Breakfast/Snack, Pork: Tepertö (Fried Pork Bits)

Ingredients:

• Pork belly (fresh uncured bacon)
• Salt
• Garlic salt

Preparation:

• Remove the skin from the pork belly if it exists. Note that you can save it and make pork rinds from it.
• Cut the pork belly into 1 inch cubes.
• Place the pork cubes into a large pan (something like a chicken fryer works best because of the deep sides).

Cooking:

• Cook on medium heat. This will allow the lard to cook out of the meat.
• Continue cooking until the pieces are somewhat dry and golden brown. You will have have the amount you started with because so much lard cooks out of it
• Pull the hot pork out of the lard into a strainer and sprinkle with salt and garlic salt.
• Save the lard for Toasted Lard Bread or other favorites on this blog.

Serving:

• This is a great snack item to have around, especially when serving drinks. I've always seen a bowl of these pork bits at Hungarian parties.
• These were also a family favorite for breakfast during the summers when there was a bunch of fresh produce in the garden. We would eat fresh hungarian peppers, hungarian apple peppers (spicy), green onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes with a handful of pork and a slice of bread. Popping one in your mouth with a slice of green onion or mild pepper and bread is so delicious!

Breakfast, Bread, Garlic, Lard: Piritot Zsiros Kenyer (Toasted Lard Bread)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 to 2 inch thick sliced bread (sort of like sourdough, but not sourdough bread)
• Lard (homemade pork fat kind, not store bought crap)
• Fresh peeled whole garlic cloves
• salt

Prepartion:

• Over medium heat, toast the bread in a cast iron skillet.
• Once you turn the bread over to toast the other side, rub the toasted side with the fresh garlic cloves. Make sure to rub it all over it really well to get the garlic flavor everywhere.
• Once the other side is done toasting, remove from the pan and rub it with garlic as well.
• Next, spread some lard on it. Be generous, but don't overdo it. Only do this on one side.
• The final step is to sprinkle a generous amount of salt on each piece.

Serving:

• Serve for breakfast with a cup or two of Horvath Tea.

Note:

• This was one of my favorite breakfast meals. Not only did I get Horvath Tea, but I got this. It was always fun waiting for the next piece to come from the pan. My dad, sister and I would always argue over who got the next piece. When I was in Hungary in 1999 my family would often make this, the only difference was they didn't use a cast iron pan. They simply toasted it over the burner of the gas stove.

Drinks, Hot, Tea: Horvath Tea

History:

• The making of Horvath Tea has been in my family for years and years. I can remember sipping on a half-cup that my dad would pour from cup to cup to allow it to cool down for me even as a small child. It was often something we had on Sunday mornings with Garlic Toast (look for that recipe soon too). Today, my 5 year old nephew is enjoying the tea on occasion when visiting grandma and grandpa. I hope the tradition lives on.

Ingredients:

• 4 tea bags of plain Lipton tea (I see they also have a decaf option)
• 4 scoops of sugar (1 scoop = about 2 Tbsp)
• 1 shot of Myer's Dark Rum
• 2 Tbsp of lemon juice
• Boiling water

Prepartion:

• In a large teapot, place the sugar, rum, and lemon juice
• Next, dangle the tea bags in the pot.
• Fill the pot with boiling water.
• Put the lid on it and let it sit for about 10 minutes (all before stirring it).
• Next remove the tea bags and stir.

Serving:

• Pour it into a cup and enjoy!

Note:

• On occasion my family would receive or somehow acquire bottles of Hungarian Tea Rum. Yes, they have a special rum for tea that's more fragrant than other rums. The rum is really just in it to add flavor - not to get you drunk. When we were out of Tea Rum we would use Myer's Dark Rum.

Dinner, Pork, Garlic, Citrus: Pork Roast Cuban Style

Ingredients:

• 1 head of garlic peeled (about 8 cloves)
• 1 large onion chopped
• 1 cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 cup of fresh squeezed lime juice
• Grated zest of 1 medium size orange
• 1/2 cup of fresh cilantro
• 2 teaspoons of dried oregano
• 1 1/2 cups olive oil
• 1 7-10 lb pork roast

Preparation:

• Add garlic, onion, lemon juice, lime juice, orange zest, cilantro, and oregano to a food processor and process until smooth.
• Slowly add the olive oil, pulsing to incorporate it with the rest of the mixture.
• Using a large knife, pierce the pork roast in several places to create a place for the marinade to soak in.
• Place the roast in a sealable bowl and pour the marinade on it. Make sure it gets marinade all over it.
• Cover and refrigerate for 12 hours -20 hours, flipping on occasion to make sure all sides get properly marinated.

Cooking:

• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
• Place the roast in a low sided roasting pan and put in the oven.
• Immediately turn the oven temperature down to 350 degrees.
• Roast for about 2 1/2 - 3 hours (to your liking).
• During the first hour, brush extra marinade on the meat every 20 minutes.

Serving:

• Once the roast has been removed from the oven, let it rest for about 10 minutes before you cut into it.
• Slice the roast and serve with a side (such as the Mock Mashed Taters!)

Side, Cauliflower: Mock Mashed Taters

Ingredients:

• 1 head of Cauliflower
• 2 Tbspn of Butter
• 1/4 cup of Whipping Cream
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Dash of paprika

Preparation:

• Cut the cauliflower into flowerettes and boil until soft (not mushy, just soft).
• Drain and add to a food processor or blender with the butter.
• Process until it gets somewhat smooth and slowly add whipping cream. You may need a little more or little less whipping cream, depending on how soft you like it.
• Continue processing until smooth consistency is formed.
• Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Add a dash of paprika for more flavor and some color.

Serving:

• Serve as a side dish to meat.

Notes:

• I was surprised at how tasty this was and how much it really resembled the real mashed potatoes in texture.

Dinner, Chicken, Bacon, Cheese: Yummy Ranch Chicken Breasts

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 packet Ranch dressing mix (the powder kind)
• 5-6 slices of bacon
• 1 cup shredded cheese (whatever kind you like)

Preparation:

• Butter or spray coat a small casserole dish.
• Lay the chicken breasts flat in the dish.
• Sprinkle with the packet of Ranch dressing mix.
• Laydown one layer of bacon on top of the chicken.
• Next, lay the shredded cheese on top.

Cooking:

• Bake in a 375 degree preheated oven for 35-45 minutes, or until the center of the chicken is fully cooked.

Serving:

• Serve with a side of vegetables or a carb of your choice.

Dinner, Pork, Cabbage, Rice/Barley: Töltött Káposzta (Stuffed Cabbage)

Ingredients:

• 1 large head of green cabbage (a large tight cabbage will work best)
• approximately 1 pound of ground pork
• about 1 Tbsp of oil (canola, vegetable)
• 1 cup of barley or rice (your choice)
• 1 large onion diced
• 1 half of a can tomato paste
• about 10-12 small pieces of smoked meat (like ribs or smoked sausage)
• 1 small can saurkraut drained and rinsed
• salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

• Cut into the cabbage loosely around the core, essentially loosening it from the core. It won't come out but will make it easier to peel off leaves as you will need to for the next step.
• In a large pot, slowly boil the cabbage untiil you can peel off leaves one at a time without breaking them up. They will be soft, but not mushy. You should be able to peel one or two leaves off and let it simmer slowly for another few minutes and then peel another one or two leaves off. Continue doing this until you have no more leaves the size of your palm left. Put the free leaves in a dish that they can cool down in so they can be handled easily.
• In the meantime, heat the oil and saute the onions until softened.
• Mix the raw ground pork, the onions, the barley or rice and salt and pepper to taste.
• The next step is a little tricky because if you don't roll the cabbage leaves correctly they will fall apart during cooking. You should first take a leaf (start with larger ones until you get the hang of it) and shave off the large vein from the center of the leaf taking care not to make a whole. Set the vein portion aside. If the leaf is very large you may want to spit it into two down the center.
• Hold the leaf in the palm of your hand so that it's curling upward.
• Place 1 large spoon of the pork mixture in the center.
• First fold the bottom up, then each of the sides. They should all overlap.
• Next, take the top and squish it into the ground pork mixture. This will almost create a fingerprint in the top of your cabbage roll. The pork should not be visible. They will look like little cones with the bottom almost pointy and the top larger.
• Complete all the leaves and stuffing that you can in this same manner. Place the stuffed cabbage rolls aside.
• Next in a larger tall pot place a mixture of saurkraut (not much unless you like things on the sour side) and the cabbage veins in a thin layer on the bottom of the pot.
• Next put a piece or two of the smoked meat.
• Now put a layer of stuffed cabages. Don't pack them in too tightly as rice or barley does expand with cooking.
• Continue layering until they have all been place. The key is to intermix the saurkraut/cabbage, smoked meat and stuffed cabbages nicely. End with saurkraut and cabbage on top.

Cooking:

• To cook, add water to just cover the cabbages and put a lid on the pot.
• Cook on medium-high heat until it begins to boil.
• Once boiling, turn the heat downr so that it just simmers.
• Simmer until the meat and rice/barley is cooked. Usually about 1 hour. You can always open one up and test it if you can't tell. If the water evaporates, add a little more as you want this to be a little juicy.
• Next mix the tomato paste and a large spoonful of juice from the cabbages. This will help you pour the paste on top of the cabbages.
• Pour the paste on top of the cabbages and continue cooking for another 15-20 minutes.

Serving:

Serve 3-4 cabbages per person with thick sliced bread that you can dip in the juice and soak it up. Add some of the loose cabbage and smoked meat to each persons plate as well.

Storing:

This item freezes extremely well after cooking. You can store for 3-4 months in the freezer and heat in the microwave when you want one. I recommend putting 3-4 rolls in a quart size freezer bag with loose cabbage, juice and smoked meat. That way you can take one serving out at a time and heat.

The start of great recipes

I've decided to start a blog of all my favorite recipes. Most will fall into the category of being Hungarian, but they don't have to be. I'll try and fill it with family favorites, new things i've tried and recipes i've been taught by friends. I've had an effort underway to get all my recipes in electric format for a long time now. This will be my way of doing that - helping to organize all those little bits of paper I have recipes scribbled on and writing down the ones in my head.

I'll try to find a good way to organize my blog, perhaps by category of food or ingredients. This will also be a learning experience in creating my own blog template. That part won't happen until later. As I make items I'll take pictures and add those. If you make any of them, please take a picture and send it to me. The more photo's the better. I believe pictures will help me share my cooking knowledge with those interested. I will someday have a published recipe book, pictures and all!