"You'll leave. And then on day you'll come back, and everything that you once loved about the place will drive you a little bit crazy."
"'It's not about exact measurements or ingredients,' shrugged Lomax, as Joseph complained. 'Good food is about feeling. Cooking is an art, not a science. You got to have a soul to feed people right.' He smiled. 'That's what this is. Soul food.'" ~~ A Good American by Alex George
It's been a long four years since I've written in my blog. I have no excuse. But I do know that I needed to come back to it. The quotes above from Alex George's novel are fitting for this return to my blog. Coming back to this blog does make me a little crazy. I look back at pages past, and I can see what I don't like, what I would do different, what seems poorly written. However, I do love this 'place.'
I know that George is talking about going home to a physical location, home, town, but I can't go home to a physical place. I don't have a childhood home that still exists within the family. I moved. A lot. From birth to 18, I lived in roughly nine different houses, in roughly six different cities. I'm not complaining. I never minded moving. In fact, I always saw it as an adventure or a way to meet new people. I think it is one of the things in my life that has made me not fear change. I do think of home, though, as food, cooking, and family memories created by both. And this is where the second quote from above comes into play.
I was taught to cook, as I have written in other posts, by family members who never measured. They cooked by sight, taste, feel. They cooked and fed people with their souls in every chopped, stirred, blended bite. All of these food-based family memories are my going home. And it's a great place to visit on a daily basis.The recipe that follows is one steeped in the roots of my Mom's side of the family. The Hungarian Vaskie side.
I've written about Great-Grandma Rosie in this blog a couple of times, and although I never had this dish in her kitchen, it is traditionally Hungarian. Hungarian cookbooks are hard to find, but a trip two summers ago that brought me to Budapest allowed me to buy two. Since acquiring them, I have taken quite a bit of time teaching myself new Hungarian dishes and techniques.
I can't go "home" to Rosie's kitchen, but I can feel like I'm back home by learning all I can about her heritage. And hopefully, I'll be a soul cook creating soul food just like she did.
Stuffed Peppers
Peppers. Hungarian cuisine relies heavily on them. Sweet. Hot. Big. Small. White, green, red, yellow. If there's a pepper growing in Hungary, it's going to end up in a dish. Even the spice, paprika (meaning pepper in Hungarian) is a staple. I find Töltött Paprika to be a very tasty and hearty iteration of the stuffed pepper. However, because traditional Hungarian staples are difficult to find in the United States, I've learned to improvise and substitute with what I can get my hands on in town.
For this recipe, you will need the following:
* 4 to 6 green bell pepper. You can use red or yellow as well.
To begin, chop onion and celery into small dice, and mince the garlic clove. In a small sauté pan, heat about 1 tablespoon of oil, and sauté garlic and half of the onion and celery. Sauté until onion has slightly browned edges. When done, set aside while you prepare the meat.
In a large bowl, place the ground beef (if you can get veal, do it!!). Add the beaten egg, rice, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and the sautéed onions, celery and garlic. Mix really well. I use my hands; it's always the best way to mix! Set aside.
Next, slice the two small sweet peppers lengthwise, then thinly slice crosswise. Set them aside with the half onion and half celery you have left. These will be used in the sauced. In a soup pot or Dutch oven, heat 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the tomato paste. Stir and let heat through without scorching.
Once the tomato paste has heated thoroughly, add 5 cups of water to the pot and stir well. Add the remaining onion, celery, sliced peppers, 1 teaspoon salt, celery salt, paprika and sugar. Stir and bring to a boil over medium heat.
While the sauce is coming to a boil, it is time to stuff the peppers. If I could actually get my hands on Hungarian peppers, I would use them. They are much smaller than bell peppers and have a sweeter taste. To prepare the peppers, cut off the top of pepper, pull out seeds and ribs. If you notice a pepper leaning or not standing up on its own, slice part of the bottom off in order to create a flat surface for you pepper to stand. It will not matter if this creates a small hole in the bottom of pepper.
Now it's time to stuff the peppers. You will have more stuffing than needed for the four peppers. That's typical. Traditionally, Hungarians would want extra to make into meatballs to add to the pot. Fill the peppers so just a bit of filling mounds out of the top. Then, roll out the remaining into the meatballs.
Once the pot of sauce has come to a boil, stir, and then add the peppers and meatballs. Start the peppers out standing upright. If a pepper is fully submerged in the sauce, it's fine. Adjust heat so the peppers and meatballs are not boiling. You want a nice even simmer. Cover the pot and simmer 45 minutes.
Halfway through cooking, gently turn the peppers onto their side. This will allow all the flavors of the sauce to permeate the meat. Cover the pot and finish simmering.
During this time, I boil the water for the noodles. I did not make homemade noodles like Great-Grandma Rosie this time, but I have found a brand of noodles that are almost identical to hers. Here in Myrtle Beach we do not have a Hungarian grocer. We do, however, have a wonderful Polish deli and market. Pulaski Deli & Baltic Foods is fantastic! I highly suggest a visit for lunch. www.pulaski-deli.com I have found Polish noodles that rival Rosie's. That's not easy, but I'm glad I have found them for when I don't have time to make them myself.
After 45 minutes of simmering, remove the peppers and meatballs to a dish to rest while you thicken the sauce.
To thicken the sauce, bring it to a boil. In a container with a lid, add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of water. Shake vigorously. Slowly pour into sauce and stir constantly until thickened.
Now it's time to plate! I serve Töltött Paprika with noodles topped with meatballs and a healthy pour of sauce on the stuffed peppers and noodles. A small salad or vinegar cucumbers completes the meal.
Jó étvágyat!! (enjoy your meal!)
"You'll leave. And then on day you'll come back, and everything that you once loved about the place will drive you a little bit crazy."
"'It's not about exact measurements or ingredients,' shrugged Lomax, as Joseph complained. 'Good food is about feeling. Cooking is an art, not a science. You got to have a soul to feed people right.' He smiled. 'That's what this is. Soul food.'" ~~ A Good American by Alex George
It's been a long four years since I've written in my blog. I have no excuse. But I do know that I needed to come back to it. The quotes above from Alex George's novel are fitting for this return to my blog. Coming back to this blog does make me a little crazy. I look back at pages past, and I can see what I don't like, what I would do different, what seems poorly written. However, I do love this 'place.'
"'It's not about exact measurements or ingredients,' shrugged Lomax, as Joseph complained. 'Good food is about feeling. Cooking is an art, not a science. You got to have a soul to feed people right.' He smiled. 'That's what this is. Soul food.'" ~~ A Good American by Alex George
It's been a long four years since I've written in my blog. I have no excuse. But I do know that I needed to come back to it. The quotes above from Alex George's novel are fitting for this return to my blog. Coming back to this blog does make me a little crazy. I look back at pages past, and I can see what I don't like, what I would do different, what seems poorly written. However, I do love this 'place.'
I know that George is talking about going home to a physical location, home, town, but I can't go home to a physical place. I don't have a childhood home that still exists within the family. I moved. A lot. From birth to 18, I lived in roughly nine different houses, in roughly six different cities. I'm not complaining. I never minded moving. In fact, I always saw it as an adventure or a way to meet new people. I think it is one of the things in my life that has made me not fear change. I do think of home, though, as food, cooking, and family memories created by both. And this is where the second quote from above comes into play.
I was taught to cook, as I have written in other posts, by family members who never measured. They cooked by sight, taste, feel. They cooked and fed people with their souls in every chopped, stirred, blended bite. All of these food-based family memories are my going home. And it's a great place to visit on a daily basis.The recipe that follows is one steeped in the roots of my Mom's side of the family. The Hungarian Vaskie side.
I've written about Great-Grandma Rosie in this blog a couple of times, and although I never had this dish in her kitchen, it is traditionally Hungarian. Hungarian cookbooks are hard to find, but a trip two summers ago that brought me to Budapest allowed me to buy two. Since acquiring them, I have taken quite a bit of time teaching myself new Hungarian dishes and techniques.
I can't go "home" to Rosie's kitchen, but I can feel like I'm back home by learning all I can about her heritage. And hopefully, I'll be a soul cook creating soul food just like she did.
Stuffed Peppers
Peppers. Hungarian cuisine relies heavily on them. Sweet. Hot. Big. Small. White, green, red, yellow. If there's a pepper growing in Hungary, it's going to end up in a dish. Even the spice, paprika (meaning pepper in Hungarian) is a staple. I find Töltött Paprika to be a very tasty and hearty iteration of the stuffed pepper. However, because traditional Hungarian staples are difficult to find in the United States, I've learned to improvise and substitute with what I can get my hands on in town.
For this recipe, you will need the following:
* 4 to 6 green bell pepper. You can use red or yellow as well.
* 2 pounds ground beef. The true Hungarian recipe calls for ground veal. Not
always easy to get here.
* 1 extra large egg
* 1 large onion, small dice
* 2 ribs celery, small dice
* 1 clove garlic, minced.
* 2 small sweet peppers, any color, cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced
* 2 small cans tomato paste
* 1 cup cook rice. I use brown rice.
* 5 cups water
* 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
* 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
* 2 tablespoons sugar
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 1/2 teaspoon pepper
* 2 tablespoons corn starch
* 2 tablespoons water
* Oil of your choice
* Noodles or boiled potatoes
In a large bowl, place the ground beef (if you can get veal, do it!!). Add the beaten egg, rice, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and the sautéed onions, celery and garlic. Mix really well. I use my hands; it's always the best way to mix! Set aside.
Next, slice the two small sweet peppers lengthwise, then thinly slice crosswise. Set them aside with the half onion and half celery you have left. These will be used in the sauced. In a soup pot or Dutch oven, heat 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the tomato paste. Stir and let heat through without scorching.
Once the tomato paste has heated thoroughly, add 5 cups of water to the pot and stir well. Add the remaining onion, celery, sliced peppers, 1 teaspoon salt, celery salt, paprika and sugar. Stir and bring to a boil over medium heat.
While the sauce is coming to a boil, it is time to stuff the peppers. If I could actually get my hands on Hungarian peppers, I would use them. They are much smaller than bell peppers and have a sweeter taste. To prepare the peppers, cut off the top of pepper, pull out seeds and ribs. If you notice a pepper leaning or not standing up on its own, slice part of the bottom off in order to create a flat surface for you pepper to stand. It will not matter if this creates a small hole in the bottom of pepper.
Now it's time to stuff the peppers. You will have more stuffing than needed for the four peppers. That's typical. Traditionally, Hungarians would want extra to make into meatballs to add to the pot. Fill the peppers so just a bit of filling mounds out of the top. Then, roll out the remaining into the meatballs.
Once the pot of sauce has come to a boil, stir, and then add the peppers and meatballs. Start the peppers out standing upright. If a pepper is fully submerged in the sauce, it's fine. Adjust heat so the peppers and meatballs are not boiling. You want a nice even simmer. Cover the pot and simmer 45 minutes.
Halfway through cooking, gently turn the peppers onto their side. This will allow all the flavors of the sauce to permeate the meat. Cover the pot and finish simmering.
During this time, I boil the water for the noodles. I did not make homemade noodles like Great-Grandma Rosie this time, but I have found a brand of noodles that are almost identical to hers. Here in Myrtle Beach we do not have a Hungarian grocer. We do, however, have a wonderful Polish deli and market. Pulaski Deli & Baltic Foods is fantastic! I highly suggest a visit for lunch. www.pulaski-deli.com I have found Polish noodles that rival Rosie's. That's not easy, but I'm glad I have found them for when I don't have time to make them myself.
After 45 minutes of simmering, remove the peppers and meatballs to a dish to rest while you thicken the sauce.
To thicken the sauce, bring it to a boil. In a container with a lid, add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of water. Shake vigorously. Slowly pour into sauce and stir constantly until thickened.
Now it's time to plate! I serve Töltött Paprika with noodles topped with meatballs and a healthy pour of sauce on the stuffed peppers and noodles. A small salad or vinegar cucumbers completes the meal.
Jó étvágyat!! (enjoy your meal!)
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