Transylvanian Cream of Mushroom Soup
This cream of mushroom soup recipe was translated from a Transylvanian cookbook titled Erdélyi Lakoma (1980) I found during a visit in Budapest.
If you love butter, you’ll love this soup. ;) Let me know if you try it!
mushroom soup
Ingredients
Makes 6-8 servings
1 small onion
500 g wild mushrooms
225 g butter
salt and pepper
parsley, small bunch
1 L chicken or bone broth
3 egg yolks
1 tbsp of flour
240 g of sour cream
Method
01 Prep
Clean and slice 500 g of fresh wild mushrooms. Grate 1 small onion.
02 Make the base
Simmer one grated onion in half of the butter. Once translucent, add in the mushrooms and season them with salt and pepper. Add in a small bunch of finely chopped parsley. Cook this until the mushrooms become soft.
Add in 1 L of chicken or bone broth and the remaining butter. Cook until the butter melts.
03 Thicken the soup
In a separate bowl, combine 3 egg yolks, 240 g of sour cream, 1 tbsp of flour and mix. To this mixture, add a small ladleful of soup.
Slowly add this mixture into the soup while stirring. Stir and season it again before serving. Enjoy!
Note: This recipe calls for wild Erdélyi mushrooms, but any will do. I typically do a mix of 2-3 different types, and you can always opt for just brown and white ones.
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Goulash Soup (Gulyas Leves)
Nothing is more hungarian than goulash, and if you’re in the mood for something hearty you really can’t go wrong. for me, stew is not an every day thing, so i find myself making goulash soup much more often.
When I think about the food my grandmother would make growing up two dishes come to mind: chicken paprikas and goulash soup. These two were staples in our family.
Thinking back on my childhood in Niagara, I picture my grandfather, dad, uncle, aunt and cousins all sitting around our farm table, breaking bread, and taking in the flavours.
I’ll always be really fond of these memories because even though the food was 5-star worthy, it didn’t come with the pretension of fine-dining. Crumbs belonged on the table, broth sometimes stuck to the ends of my grandfather’s moustache, and my grandmother endlessly shuffled and rearranged things to make room for more.
Don’t get me wrong — there’s a time and place for everything. Though sometimes it’s not just the taste that makes food memorable but rather the experience you had while eating it.
I know…this recipe is long overdue, and I’m sorry it’s taken so long to get this post written. I spent a few days in Paris eating and baking (I took a Choux baking class — stay tuned for more about that), and after a delayed flight on the way back I haven’t had enough time to dedicate to getting this post finished.
It’s better late than never though!
Hope you enjoy! Jó étvágy!
Ingredients
Goulash Soup (Gulyas Leves)
600 g beef (a well marbled chunk)
50 g bacon
300 g onions
2 – 3 carrots
1 small turnip
400 g potatoes, no skin
1 tbsp sweet paprika
2 bay leaves
½ tbsp hot paprika paste (Csípős Huszár)
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 small tomato
1 tbs pork lard
Parsley, to taste
2.5 L water
CSIPETKÉ (NOODLES)
1 egg
80 g flour
1 tsp salt
METHOD
01 COOK THE ONIONS & BACON
Cube your meat into 1 to 2 inch pieces, and finely chop your onions.
Warm your lard in a soup pot over medium heat. Add your chopped onions and bacon and cook them until the onions are glassy.
Mix and add the sweet paprika into 100 ml of water, and then add it into your pot. Cook this until most of the water has evaporated and then add in the beef, tomato, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. Let this cook for about an hour on low heat (covered with the lid).
02 CHOP THE ROOTS & TAKE A BREAK
While you wait you can wash and chop your carrots, turnip and potatoes. If you have some time to spare take a break and maybe watch some Netflix. :D
03 ADD IN THE ROOTS & LET SIMMER
After the hour has passed, you can add in your paprika paste, carrot, potato, and turnip. Mix it up and add some chopped parsley.
[*Note: This would also be the moment you’d add garlic (~2 cloves) if you desire. I didn’t include it in my recipe since the region my family is from didn’t particularly use it.]
Pour in about 2.5 L of water and let it cook about another hour (covered with the lid).
04 GET STARTED ON THE CSIPETKÉ
Meanwhile, you can start making the csipetké (a special type of noodle typically used in this soup).
Place some flour into a bowl, create a crater in the centre, and crack in one egg. Slowly mix them until they are completely combined. Then continue to work this dough for about 7-10 minutes.
Roll the dough out over some flour and then sprinkle some over top. Pinch off a small piece of dough and roll each one into a ball (they grow about 2 times their initial size after they’re cooked). Don’t worry they don’t have to be all the same size either. I like to mix it up!
05 HOME STRETCH!
Once the soup is nearly done, drop the noodles into the pot, and let them cook for about 5-10 minutes.
Okay, so that’s it! You did it. All that hard work is over and you can now enjoy the fruit of your labour.
06 TIME TO EAT!
Get yourself a nice slice of bread and let someone else serve you the bowl. You’ve done your part.
Have you made this before? I would love to know what your family does differently. Let me know in the comments below! :)
Tailor Collar Soup (Szabógallér Leves)
Surnames that denote your occupation are some of the most common and characteristic in Hungary. I remember growing up and wondering what my last name translated to and having my uncle take out an old Hungarian-English dictionary to show me. He flipped through the pages and then put his finger on the word ‘tailor’.
Many foods have nothing to do with their name. Some take on the name of their creator, or whom they were created for. However, there are many recipes for which the etymology behind them is lost such as this one.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find anything on the history of this soup (if you know something I’d love to hear). What I do know is that it’s a Transylvanian soup which directly translates to “tailor collar soup”, but some also refer to it as “stain glass soup”.
I’d like to note that many families have their way of making this soup; however, this is the simplest recipe I took from Erdélyi Lakoma, 1980. The one thing I added was the chicken, but you can also add a chopped carrot into the broth and many families also include meat in the raviolis.
Ingredients
Tailor Collar Soup (Szabógallér Leves)
1 L water or chicken broth
1 large egg
150 g flour
1 large onion
50 g lard or sunflower oil
1/2-1 tsp paprika
Salt and pepper, to taste
Parsley, a bunch
300 g chicken (optional)
METHOD
01 FRY UP YOUR ONIONS
Chop your onion and fry it with a little fat or oil in a medium soup pot. Add some pepper & salt and set it aside to cool.
02 MAKE THOSE RAVIOLIS
Prepare the raviolis by mixing your egg into flour with a little salt. Knead the dough considerably, and then use a pasta roller to roll out the dough (thinly). Divide it into 2 equal parts.
Add the onions to the dough and fold them in half to make large or small rectangles. Use a wooden spoon to push the rest of the onion into a cube to prevent the stuffing from coming out of the dough and carefully cut with a knife.
03 GET STARTED ON THE BROTH
Add your broth to the remaining onions in the pot. Place in your chicken and season with salt, pepper, and paprika. Chop up your parsley and let the soup simmer for about 25 minutes or until the chicken has cooked.
04 PULL APART THE CHICKEN
Take out and pull apart the chicken to bite sized pieces. Place them back in the pot.
05 COOK THE RAVIOLIS
Cook your raviolis in the soup about 5-7 minutes before serving.
06 SERVE & ENJOY!
You know what to do! :)
Sour Cream Soup (Tejfölös Leves)
So far Our winter has been pretty mild here in prague, but it’s still thankfully cold enough for a bowl of hot soup.
After a full day of teaching, I wasn’t really in the mood to spend a lot of time cooking — but, I still felt like trying something new. While flipping through my favourite Transylvanian cookbook [Erdélyi Lakoma, 1980], I found an easy recipe for this sour cream soup.
I adapted this recipe a little by adding some carrots and noodles, although next time I’ll probably add some potato as well.
Note: I wasn’t in love with the idea of the nutmeg in this recipe, but it surprisingly added a subtle unexpectedly savoury flavour that complimented the sour cream.
Ingredients
Sour Cream Soup
1 tsp butter
1 tbs flour
1 yellow onion
700 ml broth
150 g sour cream
2 nutmeg seeds
cumin seeds, a pinch
salt and pepper, to taste
100 g noodles
method
01 PREPARTION
Finely chop your onions, and then chop your carrots into small disks.
02 MAKE YOUR BASE
Slowly melt your butter in a medium soup pot. Add your onions and cook them until they are glossy. Next add a tablespoon of flour and mix this until it’s evenly distributed.
03 MAKE YOUR BROTH
Add your carrots, cumin seeds, pepper, and nutmeg. Give it a good stir and cook for about 2 minutes. After this, add in your chicken broth, and then cover it with a lid. Let it simmer for about 30 minutes.
04 MAKE IT CREAMY
Once the carrots have softened you can add some salt and sour cream. (Slowly add the sour scream by mixing it with some hot broth in a separate container. This will keep it from clumping in the soup.)
05 ADD IN SOME NOODLES
Cook noodles one the side, and add them when serving.
06 SERVE & ENJOY!
I served it with some fresh baked baguette and butter.
[*Note: The recipe I adapted this from mentions that you can serve it with roasted (hot) nuts. I wasn’t sure which nuts would go well, so I added some carrots and noodles this time.]
Delicious Chicken & Zucchini Orzo Soup
After taking the night train back from Krakow to Prague last Sunday, we were both feeling pretty groggy and just wanted something warm. We made it back home at around 7 AM, dropped our luggage off, started some laundry and made a mad dash for groceries.
Feeling kind of like chicken soup, but with a lot more vegetables, I decided to put my spin on a chicken orzo soup recipe I found earlier. It turned out reaaally good.
Here it goes!
Ingredients
Chicken & Zucchini Orzo Soup
1 (300 g) zucchini
3 (2 g) cloves garlic
1/2 (100 g) red pepper
2 (100 g) carrots
1 (8 g) onion
salt and pepper, to taste
6-8 peppercorns
1/4 tsp rosemary
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp Italian spice mix
2 (300 g) chicken breast
1.5 cups (300 g) orzo
4 cups (1 L) chicken broth
METHOD
01 PREPATION
First, crush the garlic and then wash and slice the carrots, zucchini and pepper into 3 cm pieces.
02 COOK YOUR ONIONS
Add about 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil (or lard) into your cooking pot, then add your onions. Cook the onions for about 2 minutes, then add your crushed garlic. Do this until they’re soft and glassy.
03 MAKE THE BROTH
Then, add your vegetables, and rosemary, oregano, and Italian spice mix. You can also add some chopped parsley & green onions, and cook on medium heat for 3-4 minutes (stirring occasionally).
Now add two full pieces of chicken breast into your pot and let it simmer for 4 minutes covered with the lid.
Pour in the chicken broth, orzo, add some salt and pepper to taste, and cook on low heat until the vegetables are soft (keep the lid on the whole time).
04 EATING TIME!
You don’t need my help with this step. ;)
Spicy Hungarian Sausage Soup
Ingredients
Spicy Hungarian Sausage Soup
4 large yellow potatoes
¼ turnip root
100 g spicy Hungarian sausage
4 carrots
1 medium yellow onion
1 green pepper
1 clove of garlic
2 tbs sour cream
1 tbs fine flour
1 tsp spicy paprika
1 bunch fresh parsley
Salt, to taste
6-10 peppercorns
2 bay leaves
Pinch of rosemary
2 tbs pork lard (or sunflower oil)
1L broth
METHOD
01 PREPATION
Wash, peel, and chop your potatoes, turnip, and carrots.
02 COOK THE ONIONS
Chop and sauté the onions on heated oil/fat until they are glassy – then add the chopped vegetables and cook for about ~5 minutes on high heat.
03 START THE BROTH
Add the chopped sausage and garlic to the mixture and cook for ~2 minutes. Add a tsp of flour and mix. Then pour in ~200ml of broth mixed with spicy paprika (to keep from clumping).
Stir and then add the remaining broth. Bring to a boil, then add the bay leaves, peppercorns, rosemary, salt, and parsley. Cook on medium heat with the lid on until the vegetables are soft.
04 SERVE & ENJOY!
At the end, add a scoop of sour cream to the soup, and serve with fresh parsley.
Chicken Soup with Paprika
It’s been about three months since I moved to Prague from Canada, and although the food is good, nothing beats home.
The heat wave that was moving through Prague has finally passed, and the cloudy, rainy days have set in. Fall has finally hit and I need some comfort food to ease my homesickness. To me, there’s nothing more comforting than a bowl of my Mama’s soup. This recipe is a perfect example of the magic of Hungarian cooking – transforming some of the simplest and most basic ingredients into something insanely delicious.
Ingredients
Chicken Soup with Paprika
1kg chicken (legs & breasts)
500 g green peas
mixed vegetables (4-6 big carrots, ½ celery root, 1 large potato)
1 large finely chopped yellow onion
1 head of garlic (halved)
3 tbs sunflower oil
salt & peppercorns to taste
2 tbs sweet paprika
parsley, a bunch
spring onions, to taste
1 L chicken broth
METHOD
01 PREPARTION
Thoroughly clean the chicken, finely chop the yellow onion, and dice the vegetables into cubes (skins peeled). Once these are prepped, heat the cooking oil until hot and then add the yellow onions into your pot.
02 COOK THE ONIONS
Cook the onions until they are glassy, then add the diced vegetables and cook these together for about 5-7 minutes over medium-high heat. Next, measure out ~200 ml of broth and pour the paprika into it.
03 MAKE YOUR BROTH
Stir this mixture so that the paprika doesn’t clump, then add it into your pot along with the remaining broth. Add the salt, pepper, meat, parsley, green onions and garlic.
Turn the heat down to a simmer, close your lid, and let it cook for about an hour (don’t lift the lid – I know it’s tempting!). Once an hour has gone by, give the soup a taste & add more salt and pepper if you need it.
04 SERVE & ENJOY!
Then, add your green peas a few minutes before serving so the stay a bright green colour.
Now, get yourself a bowl & ENJOY!
Autumn Green Bean Soup
It’s been about two months since I moved to Prague from Canada, and although the food is good, nothing beats home. The heat wave that was moving through the city has finally passed and the cloudy, rainy days have finally set in. Fall feels like it’s just around the corner and I need some comfort food to ease my homesickness.
To me, there’s nothing more comforting than a bowl of my Mama’s soup. This recipe is a perfect example of the magic of Hungarian cooking – making some of the simplest and most basic ingredients into something far more special.
Ingredients
Autumn Green Bean Soup
2 tbs (30 ml) sunflower oil (or lard)
3-4 cups (450-600 g) green wax beans, cut into 1-2 inch pieces
1 medium white onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of crushed garlic
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
3-4 carrots, peeled and sliced into disks
7.5 cups (~1.5 L) chicken broth
sour cream, to taste
1 tsp (3 g) corn flour
1 tsp (3 g) sweet paprika
salt, to taste
1 bay leaf
7-10 peppercorns
fresh parsley & dill
METHOD
01 PREPARATION
First, wash and slice the green beans into 1-2 inch pieces, finely chop the onions, slice the carrots, cube the potatoes, and crush the garlic.
02 COOK YOUR ONIONS
Add about 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil (or lard) into your cooking pot, then add your onions. Cook the onions for about 2 minutes, then add your crushed garlic. Do this until they’re soft and glassy.
03 MAKE YOUR BROTH
Take your pot off the heat and stir in about 200 ml of chicken broth mixed with a teaspoonful of paprika powder (to prevent clumping). Then, add your vegetables, some chopped parsley & dill, and cook on medium heat for 3-4 minutes (stirring occasionally).
Pour in the remaining broth, add some salt and pepper to taste, drop in your bay leaf, and cook on low heat until the vegetables are soft (keep the lid on the whole time).
04 ADD SOME SOUR CREAM
Evenly combine a teaspoon of corn flour with your sour cream. Then add and mix some of the soup’s liquid into it to even out the temperature. Add this mixture into the soup and let it simmer until the soup thickens a bit.
05 SERVE & ENJOY!
Then, serve it with fresh crusty bread & butter.