Hungarian Pepper Stew

In anticipation of the class I'll be attending at Zingerman's Bakehouse on Saturday - "A Taste of Hungary with Amy and Frank" - in which I'll be learning all about the country's little-known cuisine (and tasting lots of treats!), I prepared a dish that Zingerman's co-founder Ari Weinzweig described enticingly in the May-June issue of Zing-Dish, the company newsletter.

Lecsó [LEH-tchoh] is a pepper and onion stew that showcases vegetables, which are integral to Hungarian cooking.  As Ari writes, famed restaurateur, cookbook author, and expert on Hungarian cuisine, George Lang, stated that "In Hungary, vegetables are not just 'cooked,' they are 'prepared' ....  (And lecsó is) one of the most ingeniously used vegetable dishes in the Hungarian kitchen."

Ari discusses different versions of this classic that he tasted while travelling in Hungary, stating that there are variations in the degree of spice and heat used, and that some people stir an egg into the stew once it's finished.  He continues by telling that the dish doesn't necessarily require bacon, "but of course ... then it won't have any bacon in it."  And as a girl who giddily swooned over swine at Baconfest Michigan, I would clearly vote in favor of bacon!

A description of the procedure for making lecsó is given, but no specific recipe; so I concocted my own version while following the general directions.  The dish turned out to be fragrant, colorful, easy to make, and fabulously flavorful; prepare it with gorgeous summer vegetables, and make it your own.  With or without the bacon, with or without egg or sour cream, with or without spicy heat, you should definitely give it a try.

Hungarian Pepper Stew)

4 strips bacon, cut into 1" pieces
1 medium onion, halved, cut into medium slices, slices separated
2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
2 red peppers, seeded, halved vertically, cut into 1/2" strips
1 yellow pepper, seeded, halved vertically, cut into 1/2" strips
1 long yellow Hungarian pepper, seeded, quartered, cut into 1/2" strips
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
sour cream, for serving

In a large saucepan, cook the bacon over medium-low heat for 5 minutes until browning but not crisp.  Add onion and half of the salt; cook on low for 5 minutes, until the onion is softened.

Add the peppers and the rest of the salt; cover and cook for 15 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, red pepper flakes, and both varieties of paprika; cover and cook for 15 more minutes.

Add a splash of water if the vegetables have no liquid; this dish should "have the texture of a vegetable stew," according to Ari.

Serves 2 generously as a stew.  Serves 4 as an entree over rice, noodles, or polenta.  Serves 6-8 as a side dish.

Serve with sour cream, which can be stirred into the lecsó if desired.

Piepalooza - The Perry Pi Day Party

I ate very, very well last week!

My social butterfly-dom was in stellar form, with fabulous friends, good causes to support, and great food ... :)  Coffee dates on Monday and Thursday, Piepalooza to support the Perry Nursery School for at-risk children on Wednesday, Temple Beth Emeth's Brisket Bake-Off on Saturday, and the Zingerman's Tour de Food Gatherers on Sunday - wow.  Boy, have I had fun!

Today, I'll tell you how great it was to have pie at dinner and to start my meal with dessert.

I was one of two judges for the Cream/Custard/Meringue category at Piepalooza, so I was the giddy taster of chocolate, coconut, lemon, pumpkin, peanut butter, and cream pies ... sigh.  So much love and care had gone into the entries!  Each was delicious in its own way, truly - I was a very happy camper, and seriously challenged in weighing each offering against the others.

When the points were tallied for my division of the competition, the charming picnic basket pie carrier - emblazoned with a tag announcing that it was the prize for "Best Tasting Pie" in its category - was awarded to the beautiful, rich, decadent Chocolate Cream Pie (above) prepared by June Geise (left). Her sorority sisters - who were wonderful, welcoming volunteers at the event - were so thrilled for her!

A fresh raspberry pie won in the Fruit category, while a Toll House pie won the "catch-all" Other category. And yes, despite my feet hurting in brand new gorgeous red pumps, I boogied over to try both of those fabulous achievements ... as well as a divine pie baked by Lia Dykstra (whose mom, Marcia, is on the Perry Board of Directors and is responsible for my invitation to the party - thank you!), which had a shortbread crust, a marzipan-like layer of almond filling, and a topping of raspberry jam ... and a creamy, peanut buttery pie prepared by fabulous teacher Sheila Metz (whose class of little ones prepared individual cherry cheesecake tarts for the competition) ... and a luscious rhubarb pie (I adore rhubarb!) ... and a rich pecan pie ....  Oh, I think I sampled a good 75% of the 20 entries, once they were divvied up to serve to all the guests!

And then there was dinner!!!

Dinner consisted of lovely finger foods and hors d'oeuvres ... here, let me show you:

Zingerman's donated some beautiful pies for the Pie Walk:

And I even won my chosen auction item: a beautiful basket with a birdhouse that has a chili pepper decor (perfect for a Food Floozie's yard!), a tiered tea candle holder, a membership to English Gardens, and flower seeds to spiff up my back yard this summer ... yay!

Now I'm going to run a marathon and do a wheat grass fast to recover from the week's hedonism ... yeah, pffft!  I'm already looking forward to next year's Perry Nursery School fundraiser - a celebration of cakes and cupcakes!

Frugal Floozie Friday - Tour de Food Gatherers

   
We're taking a bit of a detour this week for Frugal Floozie Friday.  Oh, don't worry - we're still talkin' 'bout food, and focusing on great deals at local establishments!  But this time, our budget of $5 per person isn't being spent at a restaurant.  Instead, I'm featuring a way to have that meager amount of money go towards feeding as many as 15 people rather than just one.  Who knew my frugal skills were so finely honed???

Actually, I don't even think I could accomplish that feat, despite being a great sale shopper!  But Food Gatherers can.

And so, today's post isn't about a fabulous deal at a restaurant; rather, it's about how you can enjoy food and fun for free - yes, free! - while helping to get our regular $5 Frugal Floozie Friday budget donated to Food Gatherers so that this amazing organization can feed the hungry in our area.

Today's Frugal Floozie Friday feature is the Zingerman's Tour de Food, being called affectionately the Tour de Food Gatherers for the months of March and April.  You won't have to spend a penny while tasting great treats - really!

Just visit each of the five Zingerman's shops within a 24-hour period any time before April 30.  Taste all the great samples that are offered to visitors each day, get your "passport" stamped at each place, then turn in your sheet at the end of your tour.  Enjoy baked goods, coffee, cheese, and other goodies, all at no charge - a price tag that's definitely within our mandatory Frugal Floozie Friday budget of $5 per person!  And for each person who turns in a form, Zingerman's will donate the $5 you didn't have to spend to Food Gatherers, one of my very favorite organizations.

Food Gatherers "is not only Michigan's first food rescue program, but the first program of its kind to be founded by a for-profit business ... Zingerman's Delicatessen.  In 1997, Food Gatherers also assumed responsibility for the county food bank.  Today, it is an independent 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization governed by a board of directors and operated by 22 staff people and more than 5,000 different dedicated volunteers.  Food Gatherers is now the primary distributor of food in Washtenaw County."

Through lots of hard work and the support of its many friends and supporters, Food Gatherers "provides enough food for more than 12,000 meals a day," bringing nourishment "to more than 150 community programs serving ... mostly families and children."

So, let's all do what we can to support this great cause!  Here are the participating sites to visit and taste samples at: Zingerman's Deli, Bakehouse, Roadhouse, Creamery, and Coffee Company.  Start wherever you like, end wherever you like, just be sure to visit each of the five within a 24-hour period and to get your "passport" stamped at each one.

Eat!  Eat well.  Eat for free.  And help your neighbors in need to eat, too.

Summer Vegetable and Bacon Sandwich

Tom and I ate dinner together the other night, and made ourselves a hot, open-faced sandwich very typical of what he eats on a regular basis. Tom often stir-fries vegetables, and he adores sandwiches; so we combined them into one happy dish.

His sister Anne (whom we consider to be our guardian angel) had recently visited from Kentucky and very much wanted to shop at Zingerman's, since she regularly gets their catalogues. So Tom had taken her to the Bakehouse to buy coffee cakes and other treats, both for gifts and for herself ('cause she's worth it!). And, well, of course he couldn't leave there without buying himself a present too - a loaf of Sicilian Sesame Semolina Bread.

So, for our dinner we started with one slice each of the bread, lightly toasted so that it wouldn't be too crispy when we tried to cut into it. We then peered into the refrigerator and found a lovely assortment of fresh vegetables, as well as some fabulous maple-flavored bacon. Toss in a little bit of the white cheddar that I'd contributed to the cause, and voila - dinner!

This was immensely flavorful, easy to make, and was a perfect light meal for a summer evening.

Summer Vegetable and Bacon Sandwich

5 slices maple-flavored bacon, cut into 1" pieces
1/2 small red onion, halved, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 zucchini, quartered lengthwise, sliced
6 asparagus, cut into 1" pieces
2 cups baby spinach leaves
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 slices Zingerman's Sesame Semolina Bread
2 slices white cheddar cheese

In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium until starting to turn golden. Add onion, garlic, zucchini and asparagus; cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes until vegetables are tender and caramelized. Add spinach, salt and pepper; turn off heat, and let spinach wilt.

Lightly toast the slices of bread.

Place 1 slice of toast onto each of 2 serving plates. Divide vegetable-bacon mixture, pouring it over the toast. Top with cheese and microwave for 30 seconds or so, just until melted.

Serve immediately, with pickles or chips or fruit on the side.

Serves 2.

Vietnamese Caramelized Pork with Shredded Cabbage

First things first -- gotta promote the locals!

Ann Arbor favorite Zingerman's will have its Zzang! Bars featured on the Food Network's "Kid in a Candy Store" TONIGHT at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT. Buy a bar, watch the show!

The Zingerman's empire is also home to newly crowned 2011 James Beard Award-winning "Best Chef: Great Lakes" -- Alex Young of Zingerman's Roadhouse. Mazal Tov on the enormous honor!!! (In the food world, this is like winning an Oscar!)

Now, on to today's recipe ... :)


I hadn't had this dish in ages and ages ... I made it for Jeremy once, years ago, and he adored it. So now that my kitchen is my own, I thought it was time to make it again.

For those who haven't tried cooking with fish sauce yet or who are leery of it, let me assure you that this ingredient -- which is critical to Vietnamese cooking -- is not overpoweringly fishy. Just because it's fermented doesn't mean your food will smell pickled!

Just as the anchovies in my Pasta con Aglio e Olio don't do a little dance to draw attention to themselves, the fish sauce in this pork dish only serves to enhance rather than offend. As always, trust me.

After all, I don't ever want anyone trying one of my recipes and saying, "Ewwww!!! She's suffering from delusions, thinking she can cook! I'm never coming back here again!" Uh uh. Unless there's a saga to tell, as there was with my two failed attempts at making hamantaschen before the third time proved to be the charm, I will only give you recipes I can vouch for ... :)

Vietnamese Caramelized Pork with Shredded Cabbage

Cabbage:
1 tablespoon oil
2 cups cole slaw mix
generous sprinkling of freshly ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Heat the oil in a small skillet over medium heat, then add the rest of the ingredients. Saute for 5 minutes or so, until just softened and starting to caramelize a bit.

Pork:
1 cup sugar
3/4 pound pork cubes
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
generous sprinkling of freshly ground pepper
pinch of red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon teriyaki sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 small onion, halved, sliced

In a medium skillet, heat the sugar over medium heat until it melts and turns golden.




Add the pork and stir to coat. (If the sugar clumps up, don't worry; it should melt. And if it doesn't -- as happened when I was making this for the blog -- just scoop out any hard pieces.) Add the salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, fish sauce, teriyaki sauce, and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until the pork is no longer pink.

Add the onion, and continue cooking over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the pork is coated with the glaze.

Serve the pork and onions over the cabbage.

Serves 2.

Moonwinks Cafe

Moonwinks Cafe is a charming coffee shop that I have been visiting on a semi-regular basis for several years now. Because of appointments in the area recently, I've become rather a regular in the past few weeks; and so it only seemed fitting to tell about this wonderful place.

I had thought that it was a bit of a secret, out on the north end of town, but apparently I was quite mistaken: I was thrilled when Moonwinks placed 3rd in AnnArbor.com's recent poll to find the best coffeehouse in Ann Arbor. Another contender disparaged this lovely place as merely "a sandwich shop," which is unfair because Moonwinks is so much more than that! You can go to Subway or Quizno's or Jimmy John's, after all, if you only want a sandwich. I go to Moonwinks for coffee and treats, a warm welcome, and a place to linger with loved ones.

It's not a franchise, and it's not a bustling take-out kind of place. It's not the sort of coffee shop where you rush in to grab something to go ... you could do that, certainly, but then you'd be missing the point.

Instead, Moonwinks is the sort of place to sit and read your paper or play a board game (many of which are provided on shelves). It's the sort of place that's actually conducive to the old-fashioned art of conversation. One afternoon, I even witnessed a knitting group happily enjoying time with warm drinks, a cherished hobby, and good friends ... they were so happy! You could bring a laptop with you and do the "coffice" (coffee + office) thing there, but it would almost seem out of place.

I haven't eaten much at Moonwinks, admittedly, although a lovely assortment of breakfast treats, quiches, salads and, yes, sandwiches is offered. It seems I'm usually there fairly soon after having eaten breakfast or in the late afternoon before I go home to prepare dinner. So I can attest to the lightness and sweetness of the very generously sized blueberry muffin I once had, but can only tell you -- rather than describing in luscious detail --that everything else looks incredibly tempting. I definitely need to work on my timing in order to eat more of the offerings there!

Instead, I usually order coffee (proudly roasted by Ann Arbor's own Zingerman's), and must absolutely rave about the Sweet Almond Mocha confection pictured above! I had gone up to the counter with notions of chai running through my head; but when I saw the featured drinks, I immediately swooned over this sweet, chocolatey, whipped-cream laden feast -- it was truly like drinking a dessert!

Moonwinks also offers Ashby's Sterling ice cream, a "Family-Owned, Michigan Brand, Gourmet, Award-Winning Ice Cream" ... that is pretty hard to beat. Now that there's a hint of spring returning, shakes and sundaes are sounding good!

The story behind the cafe's name is very sweet, involving the owner's parents and how they met at the Moonwinks Restaurant and Bar in New York state many years ago, in 1941. As the website says, "The name, Moonwinks, has always signified a very special location for the beginning of a lasting and loving relationship."

It represents not only the lasting and loving relationship of the owner's parents, but also the relationship you'll develop with the cafe yourself ... :)


Disclosure: I happen to know the owner of Moonwinks, and think it's only fair to let everyone in on that little tidbit. However, I fell in love with this utterly charming cafe long before finding out that I knew her. So my opinion is truly sincere, and I only have more affection for Moonwinks after finding out that such a lovely woman happens to be responsible for the warmth and hospitality ... :)

Zingerman's Zzang! Bar

A couple of weeks ago, when I got to spend the afternoon with the fabulous cookbook author Joan Nathan before her appearance at the Jewish Book Festival, I was one of two attendants during her book signing at the famous Zingerman's Deli. The other was a very charming young man named Freddy Rosenthal, who works in sales for Zingerman's Candy Manufactory.

While waiting for devoted fans to come in at the appointed time (and one of these was a woman who drove an hour from Toledo just for the occasion!), Joan was trying to decide what gifts to send to her children from one of her very favorite food shops. She looked at the counters, she perused the catalogue, and Freddy very patiently helped her to sort through all the amazing options.

Joan had specifically asked what new items there might be since her last visit to Ann Arbor, oh, maybe 5 years earlier. Candy bars. Chocolate bars. Rich, thick, delicious candy bars that one woman, who was bringing cookbooks to the table for ready signing, described as "what a Snickers wants to be when it grows up." Zzang! Bars.

Well, that certainly sounded intriguing! So Freddy went off to bring Joan a sample ... and kind, sweet gentleman that he is, he brought one for me, too. I, of course, was going to be headed to dinner at eve an hour later; and I also had Tom and Jeremy to share my prize with, so I saved it until it could be properly savored. But Freddy had also brought a bar that he'd cut into pieces for tasting, and I have to say that it was exceptional!

Here's how it's described on Zingerman's website:

Zzang!® Original
Charlie starts with honey nougat made with natural peanut butter. He rolls it up in a silky caramel made from organic muscovado brown sugar. The biggest and best Virginia peanuts come next, and the whole endeavor's finished off with a hand dip into a rich bath of 64 percent dark Ecuadorian chocolate.

Are you sorely tempted now, or what???

If you can't find Zzang! Bars in your area, click here and order them online. Yeah, they're a bit pricey at $6 each -- even Joan thought they sounded a bit expensive. But truly, they are worth every one of those pennies and would make fabulous holiday gifts ... trust me. I wouldn't encourage you to spend that much on a chocolate bar unless it really would be exceptional. Jeremy told me that he thinks it's the best candy he's ever eaten ....