Unstuffed Cabbage.....

My mom makes Stuffed Cabbage rolls and I love them. Ive made them over the yrs and they are close to moms but not quite. But it still tasted good. The part I hate tho is rolling each one. When I don't have a lot of time its tedious. I saw a recipe for a stuffed cabbage skillet dish that used most of the ingredients but was quick. I thought that was a great idea and maybe one day Ill adapt my own recipe a bit more to do that.

But since I grew up with this, I really feel the best cabbage rolls are the ones that take time to cook in the oven. One day awhile back I started to make this only to find that half of the head of cabbage I had, had these dark lines running on some of the cabbage veins. Well of course I don't know what it was, I thought perhaps it got too cold in the grocery store cuz it was weird..it really was only on half the head. So I didn't use the leaves that had that on it. But because of that I didn't have enough to make the whole recipe right.

It was then I remembered that skillet dish I saw and thought...hey  I don't need all the cabbage. Ill just layer it and make it the same. It worked out great and honestly is faster to put together and easier to serve. I tweaked this recipe a bit more now and last nites dinner was the best Ive ever made. So sorry mom its not quite like yours, but its really good!

 Unstuffed Cabbage Casserole 8 hearty servings

1.  1 lg. head of cabbage
     1c. white rice

Remove the core and put either on a plate to microwave or in a pot of water with some vinegar in it to boil. You have a choice here. Mom used to cook it on the stove and peel off the layers as they cooked. They do get cooked much more this way and are easier to roll. But to me they just take too much time. So I microwave the whole head for about 10min. Let it cool a bit so you can touch it and remove whatever leaves you can that are cooked.

Put back in the microwave and do another 5min. Keep doing this till the leaves are done thru. The center part doesn't matter too much where the leaves are small. You will use this chopped  to top the casserole with anyway. While you are cooking the cabbage, cook the rice till done and set aside for the stuffing.

2. While this is cooking make the stuffing.
    2- 2 1/2lbs of ground beef
    1 onion, chopped fine
    3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
    1 tsp. salt or more
    1 tb. Hungarian Paprika
    2 tsp. dried parsley (feel free to use fresh if you have it)
    1 tsp. dried thyme
    1/2 tsp. cayenne
    2 eggs
    the cooked rice 

Saute onion in a little butter, when soft add the garlic and saute a couple minutes more. Put meat in a lg. bowl, add all the rest of the list and mix a bit to distribute the spices a bit. Then add in the cooked onions and garlic and the rice from step  1. Mix well.

3. Layering
    Stuffing mix from step 2
    Cabbage from step 1
    8oz. sauerkraut
    1 28oz. can of crushed tomatoes with sauce ( or plain tomato sauce even a plain spaghetti sauce like Classico with basil)
    1/2 c. ketchup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour about 1/4 of the can of tomatoes on the bottom of a lg. casserole dish or 13 x 9 in. pan. Mix half the sauerkraut with that and make sure its spread pretty even across the bottom of the pan. This is to distribute the flavors top and bottom and to keep it from sticking.

Next make a nice layer of cabbage leaves. I cut out the thick main rib cuz it takes too long to cook. Then I just fit the lg. leaves across the bottom to cover. At this point assess how many leaves you have cuz you want a nice layer of cabbage for each. I had a very lg. head so this time I made 3 layers of cabbage to two layers of meat. But you can just put them on the bottom and the top if you don't have a lot and it will work too.

Then top with a layer of the meat. Remember if you are making two layers to just use half...otherwise put the whole thing in there. Top with more cabbage and repeat if your doing  several layers, finishing with cabbage. Top with the chopped inner cabbage leaves you saved and the rest of the sauerkraut. Mix the ketchup in the remaining tomatoes and pour over the top of the casserole covering it all. If the sauce is thick you could add a bit of water to it before you bake it.

Cover with foil and bake for at least 2 1/2hrs. Check to see if it  is drying out. It shouldn't with the meat juices and cabbage but if it does, add a bit of water and return to oven. You do not want this dry. I test the center to see if the cabbage there is tender. When it is, its done. Cut into lg. squares and serve. You could serve with a nice crusty rye bread and butter.

For those who want traditional tho here is moms recipe:

Moms Stuffed Cabbage Make about 26 rolls

1 head of cabbage (about 3lbs.)
(soften cabbage in lg. pot with water and 1 tb. vinegar)

1 medium onion , chopped
1/4lb. butter
(saute onions in butter)

In lg. mixing bowl:
2 lbs. chopped beef
1 1/2 c. rice (mom uses Minute rice, I hate that stuff)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. onion powder
2 (8oz.) cans tomato sauce (mix in well with above ingred.)

Fill softened cabbage leaf with meat mixture:

In lg. pot:
Cut up excess cabbage leaves and put on bottom of pot. Layer stuffed cabbages in pot.

Pour over cabbage:
2 (8oz. ) cans tomato sauce
1 can tomato soup
1 can water
1/2 c. ketchup
1/2 c. water or more to cover cabbage

(I also remember mom topping it with sauerkraut altho it doesn't say so in her recipe)

Cover and bake in oven 2 1/2hrs. in 350 degree oven or till done. (We use a lg. covered enamelware pot for this) 

Next take that can of tomatoes and add a half cup of ketchup. (mom always does this and I like that flavor, you could however just add water instead if you like). Stir it well and pour it over the top layer, spreading it out all over. 

Hungarian Szalonna

Smoked meats in a Hungarian deli.

When I was little I would spend my summers with my Hungarian grandparents while my folks worked. I loved to go there. One of the things grampa would make is szalonna. He had a summer kitchen on the side of the house, under all the trees. They put an old kitchen set out there and grampa had a fire pit he built. It was a great place to spend a summer afternoon when it got too hot to be inside the house.

Grampa would make a fire in the pit and when it was ready he would take the szalonna and score it and put it on some sticks he got from a tree. Gramma would bring out a nice cold pitcher of homemade lemonade and all the veggies we would need for this. It made such a nice summer lunch.

I'm only second generation so today many people never heard of this. There's quite a large Hungarian population in NJ where I used to live so its ez to get this at the Hungarian delis there. Out here I cant find it so I have to order online. But I think once I get to Oregon I'm gonna learn how to smoke my own to have it on hand.

Whenever I would visit my folks, I would make them take me to the Hungarian deli by them an I would buy several chunks of this to take home. My kids grew up having this too as part of a picnic menu. Its actually very good even tho its made from fat. If you buy a nice whole grain rye and lots of thinly sliced fresh veggies, this really isn't a bad meal to have. It takes time to make each piece so you don't really eat a ton and you feel perfectly satisfied even tho you didn't have meat.

This recipe calls for cutting off some of the crispy parts to put on the bread too. You can do that or do what my gramma did with all the leftovers. By the time all the fat is rendered its just a nice bacony crispy thing. She would chop it up and add all the leftover veggies to it and fry it up in a pan the next day. She had no name for it, just called it mish mash lol and then served it with more bread. It was excellent. It might be peasant food but I think the peasants got the better deal from this. I understand the peasants got the fatty parts from the masters and that's how this dish was created over in old time Hungary.

Hungarian Szalonna
Hungarian backon is a back bacon made of smoked pork fat with the rind and is part of a Hungarian tradition. It is often smoked or cooked in some manner before purchase so that the buyer can eat it without further preparation. It is very different from popular American bacon, which is typically very soft and uncooked. Szalonna can be cooked gypsy-style. This involves cutting the szalonna into long chunks or cubes, spearing them, and roasting them over an open fire. The szalonna cooks to be somewhat crispy and is then eaten with other dishes or alone.


Rendering the fat over an open fire.Szalonna is also popular among Hungarians as part of a sandwich. The szalonna is skewered on a rod and roasted over an open fire pit. Once it starts to sizzle and drip with grease, the szalonna is removed from the fire and the grease is allowed to drip onto a slice of freshly baked bread. The szalonna is returned to the fire and the process is repeated until the piece of bread is nearly saturated with grease. Sliced cucumber, red onion, sliced radishes, paprika, other vegetables, ground pepper, and salt are used to add flavor to the slice of bread, and then more drippings are followed to top it off. This dish was something of a peasants' food since the most important aspect was the szalonna fat, discarded by wealthier Hungarians.Many cooks make it go faster.A Hungarian tradition - bacon skewered onto a rod and roasted over an open fire pit. Once the bacon rind starts to sizzle and drip with grease, you remove the bacon from the fire and allow the grease to drip onto a slice of freshly baked bread. Return the bacon to the fire, and wait for the dripping, then again bring the bacon over your slice of bread to sop up the grease. This is repeated until the piece of bread is nearly saturated with grease. + - Sliced cucumber, red onion, paprika, ground pepper, and salt are used to jazz up the slice of bread, and then more drippings are followed to top it off. It is then eaten up as a rare and wholly coronary cajoling delicacy.

http://hungaria.org/hal/culinaria/index.php?halid=2 For more about Hungarian foods.

Szalonnasütés ("SA-LOW-NA SHOO-TAYSH") means "roasting bacon" in Hungarian. It is a popular social activity in summer to roast szalonna over an open fire. The melted fat is let to drip on bread, and it is eaten with raw onion.
We sliced our onions, peppers, cukes and tomatoes to make it easy to eat.Szalonna (Hungarian Dirty Bread)

1 Large piece of szalonna (as thick a piece as possible - usually available in a good Hungarian or Polish deli)

2 Loaves of sliced, fresh, baked rye bread. Russian rye is particularly good and has very lg. slices.

4 Cucumbers - peeled and sliced (English or Hot House cucumbers don't need to be peeled)

3 Red or green peppers - seeded and sliced into rings

3 lg. tomatoes, sliced thin (garden ones are the best!)

2 Large onions of choice - sliced thin

Salt, Pepper

In a safe location, build an open wood fire. Adding chunks of hickory wood to the fire will enhance the flavor. (You could use a gas grill and toss a few wood chips on if you like, we just use the grill as is)

Take a knife and carefully slice the szalonna into pieces about 4 x 6 inches. Now take one of the pieces and again with the knife, cut two small slits in the rind. One slit should be close to one end and the other should be close to the other end. (The rind is tough so the stick will stay in if stuck on that side)

Now take a wooden dowel about 3/8 of an inch in diameter and sharpen one end. Insert the sharpened end of the dowel into one slit in the rind. Tunnel underneath the rind and bring the end of the dowel out of the other slit.

Now take your knife and cut a criss cross pattern into the fat side of the szalonna. Don't cut all the way to the rind. Make your cuts only about a 1/4 inch deep. (This helps to make more surfaces for rendering the fat.)

Layer slices of bread onto an aluminum foil lined tray and place on a table near the fire.

Put all your fresh sliced vegetables on a separate tray.

Take your skewered szalonna and hold it over the fire while slowly turning it. Soon the fat will begin to run. Now drip the fat onto the bread. You will probably be able to thoroughly cover only a slice or two with drippings. Return the szalonna to the fire and repeat the process until all the pieces of bread on the tray are sufficiently covered with drippings.

Now begin layering your fresh vegetables onto each slice. Begin with cucumbers, then peppers, tomatoes and onions.

Drip more szalonna over the vegetables. At some point, the outside of the szalonna will become crisp. Slice the crisp pieces off and add them on top of the vegetables. Now season with a bit of salt & pepper.


***My dad takes this a step further now. He used to use his gas grill to make this instead of a wood fire. But now he doesn't even do that. What he does is render all the fat and just toast and brush the bread and veggies with it. I don't particularly like it that way..seems bit greasy to me but since they are older and cant stand there by the fire very long anymore, its a nice substitute.


****I swear I can smell this cooking right now, as I'm writing this blog. Its that strong of a food memory for me.


@@@@@@@@@@ Im sorry but comments for this post are closed. For some reason this particular post attracts alot of spam. If your a real person reading this tho, I appreciate YOU! And I'm happy you found my blog.

Easter Cheese

Easter is on its way and I'm thinking about what I want to make for the holiday this year. As I wandered online looking for some new ideas I ran across a recipe for this cheese. I was stunned! My gramma made this cheese and I used to long ago too. In fact I taught my mom how to make it. I used to watch gramma make it and mom never did. So one day when she asked about it, I said I know how to make it!

Its not really a cheese per se, its more like a solid custard. But we serve it with the Easter meal of ham and kielbasa and such. Its a very Hungarian thing. But I never knew anyone who ever made it besides gramma. This recipe makes a lot. You don't have to make all this. In fact you can eyeball it cuz Ive done that when I wanted to make just a bit. I just used the amount of eggs I wanted, added some milk, the flavorings and tasted it while it cooked to see how much sugar to use. So here's the basic recipe. Feel free to make as much or as little as you want. Its really easy. Plus we used to fight over the liquid that was left. We loved to drink it. It almost tastes like eggnog only lighter. Don't waste it, its yummy.

Easter Cheese

* 12 eggs
* 4 cups milk
* 1 cup sugar (I would do this to taste, you can get away with less)
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
* 1 pinch ground nutmeg (my gramma used cinnamon, no nutmeg)

1. In an electric mixer, beat the eggs until mixed well.
2. Transfer the eggs to a double boiler and stir in milk, sugar, vanilla and nutmeg. Cook over a medium heat for 30 minutes. Use a metal slotted spoon and constantly stir the bottom of the pan to prevent scorching.
3. When the mixture looks just like cooked scrambled eggs, pour it carefully into a cheesecloth-lined colander. Carefully gather the ends of the cheesecloth in your hands and pull them together until the cheese forms into a ball. Tie the cheesecloth tightly at the top of the ball. Tie the cheesecloth ends over a faucet or to the handle of a kitchen cabinet (place a bowl under to catch the whey dripping down) and let hang for about 3 hours.
4. Untie the cheesecloth and wrap the cheesecloth ball in plastic wrap before refrigerating. The cheese will keep for about a week. Slice and serve.

Save the liquid to drink. Its safe its been cooked and its delicious!

Gypsies and Chicken Paprikas'

I am Hungarian and Polish. Ive always loved gypsies. I know they tend to have a negative connotation but Ive never seen them that way. They to me are a nomadic people who live close to the earth, rather like the american indians did. Many have a negative aspect of course, being seen as thieves and beggars and lazy. That may be true but I prefer to look at the positive side of things. In some ways they are lucky, to be free and wander. I believe thats a part of me, which is why Im drawn to alot of gypsy ways. My gramma had the sight, my mom does too at times. My dad even calls her a witch lol and I ask him Dad is that with a W or a B?

I seem to have inherited this. Many times I know whats going to happen. Im also an empath, I feel what others feel and hear their thoughts too. When my gramma died I felt her pain all nite. By morning around 11am it was gone. My mom called me and told me gramma had died at 10:30am. It can be very disturbing when someone tells you one thing and you hear the truth in their heads. Its hard to talk to them when you know they are lying to you. I cannot will it tho like some. It comes when it comes and Ive learned over the years to listen to that voice inside, its always right.

Its like my move here to CA. I knew I had to be here, felt it in my bones. I thought I would never leave but now the bones are telling me Oregon is where I must go. I knew it the first day I ever went there. I got out of the car along the freeway at a rest stop. The air was clean, misty and piney smelling and I felt I was home. Everything in my life is urging me to go there now, and I cant fight it. Its where I belong. Even the man Im with, while hes been in CA. a few yrs, he is from Oregon and wants to go back. I must listen to that gut feeling, whenever I dont things go wrong.

This was my mothers recipe for Chicken Paprikas'. Ive been making it for years. Everyone has a slightly different version, but this is ours.

CHICKEN PAPRIKAS

Crisco
1 lg. onion, chopped
1tb. paprika
1 chicken, cut into pieces
S & P- water
3 tb. flour
1 pt. sour cream
Dumplings:
3c. flour
3 eggs
1tsp salt
water
Put 1 lg. spoon of Crisco in a roasting pan you can use on the stove. (Moms directions say this, I use about a half stick of butter). Wash chicken parts and put in to brown a bit. Saute onion in it. Add paprika and stir. Lower heat and cook slowly for about an hr. Add water if juice cooks down. (I try to add chicken broth when I have it, makes for a richer sauce). Add S &P. For cream: Remove chicken to a platter for a moment. Make a paste of flour, sour cream and 1/2 of the container it was in filled with water. Whisk into juices in pan. Cook for about 5min. till thick. Add chicken and stir well to coat with sauce.

Dumplings:
Mix flour, eggs and salt together, add water and mix well, till smooth. It shouldnt be really thick like a dough. I have a dumpling maker and it should be loose enough to start to run thru its holes. If you make them by hand.... like gramma did she put some dough on a sm. cutting board and with a spoon slowly cut the dough with it letting each drop into boiling salted water below. They should be small dumplings (maybe half inch)so they dont take long to cook. Boil for about 15min. testing to see if cooked thru. Strain.

Serve on a plate topped by the chicken and its sauce. Serves 4-6.

I found this online today about Are you a Gypsy and thought you all might like it.......

Are You A Gypsy at Heart? Adapted from The Phoenix Cards, by Susan Sheppard (Inner Traditions, 1990).

Simple Solution Gypsies have an ancient and mysterious history, and are associated in stories and legends with divination skills and magical practices.
If you have always been fascinated by Gypsies, and are drawn to their symbols and mysteries, read a description of the qualities you may share with them, right here.

You may be a gypsy at heart!
If you are deeply drawn to Gypsy people, you are an exceptionally clever person. You have an intelligence that stems from your shrewd ability to observe and judge character in almost any given situation. There is a strange beauty about you. You love clothes with unusual patterns and stunning designs. You home is our castle, and you like to carry parts of it with you. What might look like a mess to others represents the many special things that you love to be surrounded by. You may even carry photographs or comforting items in a purse or bag to remind you of the things and people you adore.

You have an exquisitely sensual, tactile nature. It’s important that you are caressed or touched often. Without this affection, you may grow depressed or listless. A healthy debate allows you a chance to cleanse your soul of any negative emotions. Even the most heated discussions can make you feel much better. Once an argument is over, you carry no resentment or bad feelings for the other party unless, of course, your partner has resorted to “dirty” tactics. If so, you will never completely forgive it. If you decide to pardon your offender, your trust is lost. You cannot forget; that is just the Gypsy way!

It is difficult to keep secrets from you. If you suspect that someone is withholding knowledge from you, it will drive you crazy until you find out exactly what it is. You are precise, probing, and possessive. You have little respect for a hypocrite, or anyone who is “Holier than thou.” Sweet and endearing words cannot fool you, for you know the true nature of the people you are dealing with.

When it comes to your own life, you reveal very little. You are like a mysterious doorway that no key truly fits. You have any secret feelings and thoughts that you’ve revealed to no one. Some of these are wonderfully creative ideas that could make you a fortune one day. You are industrious, with wonderful potential. You are shrewd and crafty, but you may lack the confidence to develop your creative ideas and “flesh them out.”

You would make a very fine occultist if you developed your inborn psychic powers. You like to study varied forms of esoteric knowledge. It’s important that you concentrate on one special interest. You are versatile and receptive, but you need to be aware that maintaining too many interests can preclude your success on any one. You have special insight, and are something of an enigma. Reveal a few of your special secrets, especially to the people you want to grow closer to.

Chocolate rich and dark

This rich chocolate Hungarian dessert that Ive made, came up online with some interesting history. The dessert is called Rigo Jansci, a fabulous example is served at George Lang's Gundel restaurant in Budapest. The Rigo Jansci is a chocolate sponge cake with chocolate mousse filling, named after a famous Hungarian gypsy violinist who stole a Belgian duchess from her husband. Superrich and over the top, it's the Zsa Zsa Gabor of chocolate confection.

An elderly and impoverished Prince Joseph Chimay et de Carawan married a young, blond American Claire Ward. While on their honeymoon in Budapest they go do a confectioner's store with a gypsy band performing. She was really "taken" with the singer and they ran off together, leaving the poor Prince heartbroken. So, they named a dessert after the event...
I guess this is a true story because I found this about the violinist....

Clara Ward and her second husband, Rigo Janczi, from a photograph on a German post card from about 1905. And I found more about her, if your interested in reading it click here http://www.answers.com/topic/clara-ward-princesse-de-caraman-chimay Its really pretty interesting.

NATIONAL VAUDEVILLE ASSOCIATION
Continue to the end of Iroquois Avenue, turn onto Katahdin Avenue. At this intersection, to the left side of the road, is the plot owned by the National Vaudeville Association, for use by its members. Uniform bronze markers, flush with the lawn, mark the burial sites of these entertainers. One of the more famous performers buried here is Hungarian violinist Jansci Rigo. Rigo received international attention when he eloped with the Princess de Chimay in 1896. Unfortunately, the Princess was already married to Prince Joseph of Belgium. Rigo immigrated to the United States in 1905 and performed at the Little Hungary restaurant in lower Manhattan.

Ive made this several times and its utterly delicious. But do not make it unless you have company. Trust me, you will eat the whole thing yourself otherwise if your a chocolate lover. Its creamy and rich and unbelievable!

RIGO JANSCI MAKES 35 SLICES
CAKE:
2 tb. butter
2 tb. flour
3oz. unsweetened chocolate
3/4 c. butter , softened
1/2 c. sugar
4 eggs, separated
pinch salt
1/2 c. sifted all purpose flour
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 11 x 17 in. jelly roll pan, sprinkle flour over the butter. Melt chocolate over low heat and set aside to cool to lukewarm. Cream butter and 1/4 c. sugar till light and fluffy. Add melted chocolate base and beat in egg yolks one at a time. In another bowl beat egg whites with pinch of salt till they cling to the beater; add remaining 1/4c. sugar and beat till stiff peaks form. With spatula stir in approx. 1/3 of the whites into chocolate base and pour chocolate mixture over rest of whites. Sprinkle flour lightly on top (1/2c. flour) and fold in gently till no white streaks show. Pour batter into jelly roll pan and spread evenly. Bake 15-18min. or till cake shrinks away from pan. Remove, loosen and turn out onto rack to cool.
FILLING:
1 1/2 c. heavy cream
10 oz. semisweet chocolate broken into small pieces
4 tb. dark rum
1 tsp. vanilla
In heavy saucepan combine cream and chocolate and stir over med. heat till chocolate dissolves. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring constantly till mixture thickens into a heavy cream. Pour into bowl and refridgerate for at least 1hr. When mixture is cold, pour in rum and vanilla, beat till smooth and creamy and soft peaks form. Cut cake in half to make two layers. Spread filling over one layer. Set other layer on top. Refridgerate on a rack for 1hr. I have since found some recipes that suggest you spread apricot or raspberry preserves over the first layer before you put the chocolate filling on. Sounds great to me and I might try that next time.
GLAZE:
1 c. fine granulated sugar
1/3 c. water
7 oz. semisweet chocolate broken into small pieces
In a heavy saucepan heat sugar, water and chocolate over med. heat. Stir constantly till sugar and chocolate dissolve. Remove, cover and let glaze cool for about 20min. Set rack holding cake on jelly roll pan. Hold glaze about 2 in. above cake and pour glaze over it. Refrigerate 20 min. till firm. Cut pieces 5 in each row and 7 in each row down to make 35 squares for serving. Use a sharp knife dipped in warm water. Rinse knife before each cut.