Szilvás gombóc (plum dumplings) - Ty Fedak

One of my alltime favorites as a kid. Mom made these all the time.
Szilvás gombóc (plum dumplings)

• 12 plums
• 12 lumps of sugar
• 3 tbls sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups cooked potatoes (chilled)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cups buttered crumbs

Remove the pits, but do NOT cut them in half.

Fill center with sugar lump (or cube)

Slice the butter thin into the flour, mix until mixture is coarse.

Add in potatoes, salt and eggs.

Knead the dough well.

Roll it out 1/4 inch thick on a floured board.

Cut into 3" squares.

Place the plums on square, moisten the edges and pinch it all together around the plum.

Dust the hands with flour and roll the dumpling around the flour.

Gently drop the dumpling into a large pot of boiling water. Don't let the water boil too violently or it will break them up.

Cook 15 minutes.

Carefully lift each one out, and roll in buttered crumbs. Serve hot. (I used to add more sugar if the plumbs were sour). Egészségedre!!

Pork Chops with Sauerkraut (Sertésborda Káposztával) - Ty Fedak

• 1 onion finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons fat
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 lb sauerkraut
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 thin pork chops
• 1 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup chopped dill pickle

Cook the onion in the fat until until golden. Add the paprika and sauerkraut and simmer while the chops are browning. Salt the chops and flatten with a mallet. Brown slowly on each side in their own fat. Place the sauerkraut and cook together for 1 hr. Five minutes before serving stir the sour cream into the sauerkraut. Serve the chops on topn of it, and garnish each one with the dill pickle. Bon appetite

Ty Fedak's Rakott Krumpli- Hungarian (layered potatoes).

 From Ty Fedak

Haven't seen a new recipe in a while, so I'll this as one of my favorites:

Rakott Krumpli- Hungarian (layered potatoes).
Ingredients:
2 lbs middle-sized potatoes
6 eggs
1 link smoked, paprika-flavored kolbasz
16 oz sour cream
2 egg yolks
Butter or margarine
2-3 slices smoked bacon (optional)
Cheddar cheese
Recipe:
Put potatoes in a pot with enough water to cover well, add a tablespoon of salt, bring to a boil, cover and cook for 20 minutes on low heat, until soft.
Hard boil the eggs.
Drain the potatoes, peel while still warm and let them cool.
Peel the eggs and cut into circles.
Wash the kolbász in warm water (to make it easy to remove its skin) then cut into thin circles.
Combine the sour cream and the egg yolk.
Preheat oven to 350F
Smear butter inside a baking dish, put half of the potatoes in, sprinkle with salt, put the egg and kolbász on top, then spread half of the sour cream on top.
Add the rest of the potatoes and sour cream, spread the cheese and put the bacon on top.
Bake until sour cream and bacon are golden brown (35-40 minutes).
Serve with mixed pickled vegetables or fresh vegetables.

Körözött- Hungarian cheese spread - Ty Fedak

• 1/2lb farmers cheese (I've also used Philadelphia Low Fat Cream Cheese- from box, not the bowl)
• 1/4lb unsalted butter 
• 1/4 small onion, finely diced (I use red onion)
• 1 heaping tsp sweet Hungarian paprika (only imported Hungarian)
• 1/2 tsp prepared mustard 
• 1/2 tsp crushed caraway seeds (optional)

Mix everything together throroughly. Best to refrigerate overnight.
Being allergic to it, I leave the mustard out.
Great on rye bread, bagels or with crackers as an appetizer.
Garnish with chives or parsley

Lady Finger Chocolate Cake

Ty Fedak

 

Lady Finger Chocolate Cake

Very easy and quick to make.
- 20 or so whole (unbroken) lady finger sponge cakes
- 1 cup of rum (or a flavored liquor, like cherry)
- Chocolate icing

Pour rum into a pie plate. Place lady fingers one at a time into the plate and let it absorb some rum. Don't wait too long or they will crumble. After dipping, line up 4 or 5 cakes on another side plate. Spread a thing layer of chocolate between fingers. Dip another 4 or 5 cakes and place across (90 degrees) on top of first layer. Repeat with thin layer of chocolate. Repeat stacking another layer- always rotating 90 degrees between layers. Go as high as you dare, but it's usually 4 layers. Once done, sprinkle rum on top layer, then spread chocolate frosting over top and sides.
I guess you could also alternate rum soaked fingers on one layer and flavored liquor on the next layer.

Once you eat this, you will forget all about Tiramisu.

Argentine Stuffed Flank Steak: Matambre - Tyler Florence - Ty Fedak

photos by Ty Fedak

Ingredients

• 1 (2 1/2 pound) flank steak, trimmed
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 pound fresh spinach, washed and drained, stems trimmed
• 4 small thin carrots
• 4 large hard boiled eggs, peeled and quartered lengthwise
• 1 cup large pitted green Spanish olives, halved lengthwise
• 1 large onion, sliced into rings
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 (750 ml) bottle dry red wine (recommended: Argentine Malbec)
• 1 head garlic, halved
• 1 large onion, halved
• 1 handful fresh thyme sprigs
• 1 handful fresh oregano sprigs
• 2 bay leaves

Directions

Butterfly the steak by slicing lengthwise and opening it up like a book. Pound the meat gently with a mallet to flatten and even out the thickness; rub all sides with olive oil and generously season with salt and pepper.

With the steak lying lengthwise, scatter the spinach leaves evenly over the surface of the meat, leaving a 1-inch border all around. Arrange the carrots in long rows across the steak, about 2 inches apart. Put the egg strips and olives between the carrot rows. Scatter the onion rings and cheese over the filling, sprinkle with salt and red pepper flakes. Carefully roll the meat up over the filling, from bottom to top, into a long thick cylinder (jellyroll-style.) Tie with butcher's twine to hold it together, as you would a roast.

Coat a large Dutch oven or pan with olive oil and put over moderate heat. Lay the stuffed steak in the hot oil and sear until browned on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes. Pour in the wine and enough water to come up almost to the top of the meat. Toss in the head of garlic, onion, and herbs to flavor the broth. Cover, and slowly simmer on medium-low heat until the meat is fork-tender, about 1 1/2 hours, turning the meat over once halfway through cooking. Taste the broth before serving and adjust spices, if necessary.

Transfer the matambre to a cutting board and let rest for 15 minutes. Remove the kitchen strings and cut crosswise into 1-inch slices – the colors of the filling will look absolutely gorgeous spiraled in the steak. Spoon some of the sauce over the meat and serve. Matambre is good hot, room temperature, or cold.

Ty's rolled meat loaf

This Recipe was create by Ty Fedak's Mother and Dad, it's roots are Perth Amboy Hungarian/Argentina.

• 3 lbs ground beef (extra lean-90%)
• 2 raw eggs
• 1 cup Italian spiced bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup ground parlsey
• 8 oz can tomate paste
• 1/2 tp salt, pepper, oregano (if anything, cut back on salt)

First, lay down two overlapping sheets of wax paper, or aluminum foil. 
About 24" long. 
Mix all of the above very thoroughly in a large bowl. When finished, plop it on the wax paper, and spread it out, equally thin, into a roughly 20" by 14" rectangle. Make sure you don't see any major 'holes'.
Only now wash your hands.

• Hard boil and finely chop up 4 eggs. (you can do this ahead of time)
• 8 oz of Mozarella cheese
• 8 slices of Prosciutto ham

Now the fun part:
Making sure you leave a 2" space around the edges, lay down the slices of Prosciutto first and then the cheese slices over the meat. Next, spread out /sprinkle the 4 chopped eggs over the cheese.
Now, while grabbing the 14" side of the wax paper, start to "roll it" all up. (like a jelly roll). Holding on to the wax paper is very, very helpful. After you're finished, pinch both ends... and pat down the top seam so it's 'sealed'. 
Carefully place it on a slightly greased/oiled pan. Bake at 350F for about an hour. Some of the cheese may melt out. I spread it over the top of the loaf after it's done, then sprinkle a little parsley over it for aesthetics.
Note: I've also made it with raw spinach leaves over the chopped egg. 
I like it, but my kids don't. 
bon appetite!