Ingredients: whole trouts, butter, sides (such as potato and vegetables)
Prep Time: 40 minutes

Preheat the oven to 400F. Rinse the trout (pstruh), pat dry, and place on a baking pan along with about half a stick of butter (maslo). Bake for about 30 minutes. In the mean time, prepare your side dishes. I used boiled potatoes (varené zemiaky), but mashed potatoes or fries are also popular. I also steamed some green beans (zelená fazuľa).

About 20 minutes into baking I opened the oven and spooned the melted butter over the fish (ryba). Continue baking until it is flaky.

And that’s it. Another popular side is canned fruit (or fruit compote, kompót). Enjoy! As a little aside, this trout was almost completely bones-free (the spine was removed at the store). Since we now have seedless melons and grapes, I guess we can also have boneless fish…

Speaking of green beans, you can use them to make a delicious green beans soup.

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Ingredients: 10 cloves of garlic, butter, 4 potatoes, 8 cups of water, 2 tsp paprika, 1 tsp caraway, salt, toast, cheese
Prep Time: Fast, 20 minutes

Peel the cloves of garlic (cesnak) and crush them using a garlic press. Alternatively you can chop them using a grater, or just slice them fine with a knife (this is what I did). Melt two tablespoons of butter (maslo) in a pot and add the garlic. Fry for few seconds.

Next add some eight cups of water (voda), 2 heaping teaspoons of paprika (mletá červená paprika), another teaspoon of caraway (rasca), and salt (soľ) to taste. Then peel the potatoes, cut them into small cubes, and add to the pot.

Boil for about 15 minutes until the potatoes get soft. In the meantime, toast a slice of bread (chlieb). I toasted mine on butter in a frying pan but you could just use a toaster. Cut the toast into squares and put them in a bowl. Then scoop the finished soup over the bread.

Finally, grate some cheese into the soup (I used Swiss) and also decorate with some garnish, such as parsley (petržlenová vnať). Enjoy!

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In making this recipe I used the frozen puff pastry dough from my local Giant. You will need to let this dough defrost for at least 20 minutes. This is also a good time to preheat your oven to 400F. The dough comes folded into three sections. As it is defrosting, carefully unfold it to make a flat sheet. For some reason, one third of the dough I was using was really stiff and non stretchy – perhaps it suffered a bad freezer burn. I tried to wet it, and roll it with a pin, but to no avail. I eventually ended up forming dough into a ball and rolling it out flat as shown below.

(By the way, that link above directs a different Giant chain. While searching for the dough link, I found out that there are actually two chains of grocery stores called “Giant” operating in Virgina, Giant-Landover, the one I shop in, and Giant-Carlisle, a sister company. Interesting!)

Ingredients: puff pastry dough, 4 small Gala apples, 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, melted butter, powdered sugar for topping
Prep Time: About 30 minutes of work, another 20 minutes for baking

Here are the ingredients you will need to make an apple strudel: puff pastry dough, apples, and cinnamon. You will also need sugar and butter.

Peel the apples and grate them using a coarse grater. I used 4 smallish Gala apples. Squeeze the grated apples with your hand and drain out the juice. Add sugar and cinnamon and mix well.

Roll the dough out into a long rectangle. Transfer it carefully onto a tablecloth (obrus) or a large dishtowel. I dusted the towel first with flour, but this may not be necessary. Then place your hand underneath the dough and using your fingers gently stretch the dough out as much as you can before it breaks. It will become semitransparent. Do this from inside out and all the way around.

Top the dough with the apple mixture and also brush on some melted butter.

To roll the strudel, lift up one end of the tablecloth with both hands. Bring it over the dough so that the edge separates from the tablecloth and folds over. Continue doing this until you end up with a roll.

Then carefully using the tablecloth transfer the strudel onto a greased baking sheet. Generously brush with melted butter.

Bake in oven preheated to 400F for about 20 minutes. About half way through, brush gently on all sides with melted butter. Also brush on the bottom to keep it from sticking to the pan. Be careful not to tear the dough. And if it gets stuck in a place or two, use the brush to unstick it.

Wait for the strudel to cool down and the slice it into fairly thick pieces. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve with coffee and you got yourself a delicious breakfast.

For another apple and puff pastry recipe, check out “apples in a bathrobe“

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Ingredients: one small chicken cut into pieces (I used three fairly large thighs), one large onion, 3 tablespoons oil, 150g (about half a container) of sliced button mushrooms, salt, pepper, flour, noodles, garnish
Prep Time: about 20 minutes to get stuff ready, and then one hour for stewing

Start by dicing the onion (cibuľa) into small pieces. Heat up the oil (olej) in a pan or a large pot for which you have a lid. Add the chicken (kura) and brown on both sides. Shake the pan after you add the chicken to prevent it from sticking.

Then add the onions and sizzle them until they turn golden and glass-like. Then add the mushrooms and also a cup of hot water (horúca voda). Cover, reduce the heat, and let simmer for about 40 minutes. You can check if the chicken is done by sticking in a meat thermometer. It should register 180F.

In the mean time, add macaroni (makaróny) into salted boiling water and cook till done. Then rinse them off in hot water, and drain.

Take the chicken out once it’s done and set aside. Dust the sauce with flour, I used about a tablespoon worth. Stir in on high flame to let the flavors sizzle.

Also stir in a tablespoon worth of butter (maslo), and a pinch of salt (soľ) and ground black pepper (mleté čierne korenie). Add in bit of hot water to thin the sauce. I added about 5 tablespoons, but this will depend on how much water you started with, and how much has evaporated during cooking. Make sure everything tastes good and add the chicken back in.

Serve with noodles and a garnish of vegetables. Dobrú chuť!

And for few other similar tasty recipes, checkout rabbit on mushrooms and chicken on salt.

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Dough: 2 cups (250g) flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1-2 yolks, 2 tablespoons (60g) powdered sugar, half a stick (50g) unsalted butter, 4 tablespoons cream, 2 tablespoons white wine (or rum), 1/2 cup of milk
Topping: powdered sugar, half pocket vanilla sugar (optional)
Prep Time: 2 hours

Start by combining flour, butter, sugar, yolks, cream, milk, baking powder, salt, and the wine (or rum if you prefer). Mix together for 10 minutes until you get smooth elastic dough. Add more milk if needed. Form into a ball, dust with flour, and let rest in the fridge for an hour.

Roll the dough out to thickness of about 1/6th of an inch. It may help to cut the dough into two halves, especially if your board is on the smaller side. Using a dough cutting wheel or a knife, cut the dough into rectangles about 2×3 inches. Then cut two slots in each rectangle in direction parallel to the shorter edges. Loop one end piece through the slot closest to it.

Then repeat with the other end to make a dough bowtie.

You can also just cut the dough into thin strips which you roll around your finger. Fry all this goodness in oil that is not too hot – I kept mine just a tiny turn past low. Fry on both sides until the dough gets pinkish light brown.

Scoop the fried fánky with spatula onto a plate covered with paper towels. Use another paper towel to pat dry off the oil from the top. Then coat the fried dough in powdered sugar (I also mixed in half packet of vanilla sugar), just like funnel cakes. Happy Easter!

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