More Hungarian Goodies

Hungarian Cucumber Salad

(Uborka Salata)

3 large cucumbers, peeled and sliced very thin

Place cucumber slices in a bowl and lightly sprinkle with salt.

Place in the the refrigerator for 30 minutes to soften cucumbers and mellow cucumber.

On the side, prepare the seasoned sweet and sour water flavoring.

3 cups of cold water

1 1/2 tsp of sea or Kosher salt

2 1/2 tbsp of sugar

3 1/2 tbsp of white vinegar

Blend well and hold in refrigerator until you are ready to add the cucumbers.

After the cucumbers have soaked for 30 minutes, you will see a lot of juice has escaped from the cucumbers.

With clean hands, remove the slices in small handfuls and press more juice from the cucumber slices.

After pressing, place in the bowl with the seasoned water.

When all the slices have been pressed, garnish the top of the bowl with a thinly sliced tomato, green pepper rings, (preferably Hungarian peppers) and red onion rings.

Sprinkle the top with a 1/2 tsp of Hungarian paprika.

Eastern European Noodles

(Nokedli or Spaetzel)

4-6 portions

These noodles are traditionally made with an all purpose flour.

I have experimented with the recipe by using three different flours - a blend of all purpose, semolina and chestnut flour.

In a bowl add the following ingredients:

1 1/4 cups of all purpose flour

1 1/4 cups of semolina flour

1/2 cup of chestnut flour

1/2 tsp of salt

1 egg

About 1 1/5 cups of cold water

Place flour and salt in a bowl, blend well.

With a wooden spoon make a hole in the center.

Add the egg into the hole and start stirring the egg into the flour. Gradually increase the size of the hole as you stir in the flour.

While stirring the egg flour mixture, gradually add the water.

Continue to stir, add water and increase the size of the hole until all is mixed well.

Cooking the noodles:

Place a noodle maker (we purchased our spaetzel maker at Williams Sonoma) over a pot of slow boiling water.

Add half the noodle mix and turn the handle continuously. You make have to scrape the dough off the sides.

When noodles float to the top (about 2-3 minutes) use a spider strainer to remove them from the water.

Place in a warm, oiled casserole dish.

Add the remaining noodle mix to the spaetzel maker and repeat above steps.

Noodles can be held in a 165 degree oven for about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally to keep from sticking.