the 2nd addition of "Bogrács és kukta". Furthermore it calls not for beef or veal, the recipe calls for pork meat.

The inspiration could have been leftover pörkölt or maybe a scant amount of pork. I have seen recipes that are 50-50, but in truth the proportion of meat to potato overwhelmingly favors the potato. I have been making a breaded version for years, but it’s more a pretend than the real thing. I had a nice piece of tenderloin so I thought it was time to make an authentic Csongrádi for a change.

CSONGRAD MEATBITES 

1 1/4 cup diced pork tenderloin 

1/2 cup chopped onions 

1 small tomato, peeled and chopped 

6 red potatoes, peeled and sliced 

1/8 cup lard 

salt and pepper to taste 

1/2 tsp Hungarian Paprika [mostly for colour] 

Oil for deep frying 

• Prep the meat, onion, tomato and the potatoes first. 

• Melt the lard in a small non stick fry pan. 

• Add the diced tenderloin and sauté on medium heat, stirring, until the meat is no longer pink on the outside. 

• Add the onions and continue to sauté until the onions are soft. 

• Add the tomato and the seasoning and continue to sauté until most of the liquid is absorbed, but do not let it go dry. 

 • For tougher meats you may have to add a bit of water several times until the meat is tender. Finish the same way, let most of the liquid absorbed but do not let it go dry. 

• Cover the meat bits and set them aside. 

• Fill a larger pot with hot water and bring it to a full boil. 

• Add the potato slices to the boiling water. 

• Let the water come back to boil and cook the potato slices for 3 minutes. 

• Fully drain the potatoes. 

• Heat the oil in your deep fryer, mine is just a large, heavy pot. 

• Put on a pair of long oven mitts before adding the still hot potatoes to the hot oil. 

• Trust me on this; I had burns from the hot oil splattering up to my hands. 

• Once the potatoes are added remove the oven mitts. 

• With a large long handed wire strainer, gently stir the potato slices moving to fry them evenly to a golden hue. 

• Using the wire strainer scoop the potatoes into a paper towel lined bowl. • Sprinkle salt, add the prepared meat bits and toss lightly. 

• Eat it with pickles or sauerkraut. 

• Yields 2 generous servings.