Czech/Slovak RECIPES

Quick and easy poppy-seed turnovers / Rychle makove satecky

Having two kids makes me feel like I have a hundred of them: so much to do and so little time! Which brings me to this recipe. Many times I find myself craving poppy-seed kolache but there are none. Certainly not in the store and I don’t have a whole day to bake them myself. But I think I found a workable solution to fill my cravings! I buy puff pastry sheets (Pepperidge Farms brand) in the store, make little pockets out of them and fill them with poppy-seed filling which is very easy to make. That way I have an imitation of traditional Czech kolache (which ends up looking like a poppy-seed turnover) in no time! Well, more like in 2o minutes…. [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: meatless dish, sweet kitchen

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Impress someone with a true Slovak meal / Nauc se varit slovenske pochoutky

Here is a useful website for those of you who are Slovaks or have some Slovak ancestors…or have a Slovak girlfriend and would like to impress her by making her a true Slovak meal.

By the way for those of you who are not familiar with Slovak cuisine it is VERY similar to the Czech cuisine. Lots of potatoes and meat and cabbage and paprika and garlic and dumplings and grease. So czech out (or should I say ‘slovak out’) those Slovak recipes!

CZ: Jestlize inklinujete spise ke slovenske kuchyni nez k te ceske (i kdyz mezi nimi je opravdu jen malinkaty rozdil), mam pro vas vyborny link na slovenske recepty (klikntete zde).

Dobrou Chut!

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Tagged as: practical, slovak food

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Another Czech Christmas Cookie Recipe: Bear paws / Recept na medvedi tlapicky

I thought I would translate yet another delicious Czech Christmas cookie recipe but after searching the internet for a bit I realized I don’t have to. I don’t have to translate anything or convert the European measurements because it has already been done! Barbara Rolek, who is apparently a well-known food editor, food writer and restaurant critic for daily newspapers and magazines, has done it all for us. Since her parents were Polish I bet the Czech food is close to her heart (as it is on the map) and that is why she searched for our bear paws. Or maybe the recipe has been with the Polish culture for quite some time? Either way, thank you Barbara for this recipe!

When I was a child, Christmas cookies were my grandma’s specialty. [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: Christmas, Czech Christmas cookies, food, sweet kitchen

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Gooseberries and currants: not of this world / Angrest a rybiz: ovoce z jineho sveta

Just like you heard me complain about cherries I would like to raise another important fruit issue: currants and gooseberries. Whatever has happened to them? Did they commit some horrible crime to the American people that most of them don’t even know what they are?

I happened to come across a little tiny box of some very tiny gooseberries in the grocery store the other day and since they were on sale I put them in my basket. Unfortunately, they were completely tasteless – nothing like what I was used to in the Czech Republic. You see, the Czechs grow up on currants and gooseberries. They hang over every fence and grow in almost every garden. They are easy to take care of and are also very nutritious. In fact, they are so sour at times, that one could probably overdose on vitamin C from them!

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Tagged as: fruit, hist, sweet kitchen

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Czech breakfast pancakes ala Martin / Jogurtove livance dle Martina

Martin’s yogurt breakfast pancakes – Czech style

Martin was born in Prague and since 1978 he has been living in the US. He married an American lady named Kathleen (who is also the co-creator of this magical recipe) and have 2 wonderful kids together. His blog called “O Americe” (“About America”) is written strictly in Czech. Why? Martin gets to express himself in his native language, and his non-English speaking Czech friends and family can learn more about the American ways. Through his blog he found a virtual way how to connect with his unforgettable motherland.

For those of you who would like a less fattening version of my recipe on livance (pancakes) here is Martin’s healthy version:
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Tagged as: meatless dish, sweet kitchen

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Recipe for Czech Potato Dumplings/Recept na Bramborove knedliky

One of my dear readers was very kind and sent me her recipe for POTATO DUMPLINGS. The are more dense than the regular bread dumplings but equally delicious. I love them both but I know some Czechs prefer those way over the bread dumplings.

CZ: Jedna moc hodna ctenarka se s nami podelila o jeji domaci recept na bramborove knedliky a vyresila tak naprostou ZAHADU, jakou mouku na tento recept pouzit: smichejte farinu/semolinu a wondru!

PS: Recept na houskove knedliky muzete najit zde.

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Tagged as: side dish

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REVISED list: Where to find Czech and Slovak groceries in the US stores / Kde najit Ceske a Slovenske potraviny v Americkych obchodech

Many of us , Czechs and Slovaks living in the US, have been on a desperate hunt for Czech/Slovak groceries. Some were more successful than others so I got the idea to ask around and here is what my friends (thanks you guys!!) and I put together.

PS: I read through your great comments and added most of the new goodies in (highlighted in red).

CZ: Vetsina z nas, Cechu a Slovaku zijicich v USA, ma ten samy problem. Jsme totiz na nekonecnem honu po ceskych. (nebo alespon podobne chutnajicich) potravinach Nekteri jedinci byli uspesnejsi nez zoufajici vetsina a tak jsem dostala napad optat se v okoli. Toto je list, ktery jsme vytvorily s mymi kamaradkami (diky holky!!).

PS: Procetla jsem vase vzacne komenty a vetsinu novych vecicek jsem k listu pridala – jsou zvyraznene cervene

1. Trader Joe’s

Trader Joe’s Yogurt cups (vanila & Cream yogurt) – tastes just like “Pribinacek“
Trader Joe’s rolls – Czech “rohliky“ (warm them up in the toaster oven)
Czech beers - Broucek, Starobrno, Krusovice, Staropramen
“Slivovitz” (green bottle) – tastes the same as the Czech Slivovice
Meringues (Trader Joe’s brand) – Czech “pusinky”
TJ Potato chips – taste like the ones from the Czech Fair (chutnaji jako ty z poute: premastene a preslanene..vyborne!!)
Mineral water – taste just like the one in Czech
Melta (barley coffee-like beverage) – Pero brand is made in Switzerland, it’s very good [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: food, practical

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Kulajda soup: Dill heaven / Kulajda: koprove nebe

Dill is one of the major spices used in the Czech cuisine. It pretty much shares the throne with parsley, caraway seeds and thyme. We make dill soups, dill gravy, dill cookies….(just kidding with the cookies!). The fancy name for dill weed is Anethum graveolens, a member of the parsley family. It is native to the eastern Mediterranean region and western Asia. The word dill comes from the old Norse word dylla, meaning to soothe or lull. It dates back in writing to about 3000 B.C., where it was mentioned in Egyptian medical texts. Czech dill soup is one of my all-time favorite dishes. It is a perfect winter meal because it is rich, creamy and nutritious – no need to have a second course after this baby :0)

CZ: Kopr spolu s petrzelkou, tymianem a kminem vladne ceske kuchyni. Delame z neho polevky, omacky, buchty (no to snad jeste ne)…..kopr je proste milacek vsech Cechu (a myslim ze i Slovaku). Nedavno jsem narazila na vyborny recept na koprovku, trosku jsem ho upravila a tady je. Sdilim s vami mou nove nalezenou kuchynskou pohadku :0) [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: meatless dish, soups

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Recipe list of Czech and Slovak Christmas cookies /Souhrn receptu na ceske a slovenske vanocni cukrovi

It is really getting close to Christmas and most of us are getting ready for some serious Christmas-cookie-baking marathon. I myself will be baking some more of vanilla crescents (there is never enough of those guys) and some vanocka. To make it easier for you here is a complete recipe list of them:

CZ: Vanoce se blizi a s nim i neodlucitelny maraton peceni vanocniho peciva. Aby se vam lepe peklo, udelala jsem list vsech vanocnich receptu tak si ohrnte rukavy a jde se do toho!

Rum balls/Rumove koule
Vanocka
Walnut Tarts/Orechove dorticky
Linz Tarts/ Linecka kolecka
Vanilla crescents/Vanilkove rohlicky

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Tagged as: Christmas, Christmas cookies, food, practical

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Another Christmas Cookie recipe: Martina’s Rum balls /Dalsi recept na vanocni cukrovi: Martininy rumove koule

Now that Thanksgiving is out of the way (still have a bellyache by the way) let’s talk CHRISTMAS!!! My Czech friend Martina agreed to some truly delicious guest post…

Ted kdyz je Dikuvzdani jiz za nami (porad mam z neho jeste precpane bricho), muzeme se zacit bavit o VANOCICH!! Moje kamaradka Martina (ceska) nam popisuje sve vanoce…plus vyborny recept.

CZECH COOKIE BAKING AND HOW CHRISTMAS IS THE TIME OF PEACE ;0)

- by Martina

When I think about a Christmas time back in Czech – when I was just a little girl – my mind pictures the classroom environment just before the winter break. The blackboard was written all over with notes for our teacher not to test us anymore since we had to be helping our moms with Christmas baking and had no time for studying. That’s right, we had to help with baking of the cookies, gluing them together with filling and decorating them. The note would usually sound something like this: “Christmas is the time for peace and not for testing; if we get an ‘F’, your fish will not taste the same’ (it rhymes in Czech)”. And to our surprise, the teachers took the note to their hearts and left us alone. Probably they were really afraid that their carp will not taste that good. It worked every year. [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: Christmas, Czech Christmas cookies, Stories of OTHERS, sweet kitchen, traditions

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