Fr. Z's Blog

I stumbled across Modernist Pantry.   “Well,” quoth I, “let’s see what this might be.”

Noting the similarity of theme with the Fishwrap or a German Synod (“walking together”) where they can whip up any sort of modernism you want, can make black into white, truth into lies, front into back, I looked around for a while, as one does.

Samples:

Gramercy Kitchen Company Cocktail Smoker

I get smoking and a cocktail.  But, really, why not just save yourself a step and reduce the it all into one slug.

And

Who doesn’t need a “spherificator” in their kitchen?   Now, if it made large, perfectly clear ice spheres, I’d be interested.

And… I’m fresh out of this stuff…

Pure Methylcellulose – High Viscosity  Non-GMO  Vegan  OU Kosher Certified

To think that I made Pörkölt in view of the centenary of the the death of Bl. Karl von Habsburg of Austria without any of these things!

First, I want to thank the reader who sent the good paprikas. You made this possible! Köszönöm!

My mise en place.  I had no pork lard so I used a little bacon.  And, no, that is not a spherificator!  (See what I did there?  What a transition.)

What’s that black thing?    That and the hysterically sharp, large knife were gifts from a great friend.  That’s my pepper cannon.   You all know what it is like to grind and grind and twist and twist again and again, to get a sufficient amount of ground pepper.  With this thing, one twist and KABLAM! you’ve got ground pepper, as much as many turns in other grinders.  Having this frees my other great grinders for different loads.

And so it begins.

Then the onion.  Let it go golden.  Add then the chopped bell pepper.   On retrospect… retrotaste?… I will used less next time.  This time it was half each of a green and red.  Colors, you know… Hungary?

How sharp is that knife?  The tomato hardly moved.  I just made the cuts.  Refreshing.

After that, the beef.   The recipe said to work with the beef until most, but not all, of the pink was gone.  We begin with all the pink, of course.

Now for the magic.  It called for the sweet.   FOUR tablespoons.

Paprika is somewhat delicate.  Take your mixture in its dutch oven off of the heat for a moment before adding paprika.  It can turn bitter if exposed to high heat before blending in.

NOTE: The cooking process involves slow braising in water.  That paste of fat and paprika will thicken.

In goes the tomato and bay and caraway seeds

Add water, not so that it covers, but about half covers, left side or right side.   HA!  No, just kidding.  It doesn’t work that way.

Let it simmer, actually braise, for a couple hours, covered.  If, later, it is too loose, keep the cover off for a while.

Meanwhile, although I opted not to have carbs with this, such as spätzle, or nokedli, I did have cucumber salad.  A little salt, drain, a little more salt and a touch of sugar with apple cider vinegar.

The only Hungarian wine available at the shop.

And here we are.  Szeretem a magyar konyhát.

In honor of Bl. Karl, a day early because Pörkölt would constitute poor cult tomorrow as it is a Friday in Lent.

Nagyon finom volt.