Venison stew (Őzpörkölt)

This is the best if you have a cast iron pot. If you have no one use a thick hard pot.

Ingredients:
1 kg of venison without bones
1/4 kg onions
1 tablespoon ground paprika
10 pieces of whole black pepper
1 clove of garlic
1 chili pepper (optional)
1 dl of dry red wine
1 tablespoon neutral oil (fat of duck/goose/pork in our country)
salt

Preparation:
Cut the meats into cubes (about 3x3 cm).
Heat the oil (or fat).
Put the meats to the pan and roast them in all sides until white, during stir them.
Add some water but not too much (about 2 dl), and cook the meats under the cover for 60 minutes.
Chop the onions and garlic finely and add them in the stew. Add salt and peppers too. Put some water again, and cook it for 60 minutes again (or until the meats almost are cooked).
Pour 1/2 dl of dry red wine in the stew. Cook it for 15 minutes.
Add the ground paprika too but cook the stew only 5 minutes.

You could eat the stew with  boiled potatoes, noodles or pasta.

I live in Zala County. Around here this stew is normally eaten with a specially noodles - dödölle. (dodolle)
Dödölle is made from potatoes puree and flour. The noodles are roasted on fat (or oil).

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Hungarian pork stew

Goulash, stew, paprikash, Hungarian fish soup, paprika potatoes etc. are similar traditional Hungarian dishes. The Hungarians cook stew or goulash on every holiday and family gathering. These foods are included in the main family events: Weddings, christenings, birthdays, funerals etc. These dishes often are cooked outdoors on fire at the friends gatherings.
Read this post if you want to know what are the goulash, stew and paprikash means:
http://www.hungariancook.hu/2009/07/paprikash-and-gulash.html

Ingredients:
3/4 kg of pork thigh
1/2 kg of pork ribs or collar (or instead of them 1/2 kg pork thigh too)
150 g onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon ground paprika
1/2 tomatoe
1/4 green pepper
1/2 dl of dry white wine (optional)
1 tablespoon pork fat (or neutral oil)
pepper, caraway seed, salt

Cut the meats into cubes (about 3x3 cm).

Chop the onions...

...and the garlics finely.

Braise the onion and the garlic in fat (or oil)... 

...until pale yellow.

Put the meats to the pan and roast them in all sides until white, during stir them.

Cook the stew for 45 minutes under the cover in its own gravy. (Add some water if it is neccessary.)

Slice the tomato and put out a quarter of green pepper (with the cores). Add them to the stew.

Add some salt,...

...some coarsely ground black peppers,...

...some caraway seeds...

...and a whole chili too (optional).

Pour 1/2 dl of dry white wine in the stew. Add some water if it is neccessary (stew is the best if it have only little and dense gravy). Cook the stew again for 30 minutes under the cover.

Add the ground paprika to the stew and stir it. Cook the stew for 10 minutes under the cover (or while the meats are cooked).

The stew is now ready.

The stew is eaten usually with salty cooked potatoes, Hungarian dumplings, pasta or fried egg barley. Pickles or cucumber salad is served too with them.

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Pork heel stew

One of my favorites is this meal. I must admit there was a time when at the end of the month we ate this quite often, as it is relatively cheap, but we never got tired of it because we love it. Fortunately my husband shares my enthusiasm about this food. It has been a long time, though, since I made it the last time. I was planning to do so, but it is rather hard to find fresh pork heels. Now I finally bought some beautiful pork heels and it became our Sunday meal.
Our kid ate the boiled potatoes with something else because he does not like pork heel stew. Yet.
I suggest you try allspice in this as it adds a small and harmonic taste. Use only one piece though, not more.



Ingredients:

4 smaller pork heels
2 middle-sized onions
2 cloves of garlic
1 green pepper
½ tomato
1 piece allspice
10 pieces of whole black pepper
1 chili pepper
1 heartful tblsp ground paprika
salt

Preparation:

In the store, I let the butcher cut the heels in 3-4 pieces.I wash the meat at home and put it in a pot under water that just covers it. I heat it until it boils, then I put the top on the pot, reduce heat and let it cook for an hour.
When there is time, I let it stand then in the fridge for a night. This way, the fat comes up to the top and gets firm, thus I can remove it.
If there is no time for that, I just remove it with a spoon while cooking. I gather the fat in another (big) pot and heat it. I cut the onions and garlic into small pieces and cook them in the hot fat for a while. When they turn a little transparent I add the heels together with their liquid.
I add pepper, allspice, chili, tomato, green pepper and salt. I cover the pot again and cook for another 15 minutes. I add water only if there is an emergency : one should not let the stew be too thin.
If the 15 minutes are over, I add paprika and let the stew boil for another 15 minutes.
I serve this with boiled potatoes flavored with cumin and pickles.
The pork heel stew is best when it is thick and sticky, and the meat just melts from the bone. One should eat something like this only with family or with good friends, because there is no way to eat it like a civilized person :D

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Breaded chicken

Breading is one of the most popular techniques for a lot of dishes in Hungary. Chicken is especially delicious when it's coated or breaded with flavorful ingredients before cooking. First only the wiener schnitzel was made with this method but today the technique has become widespread and is used for preparing practically everything. Breaded dishes are usually part of the festive lunches too.

For example, Hungarians usually cook the following things with this method: slice of pork, vegetables, chicken breast, cheese, mushroom and so on.
Breaded chicken is a very popular maindish in our country. It is made from chicken breast, drumstick, liver, wing or upper part of chicken thigh.

Breaded upper part of chicken thigh

Cut around the bone of upper thigh with a sharp knife but keep the meat in one piece.

Pull out the bone. You can put the bones in a soup.

Cut the thick lateral part and turn out.

Now you have a nice flat slice of meat.

Unbone all meat with this method.

Salt both sides of the meat slices.

For 4 upper thighs put 2 eggs into a plate, salt them...

... beat them with a fork.

Put flour and bread crumbs into 2 other plates.

Cover all slices of meat thoroughly with flour...

... then with eggs, ...

... and with bread crumbs.

While are you coating the chicken slices, medium-heat plenty of oil in a pan.

Fry one side of meat for only 2-3 minutes.

Turn them around. Fry the other side of meat until golden brown. Turn it around again and fry the other side of meat until golden. You should not insert the fork into the meat, because this makes the valuable meat juice vapor. Reach with the fork only under meat.

Put the breaded chicken on paper towels.

Eat the breaded chicken with any garnish, sauce or pickles.

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Mackerel with spices

Ingredients: for 6 persons
1 kg mackerel (6 )
1 lemon
1 tsp Worchester sauce
salt
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregano
2 pieces of garlic
1 tsp chopped parsley
oil

Preparation:

1. Wash the mackerels and dry them with paper towels.
2. Mix the lemon juice, Worcester sauce and chopped garlic. Anoint mackerels outside and inside with this mixture and marinade them about 1 hour (maybe more).
3. Salt the mackerels and let them rest half an hour.
4. Put the fishes to the ovenpan, sprinkle them with oil and with half of the spices.
5. Put the pan to the oven (220 Celsius= 420 Fahrenheit) and bake the fishes for ten minutes.
6. Turn round the fishes. Strew them with the other half of spices.
7. Bake the fishes for 20-30 minutes.

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Dumplings with apricots

The potatoe dumpling is a typical Hungarian food usually filled with plums. Now is the season for apricots so the filling is made from them. This is a very delicious food which is eaten after a meaty soup.




 

Ingredients: for 15 dumplings

Dumplings:
500 g potatoes
125 g all purpose flour
Crumbs:
100-150 g dry crumbs of bread
2 tablespoon oil
2 tablespoon sugar
Filling:
7-8 apricots
and salt, powdered sugar

Preparation:

Wash the apricots.

Dice potatoes and cook them until soft in boiling water without salt.

Crush the hot potatoes - without the water, only the potatoes.

Let it cool.

Make crumbs of dry bread with rasp.

Frizzle the crumbs in a pan without oil. If it is as good as done add sugar and frizzle together. Sugar will become caramel. In the end admix 2 tbsp oil.

Add flour to the potatoe puree and knead dough - about 1-2 minutes - add a pinch of salt too. Sprinkle flour under and over the dough because it is sticky.

Stretch the dough - it should be about 1 cm thick.

Slice to 6x6 cm squares.

Cut apricots in half or quarter. It depends on the size of the fruit.

Put apricots on the squares.

Take by 4 corners of each square and compress the crevices well. Round them ball-shaped.

Heat some water in a saucepan add salt too. When the water is boiling put the dumplings in the pan and cook them 4 minutes.

Take out dumplings from water and put them in the crumbs.

Roll the dumplings in the crumbs.

Sprinkle dumplings with powdered sugar before you eat them.

Dumplings are made in Hungary with plums, peaches and jams too.

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