SAINT MARGARET’S

Recipes

Index

Roast Chicken with Almonds - index

• 1 medium sized chicken
• 1 clove of garlic (peeled and chopped)
• 1 onion
• Peel of 1 lemon
• 100g. butter
• 100g. blanched almonds
• 200g. button onions
• 25g. brown sugar
• 500g. new potatoes or canned potatoes

Bunch of celery

Wipe the chicken and stand on a rack in a roasting tin. Make small nicks in the skin and insert a piece of garlic in each. Peel the onion and put inside the chicken, with the lemon peel. Rub the chicken liberally with half the butter and bake in the oven for 11 hours. (400 F; Gas Mark 6). Baste well during cooking. Sprinkle with blanched almonds 15 minutes before end of the cooking time. Peel the onions and glaze in the remaining butter. Add the sugar and cook gently until browned and soft. Brown the potatoes in the same way. Arrange the chicken on a serving dish with onions and potatoes round and almonds on top. Garnish with celery. Serve with cooked carrots. Note: To blanch almonds, put them into a pan of cold water and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and drain. Cover the almonds with cold water and the skins will peel off quite easily. This dish serves 4.

Recipe supplied by Maria Mos

Cheese and onion pie - index

• 500 g. onions (peeled and sliced)
• pinch of nutmeg
• level teaspoon of dry mustard
• salt and pepper
• a little margarine (15g.)
• 2 large eggs
• 150 g. mature cheese (grated)

• For the pastry:
• 150 g. margarine
• 300 g. plain flour
• salt to taste
• water to mix
• (You will need a 9” (23 cm. approx.) round ovenproof plate)

Place onions, nutmeg and margarine in covered pan. Cook gently over low heat for 15 mins. until onions are soft. Shake pan occasionally to prevent sticking. Transfer to a bowl when cooked and leave to cool.

Set the oven to hot (Gas Mark 6 or 400 F or 200 C).

Next the pastry. Rub margarine into flour and salt until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Then add water to form a soft but not sticky dough. Knead gently until pastry is smooth. Cut off a small piece for decoration and leave it covered.

Divide remaining pastry in two. On a floured surface roll out one half so as to line the base of the plate. Roll out the other half to the same size for the lid. Add cheese, mustard and eggs (beaten) to cooled onions and mix together. Season, and then spoon mixture into pastry-lined plate.

Dampen the edges and place the lid on. Trim off excess pastry. Roll out reserved pastry (combined with offcuts) into thin strips and place in a lattice pattern on the pastry lid. Pinch the edge of the pie and brush all with milk.

Bake for 30 mins. approx. just above oven centre until pastry is golden.

recipe supplied by Maria Moss

Töltött káposzta (Stuffed Cabbage) - index

• 600 g. (1 1 lb.) pork
• 50g. (2 oz.) smoked bacon
• 100g. (4 oz.) rice
• 1 egg
• thin roux
• a little tejföl (sour cream)
• salt, pepper, a little paprika
• a whole soured cabbage
• 1 kg. (2 1 lb.) sauerkraut

Chop the pork and bacon into small pieces and mix with the washed rice, egg, salt, pepper and paprika. (Of course one can use minced meat).

Remove the leaves from the cabbage and fill them with a spoonful of the mixture.

Roll them up and tuck in the ends.

Rinse the sauerkraut. If it is too sour then put half in the bottom of a large saucepan, place the stuffed cabbage leaves over it and spread the remaining sauerkraut on top.

Add the sauerkraut juice and water to cover, and salt to taste.

Place the lid on the saucepan and cook slowly for an hour and a half to two hours.

Remove the stuffed leaves and keep them hot.

Make a roux and thicken the sauerkraut.

Before serving stir a couple of spoons of tejföl into the sauerkraut and replace the stuffed leaves.

Serve with fried pork chops.

Hint: The flavour is improved if pig's tail and ears, belly or sparerib is cooked with the cabbage leaves.

Recipe supplied by Maria M

Tuna bake - index

• 7 oz. can of tuna fish
• 10 oz. can of condensed mushroom soup
• 1 oz. of white breadcrumbs
• 2 oz. butter
• 4 mushrooms
• a sprig of parsley

Mushroom Paprikás (Gombapaprikás) - index

• 500 g. mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons oil
• a little onion
• paprika
• sour cream
• salt to taste

Mushrooms in Parsley Sauce (Petrezselymes sampinyongombás) - index

• 750 g. mushrooms
• parsley
• vegetable oil
• 1 or 2 egg yolks
• 100 ml sour cream (tejföl)
• salt to taste

Tandoori chicken - index

(This dish owes its name to the traditional clay oven in which it was cooked – tandoor, cooking on a barbecue is an acceptable substitute, the charcoal giving the chicken an authentic flavour. Serves 10. Cooking time 20 minutes)

• two 5cm. pieces of fresh root ginger (peeled and chopped)
• 3 garlic cloves (peeled and chopped) and 3 black peppercorns
• two 5ml. spoons chilli powder and two 5ml. spoons ground coriander seeds
• one 5ml. spoon ground cumin seeds
• finely grated rind and juice of one lemon
• 1-2 drops of bright red food colouring
• 10 chicken breasts or drumsticks (skinned)
• 10 15ml. spoons natural yoghurt

• 1-2 lettuces (washed and separated into leaves)
• 3 tomatoes (quartered)
• 1 cucumber (sliced)
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Chicken in wine - index

• 6 pieces of chicken (totalling approx. 1 ľ k)
• 40g butter
• 1 tbspn salad oil
• 100g smoked streaky bacon (cubed)
• 200g pickling onions (peeled)
• 2 sticks celery (finely chopped)
• 150g button mushrooms
• 1 clove garlic (crushed)
• 25g flour
• ľ bottle Kekfrankos or similar dryish red wine
• bayleaf, ˝ tspn dried thyme, salt and pepper
• Chicken giblets (washed)

Remove skin from the chicken portions. Melt 25g butter in a pan with oil. Fry bacon cubes until golden. Remove and drain. Fry chicken portions on both sides.   Put them, with bacon, into a 1 ˝ litre ovenproof casserole. Fry onion and celery until soft. Add to casserole. Melt rest of butter in pan and cook mushrooms for about 2 minutes. Remove mushrooms from pan and put them aside.

Blend garlic and flour with fat remaining in the pan. Cook until brown, blend in wine, water, bay leaf, thyme, salt and pepper. Bring to boil, simmer until thick. Pour over chicken, add giblets. Cover the casserole and cook in a very moderate oven for 1 ˝ to 4 hours, depending on the size of chicken portions and whether it is boiling or roasting chicken.

When chicken portions are almost tender, remove giblets and bay leaf. Stir in mushrooms and cook for a further 10 minutes. Skim off any excess fat and add more seasoning if necessary.

QUICK TIP: When browning meat in fat choose a large deep pan. This will enable you to fry quickly without splashing the stove with fat and meat juices.

Recipe modified from a Hamlyn Cookbook offering 

Székelygulyás
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It seemed about time that we had a distinctively Hungarian recipe. This one is interesting in that the name has nothing to do with the actual dish. It is a dish unknown in Székhely (Transylvania) and it is certainly not a gulyas (goulash). No gulyas ever has been made with cabbage!

The recipe was named in fact by the great Hungarian poet Sándor Pet?fi after the County Librarian, János Székhely. In 1846 Pet?fi arrived for lunch one day at a small eating house named the 'Chiming Clock' which was opposite the municipal offices. Both he and Székhely frequented this place. He was much later than usual and just about everything was off. The manager mixed together the remaining sauerkraut and the paprika stew, serving them in the one pot. It proved to be an interesting combination and became a popular menu dish. Later sour cream was added as decoration and to mellow the flavour.

• 1 small onion
• 4 tbsp.sunflower seed oil
• ˝ tsp. paprika
• 750g pork
• 1 kg sauerkraut
• 200 - 300ml sour cream
• a little flour

Method:

Chop the onion finely and fry in the oil with the paprika. Cube the pork, add to the frying mixture, and braise until tender. In another saucepan, braise the sauerkraut in a little oil with some of its juice. When it is ready, mix in the meat and stir in the sour cream, mixed with a little flour if desired.

This recipe is modified slightly from one in a cookery book which was a household name in Hungarian cuisine. Elek Magyar collected the recipes and published the book (Az ínyesmester szakácskönyve – The Gourmet's Cook Book) in the years between the two World Wars. He did not cook himself but loved food and wrote extensively on it.

Bean salad
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The recipe which follows is high in fibre and rich in B vitamins. It offers a variety of flavours and textures. Take care not to overcook the beans, otherwise they become mushy. It is based on one in a book entitled 'Fine Food for the Heart' produced by the National Heart Foundation of New Zealand.

 
• 1 cup mixed dried beans
• 1 onion (finely chopped)
• 1 tsp finely chopped root ginger
 
• ˝ cup sliced celery
• 1 cup cauliflower florets
 
• 1 carrot (finely sliced)
• ˝ green pepper (finely diced)
 
• ľ cup white wine vinegar
• Ľ cup sugar
• 1 cup water

Soak the beans overnight in water. Drain next day.
Place the beans in fresh water and bring them to the boil. Simmer for 45 -60 minutes, or until soft. Drain.
Combine the beans, onion, celery, cauliflower, carrot and green pepper.
In a small saucepan heat the vinegar, sugar and water, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
Cool and pour over the bean mixture.
Refrigerate 1 -2 hours before serving. (Serves 6).716 kj (171 Cal) per serve.

With Microwave:
Place the soaked beans in boiling water and cook on 100% power for 20 minutes,
or until the beans are soft. Stand for 10 minutes and then drain. In a microwave proof bowl combine the vinegar, sugar and water. Cook on 100% power for 1˝ – 2 minutes. Stir once during cooking. Cool and pour over the bean mixture.

Stuffed peppers (Töltött paprika) - Turkish Style (Török módra)
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This is a variation on the usual stuffed peppers which are used whole. Surprisingly I find that this is not a dish of Hungarian origin as I had thought. But it has become an accepted element of traditional Hungarian cooking.
It is important that good fleshy, sweet peppers are used with the stalks and membranes removed.
The meat too should be good quality (not fatty) pork, and ten percent of the meat component should be smoked bacon, which gives some succulence and enriches the flavour.
The typical flavour is provided by the peppers. The stuffing should act as an accent without altering the basic flavour.

 
• 8 large fleshy peppers
• 500g. minced, cooked pork
• 1 clove garlic (crushed)
• thick slices of bacon
• 150g. cooked rice
• 1 egg
• a little chopped parsley
• 2 medium sliced tomatoes
• 250 ml. sour cream
• Pepper and salt to taste

Method:

Cut the peppers in half lengthwise and remove the seeds and core.
Fill each half with a mixture of the meat, rice, egg, parsley and crushed garlic and condiments to taste..
Place the peppers in a greased dish and cover each half with sliced tomatoes and a slice of bacon.
Pour sour cream over the top and bake until the bacon begins to brown.
Serve with either mashed or diced potato.