Salads, Sides and Bread Recipes

Bryndza Spread (Bryndzová Nátierka)

Ingredients: bryndza, butter, paprika, onion, bread or rožky Prep Time: 10 minutes Another popular thing to do with bryndza, the Slovak national cheese, is to make a spread (nátierka) commonly known as šmirkáš. I made it using the fake bryndza – the Israeli style Feta cheese from Trader Joe’s. Finely slice onions (I like using spring onions and I used three of them) and combine them with about equal amounts of bryndza and butter. Also add a spoonful of paprika. You should use less than what I have here.

Parisian Salad (Parížský Šalát)

Ingredients: 2/3 lb soft salami (Bologna, 300g), 1 onion, 1 larger can of sweet peas, 2-3 dill pickles, 8oz sour cream (200g), 3 tbsp mayo Prep Time: 15 minutes Something I always look for on my travels to Slovakia is stopping in a deli for freshly baked bread rolls (called rožky) and some Parisian salad, parížský šalát. Whether this salad has anything to do with Paris is to me a mystery. At least my roommate who grew up in France has never seen something similar to this. Anyway, here is a recipe for this tasty and very simple side dish. Read the Rest…

Slovak Bread Rolls (Rožky)

Ingredients for 8 rolls: 2 cups flour (225g), 1 cup milk (1/4L), 4 tbsp oil (60g), 1 tbsp sugar and 0.5 tbsp of salt, half a packet of yeast Prep time: only about 20 minutes of actual work, two hours to let the dough rise, 20 minutes for baking If you have visited Slovakia, you surely came across little slightly-curved mini baguettes called rožky. These baked bread rolls are a HUGE part of Slovak cuisine. I have no statistics to back this up, but I suspect Slovaks get at least half of their bread in the form of rožky (plural Read the Rest…

Rye Bread (Ražný Chlieb)

Ingredients: (these are just estimates) 3 cups all-purpose flour, 2 cups rye flour, teaspoon of caraway seeds, teaspoon of basil leaves, plenty of salt, sugar, milk, oil Prep time: about 30 minutes to get the dough ready, some hour or two to let it rise, another hour for baking Is there anything more delicious than freshly baked bread, still warm to melt the butter, sprinkled with bit of salt? I don’t think so. And the Slavs of the past shared this view, since bread and salt (chlieb a soľ) became the universal gift offered to visitors through out all Slavic Read the Rest…

Bacon Biscuit (Škvarkovník)

Ingredients: 1lb flour, yeast, ground-up bacon bits Prep Time: 30 minutes to an hour for the dough to rise, some 20 minutes to prepare the biscuits, another 20 minutes for dough rising and finally 20 minutes for baking. In Slovakia, we make this amazing bacon-flavored biscuit (pagáč) called škvarkovník. The name is derived for the word for bacon bits, škvarky. When done properly, the biscuits are extremely fluffy and the dough comes apart in layers. I actually like to eat them like that, layer-by-layer. To make these biscuits, you will need ground up bacon bits. These are quite easy to Read the Rest…