Saturday, March 7, 2009

more unfortunate signage


This arrived in the mailbox of a friend here. Kum is Godfather in Croatian, but if you don't know that...
Thanks for sending this along, Mark!

Monday, March 2, 2009

Punjene Paprike (Stuffed Peppers)

This recipe was taught to me by Ivana and her mom. It is a classic Slavonian recipe with clear Hungarian influence.

Punjene Paprike (Stuffed Peppers)

core and seed 10 peppers, lightly salt inside

In pan, saute one diced onion
When onion is translucent, add
5-6 large spoons rice, rinsed but not cooked
1/2 kilo minced meat--pork, beef, or a combination
(you can add a small amount of smoked meat, minced, to add flavor if desired)

cook until meat is 1/2 browned, then take it off the heat

add salt, pepper, 2 small spoons sweet paprika, 2 large spoons chopped fresh parsley, 3 cloves minced garlic, 1 beaten egg, 1 spoon Vegeta*
mix thoroughly

Stuff peppers with meat mixture and place in a large soup pot, with the top of the pepper facing up (see picture)

combine 250 g tomato sauce, salt, water, pepper, vegeta
pour over the peppers. It should be enough to cover them

Bring to a boil then turn down the heat. Simmer 1 hr.

Serve with mashed potatoes

Recipe courtesy of Mrs. Jagoda Plačko

*Vegeta is a very common Croatian spice mix. It is in EVERYTHING. It has MSG in it, though, so I wouldn't recommend it as a new spice mix. Mrs. Dash or another salt substitute should probably work well as a subsitute

Hungarian Carrot Cake


This recipe was served at a Christmas lunch in Budapest. It was delicious! It has the added advantage of being gluten free, for anyone out there with wheat/gluten allergies.

The cake is in the heart-shaped pan on the table.

Mix together:
300 g almonds, ground
300 g carrots, grated
150 g sugar
5 egg yolks
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1 pinch ground cloves
2 cl rum

fold in:
5 egg whites, beaten until stiff

prepare a 25 cm springform pan. cover the bottom with butter and breadcrumbs.

Pour in the mixture.

Bake in a 200 degree Celcius oven for 50 minutes

Cover it and let it rest for a day.

Topping:
150 g powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons fresh grated lemon or orange zest
2 Tablespoons lemon or orange juice
10 g butter, heated

mix together and cover top of cake

Recipe courtesy of Gina Danesch

on a similar note


A restaurant sign in Budapest. Anyone hungry?

new recipe suggestions


from a sign in Zagreb. Any good recipes?