Borş

Borş fermented wheat bran gives soup a boost

Borş fermented wheat bran juice forms the basis of many sour soups in Romanian cuisine. The sour soup containing borş (“borsh”) is usually called a ciorbă (“chorba”). Sometimes people call the soup itself borş. Romanians also consume borş outright for its probiotic and antioxidant properties; people also drink it as a hangover cure, probably due to its anti-inflammatory effects and high concentration of Vitamin B. Less pungent and effervescent than kvass, borş nevertheless shares a similar production method and purpose.

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Chicken Paprikash (Paprikás Csirke) featured image

Chicken Paprikash (Paprikás Csirke)

Chicken Paprikash (Paprikás Csirke) may be the second most popular Hungarian dish after gulyás. Both dishes rely on paprika for flavor and color. Yet paprikash, with paprika right in the name, takes it over the top. To create this version I sleuthed out the common elements in many authentic Hungarian recipes. The recipe uses bone-in chicken pieces and makes a flavorful sauce that is perfect over noodles, rice or mashed potatoes.

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Kolače Czech filled pastries

Koláče Czech filled pastries

Koláče Czech filled pastries are round, yeast-risen pastries filled with poppyseed, plum jam, sweetened tvaroh (farmer’s cheese) or other sweet fillings. In English we know them as kolache. The dough is rich and brioche-like as opposed to the light and flaky dough of a Danish pastry. Do not confuse kolache with Polish kołaczki (kolachky) which are rich, filled cookies. Although the names are related and they share some similarities, these items are not the same thing.

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Stone Fruit Jam Banner

Stone fruit jam (plum or peach)

Stone fruit jam is very versatile. It can be used as a filling or topping in kolače/vatrushki, pierogi/vareniki, nalisniki and various other sweet goods from around Eastern Europe. I’ve made it successfully from both plums and peaches. It’s just fruit and sugar; no pectin needed! (If using peaches a little lemon juice is necessary to help it set up properly). And you don’t even need to peel the fruit. An immersion blender will help you get a really smooth consistency.

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Bulgarian sauerkraut kiselo zele

Bulgarian sauerkraut kiselo zele

Bulgarian sauerkraut, kiselo zele (кисело зеле), requires only brine and time to prepare. Unlike other methods of making fermented cabbage, in the Bulgarian method you pickle the whole head of cabbage rather than shredded pieces. Bulgarians characteristically make their kiselo zele in very large batches (20 heads or more) in large barrels fitted with a siphon to churn the brine periodically. Since I don’t eat sauerkraut in such quantities, and don’t have room for a 55-gallon drum in my apartment, I wanted to adapt the method for small batch production. This post documents my (very successful) results. Jump to the end for the recipe.

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Shopska salad the bulgarian national salad

Shopska Salad – The Bulgarian national salad

Shopska salad, the Bulgarian national salad, if there can be such a thing, uses all the colors of the Bulgarian flag in its primary ingredients: green cucumbers, red tomatoes and white sirene (сирене), or Bulgarian feta cheese. Other ingredients may include onion, peppers (both sweet and hot), and olives. Typical seasonings are salt, pepper, fresh parsley, sunflower oil and vinegar. My version contains all these except olives but feel free to add any kind of olives you like to your shopska salad (kalamata would be very tasty and very authentic).

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