Czechmatediary

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!

(more…)

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:
(more…)

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. (more…)

Skubanky is a traditional main course in the Czech Republic, but since it tastes sweet, Skubanky fits more into the dessert category if served in other countries. In the Western part of the Czech Republic it is also called kucmoch, however in both cases it is a simple meal out of boiled potatoes, little bit of flour, sugar and a lots of butter. CZ: Je na case uvarit si skubanky! Od te doby, co jsem je naposledy jedla uplynulo asi 100 let, tak jsem si rekla, ze je na case, aby si me chutove bunky trosku zavzpominaly. Me skubanky (nebo-li kucmoch) dopadli trosku ridce, ale stejne jsem si na nich pochutnala. Ingredients

:

• 2 lbs of potatoes (about 16 medium-sized potatoes; If you make a circle with the thumb and the index finger and let about 2 inch space between the tips, that is a medium potato)

- use Russet potatoes as they have the largest amount of potato starch in them

• 7 oz (1 cup) of all-purpose flour (Wondra flour works even better)
  
• 1 stick of melted butter
• ground poppy seeds (0r cinnamon) and sugar for dusting the škubánky

No. of servings: 4 (more…)

Livance could be described as something in between the French crepes and American pancakes, except livance are not as boring as the American pancakes and not as fufu as crepes – they are just right. For those who are not familiar with them, livance are small, slightly sweetened spongy cakes which are usually served with sweet toppings. Although the recipe itself is very simple you can let your imagination run wild when it comes to these toppings. The traditional decorations are any kind of jam, whipped cream and fruit on top….very Jenny Craig style :0)

Ingredients (makes about 10 livance):

• 2 cups of sour cream
• 1 cup of all-purpose flour
• 3 Tbs sugar
• 2 Tsp of baking powder
• 1/4 Tsp of salt
• 3 eggs
• oil for frying
• Topping material: strawberry jam, whipped cream, fruit (blueberries, strawberries..); nutella…….anything! (more…)

Since February is a love month (i.e. St. Valentine’s Day) I decided to provide you with a sweet recipe – the Palacinky!! Palacinky are the French-style crepes but better. The wonderful thing about them is that you can have them sweet-style (like in the recipe provided bellow) or you can serve them salty-style, filling them up with some warmed-up spinach, bacon, roasted garlic, shredded cheese – and I cannot write about this anymore since my mouth is filling up with drool – you get the point. Enjoy!!!

PS: I attached a very fitting  YouTube video which will entertain the little ones but it can also be used as a language learning tool since the piggies talk quite slow )

CZ: Jelikoz unor je mesic lasky, recept na sladoucke palacinky se sem hodi jako ulity! Nic vam o nich nemusim vysvetlovat, kazdy tento bozsky pokrm zna. Co je ale dobre na tomto receptu je to, ze jsem ho predelala do americkeho (nemetrickeho) systemu. Prilozene je take kratke palacinkove video, urcene zejmena  pro ty nejmensi. Dobrou chut! (more…)

Vanocka ( = “Christmas bread”) has a long history in Czech and Slovakia and without it Christmas is simply just not complete. In the past the Czechs called it pletenice or zemle or ceplik. Before the 18th century it could only be bought at the baker store – people never baked it at home. Since preparing Vanocka wasn’t and isn’t easy, a variety of customs have developed over time to make sure that the baking process is successful. One of those customs, for example, was for the woman to wear a white apron and kerchief while she was cooking so she couldn’t talk, AND she was supposed to jump up and down while the dough was rising (I personally still do that and my Vanocka always comes out perfect; one time I wore an apron that was green and instead of Vanocka I found a baked pig in my oven! So all that to say, please make sure that your apron is WHITE!). Another tradition was (and still is) to bake it with a coin which you insert into a dough prior to baking and whoever finds it in their slice is to be wealthy the following year.

CZ: Jak vsichni vime, bez Vanocky proste nejsou zadne Vanoce. Nagooglovala jsem si jeji historii a predstavte si, ze az do 18. stoleti byla k dostani pouze u pekare! Nikdo si ji “nedovolil” pect doma. Dnes jsou ale jine casy, zeny jsou emancipovane a nejaky ten obtiznejsi recept je preci nezastavi. Tak jdeme na to! Jo, a malem jsem zapomnela; jestlize se bojite toho zapletani copu, nebojte se, je tu YouTube! (more…)

I have already revealed the “secret” recipes of Vanilkove Rohlicky and Linecka kolecka. The Christmas cookie journey is far from being over however. Czech Christmas would not be complete if one did not serve Orechove dorticky (Walnut Tarts). Many of you may know them under a completely different name such as “Grandma’s circles” or “Chocolate circles” or some other names that I am not even aware of. As you will see from the recipe bellow, this Christmas dessert truly is a chocolate suicide. But who cares? It’s Christmas – calories don’t count!

CZ: V nedavne minulosti jsem vam jiz predstavila jak recept na vanilkove rohlicky, tak na linecka kolecka; to ale samozrejmne neni zdaleka konec vanocniho cukrovi – spise zacatek! Dnes se podivame na Orechove dotrticky, ktere jsou zname take pod jmeny jako “babiccina kolecka” nebo “cokoladova kolecka” (a vy je mozna znate i pod jinym jmenem!). Na rozdil od mych predeslych receptu, zdanlive nevinne orechove dorticky jsou prakticky cokoladovou sebevrazdou, nebo-li kalorickou bombou. Nastesti jsou ale Vanoce a kalorie se v prosinci nepocitaji… (more…)

Christmas is just around the corner and I figured I would post some Christmas recipes a little earlier (click here for more Christmas recipes) so that everyone has enough time to practice. This time I am going to show you how to make the most delicious Christmas cookies called Linecka kolecka (or some call them Linecke kolacky).They taste heavenly (I am serious) and are quite easy to make once you get the hang of it. Couple of things you need to be aware of, however: 1/ they are VERY fattening 2/the dough is made mostly of butter (hence the warning no.1) so if it becomes too soft it is almost impossible to work with (the solution to the problem is listed bellow). So roll up your sleeves and let’s go! (more…)

Summer is almost here so let’s get ready for it! Besides Bublanina, Ovocne knedliky (Fruit Dumplings) are definitely the signature Czech (and Slovak) summer dish. Dumplings in general are eaten by a variety of cultures ranging from the Armenians, Chinese and Jamaicans to the Dutch, Irish and of course the Eastern Europeans. They can taste sweet or savory – both equally good choices. The Ovocne knedliky belong to the sweet-tasting dumpling family as they are filled with fruit. One can stuff them with any kind of fruit imaginable; if you want to you use kiwis, go for it (although I am not sure about the taste)! The strawberry dumplings are the best though and that is what am I presenting to you today. (more…)