Fr. Z’s Kitchen: In honor of Hungary’s Birthday

Some of you were asking me to make food posts. Lately, I have been very lazy in this regard. Frankly, I have not had much motivation to cook, especially do to the disgusting news and photos from Rome lately. There is something about sycophantic toadies that makes me lose my appetite. I’ve mainly been eating sandwiches.

That said, I developed a craving for some Hungarian food, especially because it was recently the birthday of Hungary as I saw on Twitter. [Now watch this. During the cooking process I cut my finger using a mandolin. I therefore have my thumb clamped to my ring finger of my right hand to speed healing by primary intention. I am using a dictation program called Dragon. Let’s just say that it does not handle Hungarian very well.]
There was nothing to do but make puppy cost UK… Chicken pot because…. Paprikás Csirke with Egg Noodles instead of Nokedli, pretty much like Spätzle and cucumber salad or Uborkasaláta. [I had to cut and paste that part because…] Space space.I was missing a couple of ingredients I would usually use but I improvised and overcame.

Since I did not have any pork lard, I rendered some salt pork cut like lardons.

HINT: Just because you might not have every specific ingredient for a classic recipe, remember that there are very few real recipes that are set in stone.  Adapt, if you have to.  Just go ahead.  It usually turns out okay.  Sometimes it’s better.

Browning the chicken.

Removing the chicken from the French oven.

The spices involved several tablespoons – heaping tablespoons – of sweet paprika quite a lot of ground black pepper and salt.

In go the onions and some cherry tomatoes.

As you can see I had both yellow onion and green onion, left overs of each that I wanted to use.

After giving the veg some TLC, at this stage remove the pot from direct heat, because paprika is delicate.  High heat can make it bitter.

Indigo the spices.

The chicken goes back in.

Cover with stock.

Bring back to a simmer, then back off on the heat.

After a while remove the chicken to another bowl.

Make a kind of roux, from flour and sour cream.

Into the gravy it goes.

Let it reduce for a while on very low heat.

Meanwhile, I have also been making the cucumber salad.  Slice the cucumber (and your finger) as thin as you can.  As I sliced it into a bowl, in layers, I sprinkled it with a little bit of salt along the way.  Then I transferred it to a salad spinner so that the liquid from the cucumbers could pass through the screen and I could spend more out of it.  I did this in stages, while keeping it in the refrigerator for about an hour.

Once the cucumbers were ready I put them into a bowl with the dressing, comprised of white vinegar, salt, a little oil, chopped green onions, and dill.  I left it to chill longer in the refrigerator.

I don’t think I have to show how to cook egg noodles.

Behold, supper in honor of the birthday of Hungary.  I did not have any Hungarian wine, such as their famous “bull’s blood”.  However, I did have a bottle of red wine from the vent to region… Ventoux – Rhône Valley – of France made by the Benedictine monks at the Abbey of the Buffalo… le Barroux. [This dictation program also does not like French.]

I didn’t have any more sour cream, or I would have used more at the end.

And now it’s time to do my daily Hungarian lesson, Office, and bed.

 

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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11 Comments

  1. Diane says:

    Wow Father….this looks really Delicious! I love your cooking posts! All the best to you! You’re in my prayers every day!

  2. Amina says:

    Seems like a lot of salt

  3. misternaser says:

    Perhaps you might consider adding cut resistant gloves to your Amazon wishlist to help protect your priestly hands from the diabolical mandolin in the future….

  4. Zephyrinus says:

    Nagyon Jó, Fr. Z.
    Nagyon szépen köszönjük.

  5. Gregg the Obscure says:

    delightful. i’ve made some cousins to each of those dishes lately, just by improvisation.

  6. excalibur says:

    Use your palm to move whatever it is you are slicing on a mandolin.

    Nice dinner!

  7. WVC says:

    I have to confess, now that I do all the cooking (and have discovered that I actually enjoy cooking), I appreciate these posts a lot more!

  8. WVC says:

    Also, I’ve definitely learned the hard way that mandolin slicers are not to be taken lightly.

  9. Suburbanbanshee says:

    Knife gloves are great. They have a lot of uses. Maybe put some on your wishlist!

  10. acardnal says:

    The video was a nice added touch. Sometimes when I am cooking I video the main course just after taking it out of the oven when it is still bubbling. Then I send the video via text message to my friends and siblings so that their mouths salivate in envy. (I hope that isn’t a sin.)

  11. Archlaic says:

    Not for the first time I took inspiration from this blog – had to run to the store yesterday morn to get a few items and remembered we were out of Paprika… “aha, said I”, recalling this post; and hastened to the gourmet aisle to find some very EXPENSIVE Hungarian paprika. Well, it was worth the price… as I’ve already implied I made Paprikás last night and – even *improvising* per Chef Zed’s advice – it was superb! The Archlady and all of the Archscions demolished it! Good enough that I will serve it the next time I have guests of Hungarian ancestry without fear of their reaction!
    And just think – without the TLM I’d probably never have been following this blog for this long. There’s a message here, maybe we need to parade beneath the windows of Franciscus Caesar’s imperial palace hotel suite with banners reading “Traddies Have More Fun!” etc… but then again it might push the old boy over the edge…

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