A Walk Down Memory Lane with Hungarian Cooking

I grew up in a Hungarian-American family that didn't come to America until after 1900, I am only the 3rd generation to be born in here.  My great-grandmother came to America when she was a teenager, married a Hungarian man (who I don't know much about) and had 3 children including my grandma. My grandfather came over with his family from Hungary when he was a toddler. I grew up eating delicious homemade Hungarian cooking. Hungarian cooking isn't very popular around the US but it should be because it is hands down the best comfort food ever. As an adult I never tried cooking any of my childhood foods, I guess I always figured that there was no way I could come close to my grandma's and my aunt's cooking so I wasn't going to even try. Recently, David had a Cub Scout assignment about his family heritage and one of the requirements was to make a traditional food. So I got on Pinterest (where I get all my ideas from!) and searched out Hungarian foods. We decided to make a Hungarian goulash, this is a soup made with chunks of beef, potatoes, tomatoes, paprika and coriander..not a bowl of noodles and hamburger like most people think of when they hear "goulash".  I didn't expect it to come out to taste like I remembered but I was pleasantly surprised when it tasted almost exactly like my grandma's! She has been gone for a few years now and hasn't cooked in even longer so it was so wonderful to taste those flavors again and even better to share them with my son. I'm including the original pin so if anyone would like to try this amazing comfort food soup you can! My only suggestion is it came out thicker than I remember so next time I will be adding a cup or so of extra water. It's so simple to make and has so much amazing flavor that it's really worth a try. http://pinterest.com/pin/258112622365030143/

 Credit: André Baranowski

 

4 tbsp. sunflower or canola oil
2 yellow onions, chopped
1 1⁄2 lbs. beef chuck, trimmed
and cut into 1⁄2" cubes
Kosher salt and freshly ground
black pepper, to taste
1⁄4 cup sweet paprika
2 tsp. dried marjoram
2 tsp. caraway seeds
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, cut into 1⁄2" cubes
2 medium parsnips, cut into 1⁄2" cubes
1 1⁄2 lbs. medium new potatoes, peeled
and cut into 1⁄2" cubes
1 tomato, cored and chopped
1 Italian frying pepper, chopped

1. Heat oil in a 5-qt. dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Increase heat to high. Add beef and season with salt and pepper. Cook, uncovered, stirring only once or twice, until the meat is lightly browned, about 6 minutes. Stir in paprika, marjoram, caraway, and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add carrots, parsnips, and 5 cups water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium. Simmer, covered, until the beef is nearly tender, about 40 minutes.

2. Add potatoes and cook, uncovered, until tender, about 25 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and peppers; cook for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve with rye bread, if you like.

SERVES 4 – 6

 

For the same Cub Scout assignment I had to make a snack for the whole pack. I decided to try making traditional kiffels which are a cookie with a filling such as apricots or walnuts. Those, however, were a huge fail. They tasted terrible and I ended up running to Winn Dixie and buying a box of powdered sugared "Danish Wedding Cookies" and passed them off as Hungarian cookies..no one knew the difference, lol!

 

I am looking forward to learning more of the traditional recipes and maybe even perfecting my kiffels!

 

The recipe and photo are from www.saveur.com

 

 

Pinterest Meal Reviews!

I am finally finding the time to post up some reviews of the Pinterest meals I've tried! Some of these are recipes from my previous post Pinterest Meal Plans. Some of the meals I've tired have been fabulous and some others not so much lol. I followed all the recipes according to the directions/ingredients that were given (unless noted otherwise).

 

First up, Homemade Mexican Pizzas. These were a flop...literally! I fried my tortillas until crispy but after the pizzas cooked they were floppy and the tortillas were mushy :( I think I may have put a little too much meat/beans on them so that may have been the problem. The flavor was good though so I might be giving these another try. http://pinterest.com/pin/258112622364813750/ 

 

Next up, Honey  Bourbon Chicken. The sauce for this was super good! It does have some spice to it though so if you're not one for spicy food omit or half the red pepper flakes. The recipe says to thicken your sauce in the crock pot...that was going to take forever so I just poured mine into a sauce pan and thickened it on the stove on med/low heat and it was done in a few min. My chicken did come out dryish though so I think next time I won't be cooking it for so long. http://pinterest.com/pin/258112622364852862/

 

 

The last one for today is Crock Pot Chicken Enchilada Soup. This came out looking NOTHING like the photo! A friend of mine also made it and said hers looked nothing like this photo either. I have a feeling the soup in this picture has heavy cream added which is not included in this recipe. However, it came out sooo good! And healthy too if you use skinless breasts instead of the thighs. I have made a few revisions to this and will be posting those along with an accurate picture soon! http://pinterest.com/pin/258112622364833375/

 

I will be posting more reviews on the new recipes I try off of Pinterest very soon! If you'd like to follow me on Pinterest feel free :) http://pinterest.com/mrs_riossince03/



Pinterest Weekly Meal Plan

So about two months ago I decided that I should actually try making some of the fabulous looking dinners from Pinterest rather than pinning and forgetting like I had been for the past 6 months. I've been basing my shopping list almost entirely on brand new to me dinners and side dishes all found on Pinterest. I thought I'd post my meal plan and maybe help out another struggling cook like myself :) So here goes, a picture and a link to the original pin!

 

 

Honey Garlic Pork Chops---This sounds ridiculously easy AND I already had all the ingredients on hand.. http://pinterest.com/pin/258112622364477500/

 

 

 

Balsamic Herb Pork Loin with Roasted Vegetables--This one is also super simple and it looks beautiful plated. http://pinterest.com/pin/258112622364738183/

 

Chicken Tortilla Soup...In a crock pot! I love crock pot cooking, I never feel like cooking once dinner time comes around so I've been getting into the crock pot more and more. http://pinterest.com/pin/258112622364790615/

 

Homemade Mexican Pizza--Is is possible that this could be better than Taco Bell's pizza, fake meat and all?? http://pinterest.com/pin/258112622364793000/

 

Happy eating! I'll update with how they turned out after I've tried them all..If you'd like to try them yourself follow the links to get to the original recipes!