Haven't tried this yet.

Ingredients

• 2 Cups (1 lb / 453g) Rice
• 8 oz (227g) Stew Beef
• 1/2 Cup (3.5 oz / 100g) Lentils
• 4.5 oz (127g) Cabbage
• 1 Bunch (2 oz / 57g) Parsley
• 1 Bunch (2 oz / 57g) Cilantro
• 1 Bunch (1 oz / 28g) Leek
• 1 Small Onion
• Vegetable Oil
• Turmeric
• Salt

Pre-preparation

1. Soak the rice in water and 1/2 Tbsp Salt for 2 hours.
2. Dice the Onion and cabbage.
3. Mince the herbs (parsley, cilantro, leek).

Method

1. Place the lentils in a small pot.
2. Add salt (Approx. 1 Tsp) and enough water to cover the lentils in one inch deep.
3. Cover with a lid (leave a crack open), and simmer for 25 minutes over medium-low heat.
4. Meanwhile, fry the dice onion with vegetable oil until translucent.
5. Stir in turmeric.
6. Add stew beef and stir to mix. Continue the heat for 10 more minutes until the beef turns brown.
7. Add water and a pinch of salt.
8. Cover the pot and cook for 30 minutes.
9. Fry the diced cabbage in a separate bowl for 5 minutes.
10. Stir in the minced parsley, cilantro and leek to the pot and continue frying for 5 more minutes.
11. Simmer the rice for 10 minutes until tender.
12. Drain the rice and rinse with cold water.
13. Add the beefs and lentils to the cabbage and herb mixture and stir thoroughly.
14. Transfer 2/3 of the rice out of the pot to a container.
15. Add 1 tbsp vegetable oil.
16. Add a layer of the mixture and top with a layer of the rice (1/3) from the container.
17. Repeat step 16 until all the ingredients are added to the pot.
18. Pour another tbsp of vegetable oil on top.
19. Cover the pot with a napkin and a lid.
20. Cook the rice for 20 minutes (over medium-low heat).
21. Stir before serving.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds baking potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup milk
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes; drain.
2. In a small saucepan heat butter and milk over low heat until butter is melted. Using a potato masher or electric beater, slowly blend milk mixture into potatoes until smooth and creamy. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

This turned out great the first time.

Frankly, I've never pulled this dish off right. It's always been too watery. This recipe changed that.

Ingredients

• 4 cups thinly sliced potatoes, original recipe, deprecated
• 1.5 lbs thinly sliced potatoes
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 1⁄2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 dash cayenne pepper
• 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 1⁄2 cup grated cheese, to sprinkle on top
• paprika

Method

1. In a small sauce pan, melt butter and blend in flour. Let cook while stirring occasionally untiil the floury smell is replaced by a nutty smell.
2. Add cold milk bit by bit, stirring with a whisk bit by bit until it is all smooth.
3. Season with salt and cayenne. Cook sauce on low until smooth and boiling, stirring occasionally with a whisk.
4. Reduce heat and stir in cheese.
5. Place a half of the sliced potatoes in a lightly greased one quart casserole dish.
6. Pour half of cheese sauce over potatoes.
7. Repeat with second layer of potatoes and cheese sauce.
8. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.
9. Top with some paprika for color.
10. Bake at 350° for an hour.

These turned out just about perfect the first time. I sliced the potatoes on a mandolin, which makes it really easy. I feel odd about the "four cups" direction. Hard to measure sliced potatoes in cups. I think I basically used two.

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2017-05-03: I made these again this evening, Last time I think I only used three medium-sized potatoes, and this time I used four medium and large ones. The result was that some of the potatoes were cooked not quite enough. I should use three medium-sized ones again next time. I also sprinkled a bit of thyme on top of each layer of potatoes. Don't bother to do that again. The taste wasn't really all that complementary.

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2017-05-06: I made these again this evening. This time I used 1.5 pounds of potatoes, which was four medium sized ones. This turned out well, with just a touch of resistance left in the potatoes. From now on, no more than 1.5 pounds.

Serves eight

• Two pounds or so of room temperature bacon
• One minced onion
• Four minced garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon of minced fresh thyme
• Four cups of grated medium aged cheddar
• Five or six large unpeeled baking potatoes
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of a ten-inch, non-stick sauté pan with a small round of parchment paper. Carefully arrange the bacon in a radial pattern from the center of the bottom of the pan to the lower edge of the rim and continuing up and over it. Let the ends hang over. The slices should overlap slightly around the sides of the pan. To reduce the thickness of the bacon in the center stagger every other piece starting it two inches from the center and extending it further than the adjacent slices. With the palm of your hand, flatten the center area, leaving no gaps in the bacon. Season the bacon with pepper then sprinkle on several tablespoons of the grated cheddar.

Slice the potatoes as thinly and uniformly as you can, about a quarter inch thick. Arrange a circular pattern of overlapping slices around the inside bottom edge of the pan. Continue arranging overlapping layers of the potatoes until the bottom is evenly covered. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper. Mix together the onions and garlic and sprinkle some of the mixture onto the potatoes. Continue with a layer of the grated cheese. Cover with another layer of the potato pressing it down firmly before continuing with alternate layers of the potatoes, onion mixture and cheese until the pan is full. Continue with several more layers insetting each a bit from the edge of the pan until the top is an inch or so higher than the pan’s rim. Fold the overhanging bacon neatly up and over the top of the potatoes. Trim a small piece of parchment paper and place it in between an ovenproof lid and the bacon. This lids weight will prevent the bacons ends from pulling back and shrinking during cooking.

Place the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake for at least two and a half to three hours. You’ll know it’s done when a small thin bladed knife inserts easily. Pour off as much of the fat around the edges as possible. Let the tart stand for fifteen minutes then carefully cover with a plate and flip over. Slide onto a cutting surface. Slice into wedges and serve immediately. You may refrigerate any leftovers and reheat them later it in a microwave.

Feel free to try

Try mixing a few tablespoons of your favourite herb into the onion mixture. Thyme, rosemary and tarragon all work well.

Hints

Medium aged cheddar works best because it wont ‘break’ like an older cheese and release lots of oil. It also has more flavour than a younger cheddar. Kitchen specialty stores carry a French slicing tool known as a mandolin. It’s a fancy chef tool but easily slices the potatoes into even rounds. Its not absolutely necessary though, a sharp knife works well too!

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So up above you see the recipe as I found it. I wanted to try it. Alas, the bacon they had at my butcher shop didn't seem long enough. Plus I had a 12" pan and an 8" pan, but not a 10" saute pan. So I decided to work with the 8" pan for the first time. Skipped the thyme.

My mandolin seemed to cut things thinner than 1/4 inch... not to mention a chunk of my thumb. I probably should have alternated more layers of potatoes on top of each other. Anyway, it's in the oven now. Even after less than ten minutes it smells exquisite.

Here's a picture of the pan before I put potatoes in.

Frankly, this recipe rocked. Okay, it's not a particularly interesting flavor, but it is a hearty and satisfying flavor. I will definitely make it again.

If I remember correctly, I only used about 5 medium sized potatoes, not the big bakers, and I think I pulled it out at 1 hour 45 minutes because of the smaller size.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large red onion, chopped
• 2 to 4 garlic cloves (to taste), minced
• 6 to 8 chicken legs and/or thighs, skinned
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 28-ounce can chopped tomatoes, with juice, pulsed in a food processor
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme, or 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1 small or 1/2 large cauliflower, cored, broken into florets, and sliced about 1/2 inch thick
• 12 kalamata olives (about 45 grams), rinsed, pitted and cut in half (optional)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 to 2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (optional)

Method

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium-high heat in a large, deep, heavy lidded skillet or casserole and brown the chicken, in batches if necessary, about 5 minutes on each side. Remove the pieces to a plate or bowl as they’re browned. Pour off the fat from the pan. Add the vinegar to the pan and scrape up all the bits from the bottom of the pan.
2. Add the remaining tablespoon of the olive oil to the pan, and turn the heat down to medium. Add the onion and a generous pinch of salt and cook, stirring often and scraping the bottom of the pan, until it begins to soften, about 5 minutes. Turn the heat to low, cover and let the onion cook for 10 minutes, stirring from time to time, until it is lightly browned and very soft.
3. Add the garlic and stir together for a minute or two more, until the garlic is fragrant, then add the tomatoes and their juice, the cinnamon, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer and simmer 10 minutes, stirring from time to time, until the mixture is reduced slightly and fragrant.
4. Return the chicken pieces to the pot, along with any juices that have accumulated in the bowl. If necessary, add enough water to barely cover the chicken. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes.
5. Add the cauliflower and kalamata olives and simmer for another 20 minutes, or until the cauliflower is tender and the chicken is just about falling off the bone. Stir in the parsley, taste and adjust seasonings. Serve with grains, with the feta sprinkled on top if desired.

Tip

Advance preparation: The stew keeps for 3 or 4 days in the refrigerator and freezes well. With leftovers, make a delicious rice casserole by spreading cooked rice over the bottom of a baking dish and topping with the chicken and sauce. Heat through for 20 minutes at 325 degrees.

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2016-10-09: I've been meaning to make this for a while. I used two packages of boneless, skinless thighs, which sort of doubled the recipe.

When I first added the chicken, I also added enough hot water to cover it. That may have been a mistake. The final product was sort of soupy.

I also cut the cauliflower too big. If I were to do this again, I would probably cut the cauliflower into the same size, but put it in the sauce with the chicken over the top. That way it would have cooked a bit better.

Ingredients: (serves 4)

2 boneless / skinless chicken breasts
1 cup white rice
1 can Cream of Celery soup
2 soup cans of water
1 pkt French onion packet soup mix
2 onions chopped roughly
salt and pepper to taste

In the oven for two hours at 320°.

Notes: the French onion soup Nicko used was a Continental French Onion cup of soup packet. We didn't have that at the store, so I bought Lipton Beefy Onion instead. Each packet is meant to be combined with 4 cups of water, so I'm hoping the tastes won't be too strong with the substitution.

Noreen's chicken paprikash?

Meat prep

• 8 chicken thighs with bone
• 3 chicken breasts with bone (6 half breasts)
• 2 cups of flour
• 1 tbsp paprika (sweet, not hot)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp safflower oil (This is a hi-temp oil, so it won't burn.)

Sauce

• 2 medium onions, slice
• 1/4 cup of Hungarian paprika (sweet, not hot)
• 6 cups of chicken stock
• 4 cups of sour cream
• 1/4 cup of flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

Method

1. Put 2 tbsp of safflower oil in a pan.
2. In a large ziplock bag put the dry ingredients from the meat prep sections. Dredge the chicken pieces.
   Put the chicken in the pan skin-side down. Do it in batches so that the chicken browns, not steams. The chicken will let you know when it is time to turn it because it will release from the pan. Turn. When brown, remove from the pan. If there is too much fat, pour the excess off.
3. Add the onion, halved and sliced, to the remaining fat. Cook till soft. Add paprika. Cook briefly, stirring to bring up fond.
4. Add the chicken back on top of the onions.
5. Add chicken stock. Simmer for one hour.
6. Remove the chicken to a plate. Turn the heat off from the broth.
7. Put the sour cream in a bowl. Add 1/4 cup of flour. One ladle at a time, add the broth to the sour cream so that it doesn't clump. Do this for three ladles. The purpose is to raise the temp without causing clumping. Then add the sour cream to the broth. Mix well.
8. Add the chicken back into the broth and let it simmer while the noodles simmer. Once the nokedli are ready, serve with the chicken.

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Notes

2016-03-06: I made this for the first time this weekend. Issues...

• I made it full size, which was ridiculous for my eating needs.
• Next, I made it in three stages. I did the browning one day, the main simmering the next, and the addition of the sour cream the third. Actually, I think it makes a lot of sense to do the browning a day ahead of time because it is labor and time intensive, whereas it would be reasonably easy to setup the rest of it.

Turned out great flavorwise. This really is Hungarian comfort food again. Works great with the nokedli. Definitely make a half recipe next time. And I would probably like it better using, say with 6-8 boneless thighs, no breasts, and halve the rest of the recipe. And definitely do major trimming of the skin, although really the skin helps the browning process and renders some great chicken fat.

Blurb from the website:

"A flavorful stew, Pörkölt is redolent with the fragrance of paprika and bell peppers. It has few ingredients, and is surprisingly easy to make. Save time by using boneless pork chops and cubing them after they are browned. There should be enough salt in the canned tomatoes to season the stew, but if not, add more to your taste. Use best-quality, real Hungarian paprika for best results. We prefer to serve it with noodles, but galuska (Hungarian dumplings) or rice are good, too."

Don's comments: Pörkölt is probably the most stereotypical of Hungarian dishes and is often called goulash in English. Essentially it is a thick meat stuff season with Hungarian paprika. The recipe linked above makes way too much food for me, so essentially I am cutting it in half here. This will be my template for experiments with it.

Ingredients

• 3 slices of bacon, diced
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1/8 cup of Hungarian paprika
• 3/4 tsp of garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp of ground black pepper
• 2.5 pounds of boneless pork chops
• 1 large yellow bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 14-oz can of diced tomatoes, with liquid
• 1/3 cup of beef broth
• 1 cup of sour cream
• 1 6-oz package of wide egg noodles

Method

1. Place the bacon in a large, deep skillet, and cook over medium-high heat until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Drain, and reserve the drippings. Add the onions to the bacon and cook together until the onion is translucent. Remove skillet from heat and stir the paprika, garlic powder, and pepper into the bacon mixture. Transfer the mixture into a large stockpot.
2. Heat a small amount of the reserved bacon drippings in the skillet again over medium-high heat. Cook the pork chops in batches in the hot drippings until evenly browned on both sides. Use additional bacon drippings for each batch as needed. Remove the pork chops to a cutting board and blot excess fat off the surface of the chops with a paper towel; cut into bite-sized cubes and stir into the bacon mixture.
3. Heat a small amount of the bacon drippings in the skillet; cook and stir the bell pepper in the hot drippings until softened and fragrant; drain on a plate lined with paper towels. Stir the cooked pepper into the bacon mixture.
4. Pour the tomatoes with liquid and beef broth into a stockpot and place the pot over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook until the stew begins to thicken, stirring occasionally, about 90 minutes. Stir the sour cream into the stew just before serving.
5. Bring a pot with lightly-salted water and bring to a rolling boil; add the egg noodles to the water and return to a boil. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the pasta has cooked through, but is still firm to the bite, about 5 minutes. Drain well in a colander set in the sink. Ladle the stew over the drained noodles to serve.

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2016-02-27: This is my first attempt at the recipe. I ended up using two onions and five strips of bacon out of brainlessness. I used pepper bacon, so I didn't add pepper to the stew. It took for-freakin-ever to brown the meat; I'm skeptical it is worth the effort in a stew. By the time all was said and done, it was too late to really cook the stew, so I put the stewing pan in the fridge and I'll start it stewing tomorrow.

At Fry's today I spotted some "longaniza" sausage. Wow, Spanish sausage in an Arizona store. I've had a Portuguese equivalent, linguiça, once before in a diner in northern California. Time to try it again. I pulled out my Dutch oven. Poured in some olive oil. Sliced some onions, put that all over somewhat high heat for a while. Then I took the two sausages, poked them with fork to prevent explosions, and threw them in the same pan. Occasionally I stired the onions. When the first side of the sausages seemed to be browning, I rotated them. After the second side seemed sort of brown, I threw in an undrained 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes. Then I let it all cook uncovered for a while, and then a while longer till it seemed done.

Result: very tasty.

Things I have learned from this attempt:

The cast-iron Dutch oven in which I cooked the dish hadn't been used for very many months, probably eight or nine months. The result was that the coating tasted... well... kinda old. Next time I will scrub it out with hot water and soap, yes — I know that is a sin for cast iron, and then reseason it before using it to cook. The hint? Let your nose judge the quality of the seasoning.

Ingredients

• 1.5 pounds (about 5 medium) russet, Idaho, or other baking potatoes, scrubbed but unpeeled.
• Salt
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 pound (about 2 large) onions, thinly sliced
• 6 large eggs, hard boiled
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Sweet Hungarian paprika
• 2 cups sour cream

Method

1. Place the potatoes in a large pot and add enough cold water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until potatoes are just tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water until cool enough to handle. Peel potatoes and cut into 1/2 inch rounds.
2. Place a medium saute pan over mediu heat. Add vegetable oil and heat until shimmering. Add onions and saute until soft and almost caramelized, about 25 mintues. Lower leat if they begin to brown too quickly.
3. Peel the eggs and cut into 1/3 inch rounds.
4. Preheat the oven to 350°. Generously coat the inside of a 1 to 1.5 quart baking dish with the butter. Arrange a layer of half the potatoes in the dish, then a layer of half the onions, and then a layer of half the eggs. Season with salt and pepper and a light sprinkling of paprika. Spread with half the sour cream. Repeat with the remaining potatoes, onions and eggs, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Spread with the remaining sour cream and sprinkle with paprika.
5. Cover the baking dish and place in the center rack of the oven. Bake for 45 minutes.

(Mirror)

Results: kind of boring. Apparently they usually add kolbász (Hungarian sausage) to it in Hungary, and they usually don't use the onions.

I found the texture of the hard-boiled eggs off-putting in the recipe. If I make it again, I will shred the eggs on the large holes of a cheese grater.