Once upon a time (OK – last Saturday night), on a dark and
stormy evening, twelve good friends packed their precious items and braved the
fierce Midwestern forecast to gather for a top secret, yet supremely important
meeting we like to call the Gretna Dinner Club…
Alright, it wasn’t that dramatic and it’s soooo not a
secret; although we have overcome some similarly adverse weather conditions in
the past to keep our regular Dinner Club functioning. And let me say, it was
well worth it! “Jó a kaja és jó barát” means “good food and good friends” in
Hungarian; and we have some really good friends!!
For example, they are fantastic cooks. They are risk takers.
No, I don’t mean because they showed up in inclement weather! I mean in their
cooking! However, it was amazing and appreciated that every single couple
showed up with their part of our fantastic Hungarian meal on Saturday. We
didn’t have to miss the delicate and crunchy chocolate-walnut torte for
dessert… We didn’t go without the squash with dill side dish that half of us
loved and applauded and half of us could do without (I’m in the “loved it”
column). But, love-the-dish or hate-the-dish, we do love getting together and
we LOVE trying new foods and new recipes!
This was a cuisine most of us haven’t really delved into.
Sure, I’ve made chicken paprikash and we’ve all turned out a meatloaf or two in
our time, but this was special. We didn’t all adore every single element, and
there are things we’d do differently next time (I cooked my dish the way the
recipe stated, but it was too dry), but overall this is why we do Dinner Club
at all: trying new things and BEING TOGETHER.
Our group gathers around six-thirty and we typically begin
dinner at eight. The weather, despite the threat of tornado and thunderstorm
warnings all day, cooperated with us at the very last. The clouds cleared a bit
and the rain slowed to just a drizzle in time for us to gather; in fact, the
gentlemen who prepared the most amazing (and homemade!) Hungarian sausage was
even able to step outside and grill it for us before serving. Thanks mother
nature!
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| Sour Cherry Soup! |
The recipe for my side dish, Sonkás kocka, is below. I’m
including it because, although it turned out too dry, the flavor was really
amazing. You could tell the potential for the dish even if the first effort
simply didn’t work out as well as I had liked. Cut the cooking time down a bit
and/or stick a knife in when you bake it (which I did not) and make sure that
the egg and sour cream mixture is remaining gooey. I’ll try it again at home
for sure and keep a closer eye on it. My kids will love it!
I’ll blog next week more specifically on the process
followed to make that sausage and report on our “best dish” for the night, but
for now it’s enough to say it again:
Jó a kaja és jó barát!!
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| Dessert! |
Sonkás kocka
From the cookbook, “Hungarian Cuisine” – Media Nova, 2001
By György Hargitai
1 cup of flat, square pasta
Salt
2 tablespoons oil
4 eggs
1 ½ cups sour cream
7 oz. grated ham or cooked, smoked meat
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
To bake:
1 oz. butter
2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
In a large pot bring 3 quarts of water to a boil, add 1
level teaspoon of salt and the pasta. Cook over medium heat for 6-7 minutes.
Remove one piece with a wooden spoon: if it is smooth and almost transparent,
it is done. Taste it to be sure. If it is done, strain and cool with cold
water. Drain well and mix with the oil. In a bowl mix the egg yolks with the
sour cream until smooth, add the grated ham as well. Mix in the pasta. Add salt
and ground black pepper to taste. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form
and very carefully fold into the ham mixture. Coat the inside of a medium size
(8”x10”) casserole with butter and breadcrumbs. Pour the pasta mixture into the
casserole. Bake in a preheated oven over medium heat (355 degrees F, 330
degrees F in air-convector ovens) for about 50 minutes. Let it rest for 10
minutes before cutting it into large square portions.
