lewis pr eastern european cookbook

EASTERNEUROPEANCHRISTMASCOOKBOOK

WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS

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LEWIS PR Eastern European Christmas Cookbook

Czech Christmas 4

Polish Christmas 13

Hungarian Christmas 21

CZECHCHRISTMAS

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Christmas celebrations begin mid-November when people start cleaning their houses and start decorating. Festivities reach a peak on the evening of December 5, with the visit of St. Nicholas, an angel and a little devil. These three go from house to house looking for children. If the child has behaved well during the last year, it will get sweets and a blessing from St Nicholas and an angel. Otherwise a little devil will give a child potatoes and coal.

The highlights of Christmas Eve are not only a feast – Christmas dinner, but also a fast. Those who want to see a golden piglet on the wall must not eat anything till the Christmas dinner is served.

Children believe that presents are brought by Jezisek (little Jesus). As the family move to the Christmas tree after dinner, they are amazed to find Jezisek has visited, leaving presents without anyone noticing

Some traditions after the dinner:Cutting up the apple: After Christmas dinner, every person present at the table cuts an apple in half (crosswise, from the stem down). Both halves are shown to everyone around the table. If the core is shaped as a star, it means that everyone will get together next year in happiness and health. A four-pointed cross is a bad omen and means that someone at the table will fall ill or die within a year.The Pouring of Lead

Pouring the lead: A piece of lead is melted over fire and then poured into a container of water. The resulting shape will tell the pourer’s destiny.

Some telling about love and marriage can be done during Christmas time as well – especially for a young girl in a family to find out whether she will get married next yearCherry Tree Twigs (Barborky): On December 4, St. Barbora’s Day, an unmarried girl is supposed to cut a twig of a cherry tree and put it in water. If the twig off blooms by Christmas Eve, the girl will marry within a year.

The Throwing of the Shoe: An unmarried girl is supposed to throw a shoe over her shoulder and towards the door. If the shoe lands with the toe pointing towards the door, the girl will marry within a year.

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VANOČKA

• 6 cups of medium flour • vanilla sugar• 9 teaspoons of sugar • a lemon rind• 4 ounces of butter • a nutmeg nut• 1 tablespoon of yeast • star anise• 1 cup of milk • 3 tablespoons of raisins• 1 yolk • 3 tablespoons of almonds• a pinch of salt • an egg for the icing

Crumble the yeast into the room-temperature milk, add in 1 tablespoon of sugar, sprinkle evenly with flour, and then leave it in a warm place to rise. Put the rest of the flour, 8 tablespoons of sugar, the vanilla sugar, a pinch of salt, the lemon rind, the grated nutmeg, one egg yolk, and the grated star anise into a bowl with the previous mixture when well-risen and mix well. After this, add in the softened butter and continue to mix well. When the dough no longer sticks to the side of the bowl, stir in the washed raisins and the cleaned, sliced almonds. Shape the dough in the bowl into a smooth loaf, dust it with flour, and leave it covered in a warm place to rise (with a larger amount of dough even all night).

When the dough has risen completely, divide it on a pastry board into 9 parts to make the vanocka. The first layer is weaved from four strands, the second from three, and the third layer from two strands. Lay greased parchment paper on a baking sheet and gradually layer the strands of the vánoèka on it. Leave it for a while on the sheet to finish rising, and then, before putting it in the oven, baste it with the whipped egg and sprinkle it with chopped almonds. Finally, puncture the vánoèka at both ends and in the middle with skewers to prevent warping of the dough during baking. Bake slowly for about 45 min.

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VANOCNI POLEVKA Z KAPRA Yield: 4 servings

• carp, head, tail and roe parsley • 6 cup water pickling spices • salt - to taste 1 ea bread roll • 5 tbsp butter 1 oz shortening • 1/2 cup flour parsley, chopped • 3 oz root vegetables, diced croutons • 1 tsp vinegar

Remove gills and eyes from head and boil together with tail in salted water until tender. Cook rinsed hard and soft roe separately in salted water. Prepare light roux from butter and flour, dilute with cool fish stock, beat well and boil. Add diced vegetables and boil briefly till tender. Finally flavor with vinegar, pickling spices and, after removing bones, return fish and hard and soft roe to soup. Serve with chopped parsley and croutons. Instead of vinegar, soup may be flavored with one egg yolk mixed with a little sour cream.

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CZECH CHRISTMAS POTATO SALAD Yield: 4 servings

• 200g potatoes (peeled and diced) • 20g carrots (peeled and diced) • 20g celery (cleaned and diced) • 20g parsley root (peeled and diced) • 20g gherkins (diced) • 10g onion (peeled, blanched, and diced) • 1g salt • 2g vinegar • 2g sugar • 1g pepper • 20g mayonnaise • 20g natural yogurt • 10g lemon juice

Boil potatoes, carrot, celery and parsley root until tender. Drain liquid, add gherkins and onions. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. When complete, refrigerate.

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POLISH CHRISTMAS

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In Poland we love traditions, and Christmas is time for a major celebra-tion for us. We have many Christmas traditions, and you will find a few of them here.

Christmas Eve supper called Wigilia is the most important day of Christmas in Poland. After sunset, the youngest child is sent to look out for the first star, as the feast begins with the appearance of the first star. This is the remembrance of the Star of Bethlehem, which revealed the birth of Jesus to the three Magi (Wise Men), and then led them to the place where Jesus was born.

The supper should consist of 12 dishes, including desserts. This is the remembrance of the number of apostles who travelled with Jesus.

Before the supper for each Polish family comes the time for breaking a wafer (called opłatek). The eldest family member takes the wafer, breaks it and shares it with the next eldest with wishes for good health and prosperity, and a kiss on each cheek. Each person then exchanges the wafer with everyone else at the table. It is always a very emotional moment. In some Polish houses people share pink-colored wafers with the household animals, as they were the first to greet the Baby Jesus.

Another tradition is an additional seat at the Christmas table. No one should be left alone at Christmas, so we keep an extra seat for a weary stranger. It is also a sign of remembrance about family members who can’t spend Christmas Eve with us.

The First and Second Day of Christmas, after Christmas Eve, is the time which we spend with family and friends.

A nice tradition is kissing under the mistletoe. We hang a sprig of mistletoe in the room and, according to tradition, a boy and a girl, who stand at the same time under the mistletoe should kiss.

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PIEROGI (POLISH DUMPLINGS)

Ingredients

• Original recipe for 45-50 dumplings• Sauerkraut and mushroom filling • 35 g dried mushrooms• 300 g sauerkraut, drained and minced• 1 chopped onion• 1 spoon olive• salt and pepper to taste • Dough: • 1 egg• 500 g flour• 250 ml warm water

Preparation

Start with the filling. Boil dried mushrooms with 1 glass of water until soft. Strain and chop up into small pieces. Fry chopped onion with olive until translucent. Rinse the sauerkraut to reduce the saltiness, drain carefully and chop up. Add to glazed onion and mushrooms. Blend. Season with salt and pepper. Braise about 15-20 minutes until the water is gone. In case the sauerkraut is really mellow, don’t wait until water has evaporated. Just drain it before putting the filling on the dough.Move on to prepare the dough. Pour the flour into a bowl and make a hole in the middle for the egg. Next, slowly add water, mixing by hand at the same time. Dough cannot be too wet, so be careful with adding water. Knead the dough until firm and smooth. You may divide the dough in half for your own convenience. Roll out one half on a lightly floured surface and use a glass to cut into rounds. Put a small spoonful of filling into the center of each round. Fold the round in half, making half a circle and pinch together. Put ready dumpling aside on a lightly floured surface.Boil slightly salted water in a big pot. While simmering – drop dumplings in, but not too many, because they may stick together. Mix carefully with a wooden spoon to avoid dumplings sticking to the bottom. Boil until dumplings float to the top. Remove with a slotted spoon.Serve with melted butter, glazed onion or pork scratching.

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HUNTER’S STEW

A traditional Polish stew with pork, sausage and sauerkraut. Great for a cold winter day and definitely worth the time it takes to make it. Stew can be stored in a cool place or refrigerated and reheated later – it is said that its flavor actually intensifies when reheated.

Ingredients

• 1 cup pitted prunes• 15 g (1/2 ounce) dried Polish or porcini mushrooms• 2 cups boiling water• 1 tablespoon bacon drippings or vegetable oil• 1 medium onion, chopped• 1 small head fresh cabbage, chopped• 1 pound sauerkraut, rinsed well and drained• 200 g smoked Polish sausage, cut into 2,5 cm (1-inch) pieces• 200 g cooked fresh Polish sausage, cut into 2,5 cm (1-inch) pieces• 450 g leftover boneless meat, cut into 2,5 cm (1-inch) pieces• 3 large tomatoes, peeled and chopped• 1 cup dry red wine• 1 bay leaf• Salt and black pepper to taste

Preparation

Put dried mushrooms and prunes into a bowl. They can be chopped, but whole are better for the purpose of this dish. Boil water and pour the ingredients. Leave for 30 minutes, so that the mushrooms soften.Find a large pot with a lid. Put the onion and fresh cabbage in and fry briefly over high heat in vegetable oil or bacon drippings. Next add meats, sauerkraut, tomatoes, wine and bay leaf. Add prepared earlier mushrooms and prunes with water. Stir carefully and try to avoid pouring off the ingredients on the bottom. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Then lower the heat and keep covered over low heat for 1,5 h. The stew needs to be stirred from time to time. You may occasionally add liquid to avoid burning.Before serving remove bones from meats and a bay leaf. The dish is often served in heated bowls and decorated with some greens. Decoration should look like hunter’s hat. The dish is eaten with peeled and boiled potatoes.Remember, the longer it is cooked the better it tastes. Many cooks think the Hunter’s Stew is tastier the next day. The dish is ideal for outdoor cooking. It’s also easy to make in every season.

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TRADITIONAL POLISH CHEESECAKE

It is one of the most common desserts in our country. A sweet curd cheese is its main ingredient. There are many kinds of cheesecakes varying in composition, taste and preparation methos. The best known is a cheesecake baked in the oven and made on a layer of a crumbly cake, although there are also cheesecakes prepared without baking.

Ingredients:Crust:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour• 1/2 cup sugar• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder• 145 g (5 ounces) cold butter• 2 large egg yolks• 3 tablespoons sour cream

Filling:• 145 g (5 ounces) softened butter• 2 cups sugar• 4 large eggs, separated• 1 teaspoon vanilla• 900 g (2 pounds) dry curd cheese or quark cheese, passed through a sieve or processed in a blender until smooth

Preparation:Crust First, take a large bowl or a food processor and put flour, sugar and baking powder into it. Cut up butter as for pie dough. Mix egg yolks and sour cream in a separate vessel and add contents of the first bowl. Ingredients should only combine so don’t mix them too long. Making the dough may be quite difficult. If it’s too dry add an additional egg. If it is too soft, then put it into refrigerator for about 1 hour. Before baking grease a 13x9-inch pan with butter. The rolled dough should be a bit larger than the pan and come up the sides. It’s good to crimp or roll the edges. Leftover dough may be used for decorating on top of the cheesecake. Heat the crust in 350 degrees temperature and control its color.While baking the crust prepare the filling. Mix butter with 2 cups of sugar to make them fluffy. Add 4 eggs and vanilla and beat until well incorporated. Carefully mix in the cheese. Egg whites should be beaten to stiff peaks in separate vessel. When ready add them to the first bowl. Finally you may add raisins.Move the filling to the pan with baked crust. Strips of leftover dough may be laid diagonally on top. Bake for about 1 hour or even less. The top shouldn’t be brown, so mind the cheesecake during the baking. Serve cooled.

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HUNGARIANCHRISTMAS

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There are a lot of folk traditions around Christmas in Hungary- some of them originate from the pre-Christian years, before 1000. The holiday season starts with advent which means for us to await for Jesus. The other traditions of these days are either religious or folk customs related to the near future, the harvest of the next year.In the last decades many of the folk traditions has disappeared from real life, but we can meet them only sporadically in small villages. However more and more artist, cultural and folk groups have work on making these tradititions known in their performances, videos or books. December 13th, the name day of Luca has several folk traditions. The day of Luca people start to make a chair from nature wood, which will be done on the day before Christmas. (There is also a saying for something that is terrible slow, that it is being made that slowly than Luca’s chair). If someone steps on this chair in the church during the mass of Holy Night, he can see who is the witch. There are some poems and songs about this tradition.The day of Luca is the day of “love predictions,” too. In the evening girls used to cast lead in the backyard. The shape of the lead tells the occupations of their future love. This has been fairly common in the recent years.The largest Christmas-tradition is the “Bethlehem play,” which has a great written literature as well. Some days before Christmas groups of boys go house-to-house with a model of the holy family. They perform a short play about the child Jesus with songs and poems usually in costums. The first written document about the “Bethlehem” groups was dated in 1600s. Some folk and non-profit groups are dedicated to preserve the athmosphere and custom of this tradition.

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BEIGLI (HUNGARIAN WALNUT AND POPPY SEED ROLLS)

Dissolve the yeast with a pinch of sugar in 100 ml of lukewarm milk and let it set. Mix the flour, butter, egg and the remaining sugar in a bowl. Add the yeast mixture and knead until the dough is medium soft. Once the dough is smooth, divide it into 2 larger or 4 smaller loafs. Cover with foil and let them rest in the fridge for about two hours.

Prepare the fillings. Each filing starts by adding the sugar to the milk. Heat up the mixture (do not boil), remove from the heat and mix in the remaining ingredients.

Remove the dough from the fridge and place it on a floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangular shape with an even thickness of half a centimeter (quarter of an inch). The width should be the width of the baking pan you’ll be using. Depending on the size of the baking pan you can make 2 larger rolls or 4 smaller rolls.

Spread the filling uniformly on the dough, leaving about 1.5 centimeters (half an inch) free around the edges. Fold the edges over the filling and roll up the dough along the longer side. Spread egg yolk on the top of the rolls with a brush. Let it dry and set the rolls aside for about half an hour. Then spread egg white on top of the rolls and once again, let it dry and set the rolls aside for another half an hour.

Preheat oven to 200 C. Make little holes in the top of the rolls with a fork. Put the rolls on a baking pan covered with baking paper and bake them for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let them cool before slicing.

Try this recipe at home or, if you are visiting Hungary during the holiday season, try your Beigli-making-skills at one of Chefparade’s fun cooking classes.

Enjoy and bon appétit! (Jó étvágyat!)

For the poppy seed filling:• 300 g of ground poppy-seed• 200 g sugar• 1 vanilla-sugar• 50 g of raisins• 2 tablespoons of apricot jam• 1 dL milk

For the walnut filling:• 300 g minced walnut• 200 g sugar• 1 vanilla-sugar• 50 g of raisins• zest of one lemon• 1 grated apple• 2 tablespoons of honey• 1 dL milk

The ingredients:• For the dough:• 500 g flour• 250 g butter• 50 g sugar• 2 eggs• 20 g fresh yeast• 1 dL milk• pinch of salt

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HUNGARIAN FISH SOUP

Ingredients for about 6 portions

• 1000 g different type of small fish (freshwater fish)• 1500 g carp (whole or fillets)• 2 tablespoons lard• 2 tablespoons Hungarian paprika powder• 2 large onion• 1 green pepper• 1 big potato, peeled• salt and ground black pepper to taste• 1 tomato, peeled and diced• 1 egg and flour for the noodles

InstructionsFirst of all we make a fish stock from the small fish and the head of the carp.Heat up the lard in a large pan and braise the diced onions.Sprinkle the onion with paprika and pour immediately about 3 L water into the pan to prevent paprika from getting burnt.Put the small fish, the head of the carp, the diced tomato and salt in the pan and cook it until the meat comes of the fish bone.Sieve the stock and bring in to the boil. If you find it a bit thick, add some water. Put the salted carp slices in the fish stock, add slices of hot, green pepper, some salt if necessary and bring it to the boil. Grate the potato and add it to the soup. Cook it for 1-2 minutes. Beat up an egg add 1-2 tablespoons of flour and mix it until you get a batter. It should not be neither too thick nor too thin. Salt it a bit and cut nice ball shapes into the boiling soup with the help of a spoon. Cook it for 2-3 minutes.Hungarian fish soup is a substantial meal in itself, especially this version with noodles and grated potato in it.

Preparations

Clean the fish.Remove its teeth, tail, fins and scales with a sharp knife.Wash it with cold water.Open up the carp at its belly and remove the chitterlings.Slice it up for 2 cm thick slices and salt them.Cut out the eyes from the head.Peel the onions and dice them.Peel the potato.Dice the tomato.Tip: you can avoid all the hassle of fish cleaning if you buy fillets of carp or ask the fishmonger to clean it for you. You can leave out the small fish, but one of the secrets of making delicious fish soup is using different types of fish.

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STUFFED CABBAGE

Ingredients:

• 6-8 sauerkraut leaves• 1000 g chopped sauerkraut• 100 g (2 cups) pearl barley or rice• 400 g minced pork• 1-2 onions• 1 clove of garlic• 1-2 tbs lard or oil• 2 teaspoons Hungarian paprika powder• ground black pepper• 1-2 bay leaves• salt• 200 ml sour cream

InstructionsMake the stuffingBraise half the diced onions in lard, add the minced pork, the pearl barley (rice) and sprinkle it with 1 teaspoon paprika. Add the mashed clove of garlic, some salt, ground black pepper and stir well. Place some stuffing on the sauerkraut leaves and make nice rolls. Braise the remained onion in oil. Remove the pan from the heat, add 1 teaspoon paprika powder, half of the chopped sauerkraut and the bay leaves. Place the stuffed rolls on it and cover it with the other half of the sauerkraut. Add some water and cook it until the cabbage and the stuffing is tender (approx. 1,5-2 hours). Remove the stuffed rolls. Mix sour cream with 1-2 tablespoons of flour and add to the sauerkraut and cook it for 1-2 minutes, dilute it with some water if necessary. The name of this last process is habarás in Hungarian and it thickens the meal.Place the cabbage rolls back in the pan. We have this dish with sour cream and slices of white bread.

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BERTA HAUERHead of LEWIS [email protected]

EVA MARZINIHead of Lewis PR [email protected]

LUKASZ KLUJHead of LEWIS [email protected]

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lewis pr eastern european cookbook

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