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Category: European – East

Strawberry Farmer’s Cheese Dumplings

Fruit dumplings are popular throughout Central Europe, but this recipe is different than others in that it is made with farmer’s cheese. Strawberry dumplings are our family’s favorite, but this recipe can be used with Italian prune plums or small apricots. Though many would see this as a dessert, and it could be, these are more traditionally eaten at lunch. The best farmer’s cheese for this recipe is one that resembles feta, though if only a “pot style” farmer’s cheese is available, a little more flour could be added to make it work. For lunch, it serves two. For dessert, it could serve four.

Grapefruit Chicken

Grapefruit, with some brandy and sherry, help make this French-inspired chicken dish deliciously succulent. This is one of the dishes I make to impress guests. It has a flambe step, which my husband loves to watch.

Chocolate Walnut Meringue Cookies

This is a nutty meringue cookie with a hint of chocolate flavor. This cookie can last for weeks. Because of that, during WWII, my mother-in-law sent a large batch to Jewish friends that were sadly taken to a concentration camp. These were a favorite of my husband’s father. My mother-in-law spread the batter in a pan, then cut them into squares. I prefer to bake them in individual traditional cookie rounds.

Lentils with an Egg Hat

In the Czech Republic, many restaurants stay open until the wee hours of the morning after the changing of the New Year, but offer a limited menu. The offering usually includes a lentils dish, since lentils represent luck and wealth. Like a breakfast hash, the lentil portion can be made the day before and quickly reheated and topped with a freshly cooked egg. The recipe below includes small diced ham with vegetables and herbs. It can easily be made vegetarian with just a couple changes.

Savory Whitefish and Pumpkin Pie

A tasty unique fall comfort pie!

Celeriac and Celery Soup

When I married my Czech hubby, I was introduced to some new foods. One of which was celery root (aka celeriac). This is a rather ugly looking root vegetable, but the flavor is delightful! I came up with this fairly light soup that includes both celery root and celery stalks. The root helps thicken the soup so that I need only use milk to give it creaminess. For me, it’s the ultimate in comfort food, and yet it can be a rather elegant start to many nice meals.

Sweet Plum Dumplings

Memory from my childhood. Our favourite fall sweets.

Quick-Pickled Beet Stems

This recipe helps eliminate food waste (since most people discard the beetroot’s stems) while also creating a uniquely tasty and simple side-dish filled with flavors and nutrients. It’s a total win! This dish is a unique family recipe that my grandpa (who lived until he was 100 years old) absolutely adored!

Tomato-cucumber salad

All summer long my family absolutely loves a simple salad of thin sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, because is fresh and pretty much can be eaten with any dish. But if you are busy person as I am, I am sure you don’t have time to make this salad everyday.
This is a trick that i discovered if you want to “meal-prep” when you have a few extra minutes that tastes really good.