PEI Mussels with Lemongrass Coconut Curry

June 11, 2015 by Aurel Pop in Appetizer

The next few weeks are going to be crazy. I'm doing a round the world trip within 3 weeks. I'll be leaving Austin later today and will fly to Hungary and Romania for a week, then to Singapore, then to Japan and then finally back home. Usually I prepare ahead of time, but for some reason this time I'm not fully packed yet and my flight is today.

I know I'll miss Roni, Popsi and Austin, but I can't wait to see my family and friends. Last time I was home it was in February 2014. That's almost a year and a half ago. I miss my parents, my sister, my grandma and her amazing food and I miss my grandfather, Bunu, who unfortunately passed away last July. It was the most painful thing that I have ever experienced. He had a mild form of Alzheimer's which within weeks turned into an aggressive one and took him away from us. Seeing him stuck in bed, frustrated that he couldn't control his body and mind any longer, made me cry like never before. It broke my heart that this once handsome and strong man who achieved everything he had on his own was now a skinny old man, waiting to be fed, shaved and taken care of, ravaged by this cruel disease. I could tell from the look in his wise bright blue eyes that it was painful for him, too.

Bunu and I had a special relationship. He was very stubborn, and the only person that he listened to was me. He loved me immensely and always mentioned how proud he was of what I achieved in life. According to him, we shared similar life stories, although I think his is far more impressive than mine. At the age of 14 he left the village he lived in, Dumbrava, Romania, hoping to find a job in Satu Mare so that he could go to high school, which only existed in bigger cities. It was right after WWII and Romania was ravaged by the war and exploited by communist Russia.

He managed to find a job as an apprentice at a grocery store and after a year he returned to his home town to visit his family. He saved all the money he made and then used it to buy himself a set of new clothes and presents for his parents. When my great grandmother saw him, she didn't recognize him at first. "Who are you looking for young man," she asked Bunu when he stopped in front of the house. "It's me, Lotica," he replied. She started crying tears of joy as she was so proud of her son. He left the little village as a poor boy and a year later he returned as a handsome, well-dressed man. My grandpa would later become the store manager at one of the few grocery stores that existed in the city during Ceausescu's communist regime. Everyone loved him because he would always help the poor with obtaining sugar or oil, which were rationed during those days.

This specific recipe has nothing to do with my grandfather. My upcoming trip just made me so nostalgic for the days I spent with him on his maroon bench admiring his beautiful garden.
The inspiration for this recipe actually came from one of my business trips to California earlier this year. I hope that this upcoming trip across two continents will also give me new inspiration for future posts. This dish is refreshing, fragrant, and bursting with flavors. Mussels may seem like an intimidating dish to pursue, but it’s really quite easy and quick once you clean them up. Use fresh baguette to soak up all that tasty curry sauce. Enjoy!

PEI MUSSELS WITH LEMONGRASS COCONUT CURRY

Serves 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes

INGREDIENTS

2 TBS olive oil
2 small shallots, finely minced
2 cloves garlic, crushed and finely chopped
1 1/2 inches ginger root, crushed and finely chopped
1 serrano pepper, sliced
1 stalk (about 8 inches) lemongrass, trimmed and finely chopped
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp dried curry leaves, crumbled
1/2 tsp hot chili powder
1 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
1 tsp coriander, ground
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 medium lemon, juiced (about 1-2 TBS fresh lemon juice)
1 cup coconut milk, unsweetened
1 tsp fish sauce
salt, to taste
2 lbs mussels, scrubbed, rinsed and debearded
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (for garnish)
1 French baguette

INSTRUCTIONS

In a deep skillet heat up oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is shimmering add the shallots and sauté for 2 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, serrano pepper and lemongrass and cook for another minute or two. Sprinkle with spices (turmeric, curry leaves, chili powder, black pepper and coriander) and pour wine and lemon juice in the skillet. Bring to a boil and let it simmer for 2 minutes.
Reduce the heat to medium. Add coconut milk and fish sauce. Cook for about 5-6 minutes. Taste the sauce and adjust seasoning to your liking.
Add the mussels, stir well and immediately cover with a well fitting lid. Cook for 5-6 minutes until mussels open. Remove from the heat, add fresh cilantro, gently stir mussels making sure each one gets coated with curry sauce.
Discard the mussels that aren't open. Serve in a bowl with a ladle of curry sauce and fresh cilantro. Use fresh or toasted baguette for dipping the curry sauce.

NOTES

I found this guide for cleaning mussels to be very helpful. When cleaning and debearding the mussels, discard the ones that stay open after you touched them or knocked against another mussel. It means it's dead and you should not eat it.

Chilled Sour Cherry Soup

June 08, 2015 by Aurel Pop in Appetizer, Soup, Dessert

Sunshine has finally arrived to Texas! I am so happy to be leaving the rainy month of May behind and enjoy everything that typical hot Austin summers have to offer: sunbathing in Zilker Park, dipping in the cold and refreshing Barton Springs, weekend getaways to Hamilton Pool and the Hill Country, Blues on the Green, and paddle boarding on Town Lake. As great as all of these may sound, I know that by September I'll be fed up with the heat, but until then I want to live the summer to its fullest.

Summer in terms of food should be about light and refreshing dishes and this delicious sour cherry soup is one them. It may sound odd at first as it's not that common anywhere aside from Hungary, but I promise that its tart taste and creamy texture will blow your socks off.

In my Zserbó Cake post I mentioned that my grandparents, Tatus and Iolika, had an amazing orchard in their backyard with an impressive number of cherry trees. During the hot summer days my grandma would always make us- my cousins, my sister and I- huge pots of cold soups. Cold fruit soups were our favorite type. She would alternate the sour cherries with pears, quince or currants so we wouldn't get bored of the same taste.

In Hungary this soup is called meggyleves and it's served mostly during the hot summer months, but it's not unheard of it to be served warm during the colder months of the year. I prefer it cold. You can taste it before it cools down and decide which one you like better. Making this soup is very easy as it requires little effort. As kids, our contribution to this soup was to pick, wash and then pit the cherries. We hated doing this because we had to pit buckets full of cherries for not only the soup but also for preserves and compote. Fortunately nowadays it's easy to find pitted sour cherries so the dirty work has been taken care of for you by machines.

I'm not sure in which category to put this summer delicacy, because in Hungary we'd eat it either for lunch or dinner, before or after the main dish. Is there a thing called appetizer-dessert? If not I’m coining the term. Enjoy!

Chilled Sour Cherry Soup

Serves 8-10
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

2 jars sour cherries in syrup (12 oz each) (or 2 lbs. fresh or frozen pitted sour cherries and 3 cups cherry juice)
1/2 lemon, peeled
7 cups water
5 TSB sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
6 whole cloves
1 stick cinnamon
4 cardamom pods
1 star anise
1 two-inch vanilla bean pod (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
1.4 oz vanilla pudding powder
1 tsp starch (potato or arrowroot)
8 oz heavy cream (or sour cream)
1/2 cup roasted slivered almonds
6 fresh mint leaves, chopped

Instructions

In a large sauce pan combine cherry syrup from the jars (or 3 cups juice), water, lemon peel, sugar, salt, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, anise and vanilla.
If using fresh cherries you should add them as well. If using jarred or frozen sour cherries, hold off on putting them in for a bit. Usually the jarred ones are already cooked in syrup, so if you boil them now they'll be mushy by time the soup is ready. Same for the frozen cherries- they are usually blanched.
Bring sauce pan to a boil over medium high heat. Stir and boil for about 15 minutes for the spices to become fragrant. You should be able to smell the cinnamon, cloves and anise if you leaned over the pan.
While the spiced mixture is boiling, combine vanilla pudding powder and starch in a small mixing bowl. Slowly pour the cream of your choice and whisk vigorously for about 3 minutes. Make sure there aren't any lumps in the mixture.
Remove spices (cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and star anise) and lemon peel from the sauce pan using a sieve and discard them. Reduce the heat to medium. Taste the soup and adjust sweetness. If you follow the recipe the soup will be on the tart side, but if you prefer it sweeter you can add more sugar. You can make it even more tart by adding freshly squeezed lemon juice.
Temper the dairy mixture by transferring one ladle at a time of the hot soup from the sauce pan into the mixing bowl. You want to slowly raise the temperature of the cream, otherwise it will curdle when added to the hot soup. Once tempered, pour the dairy mixture into the pot and stir to combine.
If using jarred or frozen cherries now is the time to add them to the soup. Stir and cook until the soup becomes thick and creamy, about 5-6 minutes.
Increase the heat to medium-high, bring the soup to a boil and remove the pan from the heat. You're done!
Chill the soup for about an hour in the refrigerator. Sprinkle almonds and mint right before serving.

NOTES

To get the vanilla beans out of the pods split the pod in half lengthwise then scrape the beans out of the pod halves with the back of your knife using firm pressure.
If the soup ends up lumpy or the dairy curdled, remove the sour cherries from the soup and set them aside. Using an immersion blender mix the soup until the lumps are gone. Put the cherries back in the soup.

Slow Cooked Oxtail and Short Rib Ragù With Homemade Gnocchi

June 04, 2015 by Aurel Pop in Main Dish, Side Dish

Today is my favorite day of the year- it's my birthday! I'm turning 32 which feels great, but scary at the same time. I'm getting old. It feels like it was not long ago that I left my hometown of Satu Mare, Romania to move to college to Timisoara. The first year was perhaps the best year out of the five that I spent there. I lived with three of my best friends from high school: Ovi, George and Cristi. We were a crazy bunch, but somehow we always stayed out of trouble even thought we often towed the line.

Ovi and Cristi played backgammon (Table in Romanian) every single night. Sometimes I would wake up in the morning and they would still be in the kitchen playing. They kept a running score and after a year, the score of the sets was something ridiculous like four hundred and something to four hundred and something. This may not seem to be a lot at first glance, but let me clarify that each set consisted of a best-of-eleven series. The funniest part wasn't even that, but the amount that they bet: 5 RON (less than 50¢).

George and I weren't into board games or gambling, but we were obsessed with this computer game called Football Manager. We'd spend most of our free time playing it. I think the most we played in one sitting was twenty-something hours. The boys didn't really know how to cook so I was responsible for feeding our crew. In exchange, they would wash the dishes (dishwashers are not common in Romania), clean the house and run errands. It was a pretty sweet deal for me, because I loved cooking.

The all-time favorite dish in our house was a bolognese pasta that I made with fresh vegetables, ground meat, and lots of cheese. Not parmesan though because it was way too expensive for our broke-college-student taste. We always served this with cheap wine that we either bought from Recaș, a winery close to Timisoara, or from the tiny convenience store next to our apartment for the equivalent of $1 for 2 liters.

This oxtail and short rib recipe is a lot different though. It is without a doubt the most time consuming of all of my recipes. I make it only once or twice a year and that's not because of the time it takes to cook, but mostly because it yields so much ragù that we stock up our freezer with leftovers.

Next week, I'll go on a three-week long business trip. First, I'll head to Hungary for a conference where I will be presenting, and then to Singapore to help a customer get a system up and running. Although very exhausting I love these kinds of trips. I enjoy traveling to new places, and even though I've been to both Hungary and Singapore before, I managed to get the return ticket with a two-day layover in Tokyo. I've never been there before, but based on what Anthony Bourdain keeps mentioning in his shows, Tokyo is the food mecca where chefs want to retire and die.

One of the reasons I decided to make this hearty dish now, in the middle of the summer, is this trip. I wanted to stock up the freezer for Roni for when I'm gone. She hardly ever cooks, but now with my blog up and running, she does it even less often. When I'm not at home to make food she will eat tacos for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. Although I don't mind her eating tacos, I don't want the crew at El Tacorrido to get false hopes that she was back to eating there every day only to get heartbroken again when I return.

This is a recipe you must try. I know it's a lot of time that you will need to sacrifice in order to make it, but it's worth it. Once you taste it you'll understand what I'm talking about. Words can't describe how delicious this dish is. It's a hearty piece of heaven, the perfect dish for a dinner with friends and family. Open a bottle of good red wine, share stories about your old college shenanigans, and have great laugh. After all that is what food should be about: love, friendship and joy.

Slow Cooked Oxtail and Short Rib Ragù With Homemade Gnocchi

Serves over 20
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 7 hours
Inactive time: 6 hours

Ingredients

Ragù

3 TBS unsalted butter
1 lb oxtail
2 lbs beef short rib, bone in
1/4 cup olive oil
1 big yellow onion, finely chopped
1 leek, cleaned and finely chopped
4 celery stalks, finely chopped
4-5 carrots, finely chopped
7 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
2 TBS unsalted butter
1/2 TBS black pepper, freshly ground
1 1/2 cups whole milk
2 cups dry red wine
1 cup beef stock
1 1/2 TBS dried oregano
1 tsp nutmeg, ground
1 star anise, whole
3 dried bay leaves, whole
3 big cans (32 oz) San Marzano tomatoes
1 cups beef stock
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bunch fresh basil, finely chopped
2 inches of parmesan rind
7 anchovy fillets
1 TBS olive oil
1/2 cup parmesan, freshly grated
2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
salt, to taste

Gnocchi

2 pounds russet potatoes
2 1/2 TBS salt
1 1/2 cups "00" flour
2 egg yolks

Instructions

Ragù

In a large-heavy bottomed deep skillet melt 3 tablespoons butter over medium high heat. When the butter starts foaming (don't wait any longer otherwise it will brown and then burn) place the short ribs and oxtail in the pan and brown the meat for about 3-4 minutes on each side. Do not overload the skillet with the short ribs and oxtail. You risk reducing the heat in the pan to the point where the meat will not brown and will become greasy. Instead, work in batches if you have to.
Remove the meat from the pan and set aside. Add olive oil to the same skillet and scrape off the burnt pieces of meat. Toss in chopped onions, leeks, celery and carrots (mirepoix) and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the onions become translucent, about 10-12 minutes. Add crushed garlic and cook for another 5 minutes.
In the meantime take a large cast-iron dutch oven and melt the rest of the butter over medium heat. Add the browned meat and season with half tablespoon freshly cracked black pepper. Add milk and let it cook while you take care of the mirepoix and wine reduction.
When the mirepoix is tender pour it over the meat and milk mixture. In the same skillet that you used to brown the meat and sauté the mirepoix add wine and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add oregano, nutmeg, black pepper, anise and bay leaves and reduce the heat to medium. Simmer for about 5-7 minutes.
Pour the wine mixture into the dutch oven and add one cup beef stock. The milk, mirepoix, wine and beef broth mixture should cover the meat by 1-2 inches. If not add more stock to completely cover the meat. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the dutch oven and simmer for an hour.
Remove the lid from the dutch oven and pour in the San Marzano tomatoes. Set the heat to medium-high and bring mixture to a boil. Add the rest of the beef stock, thyme, basil and Parmesan rind, reduce the heat to low and let the sauce gently simmer (it will bubble very slowly). Cover the dutch oven and cook for about 4-5 hours. Every half an hour or so check the sauce, gently stir and make sure nothing is burned and stuck to the bottom. It shouldn't be the case if you're simmering it on low heat and using a cast-iron dutch oven, but check it just in case. You don't want to burn your sauce after spending so much time and money on the ingredients.
After 4-5 hours the meat should already be falling off the bones. Remove the bones and discard them. Add the anchovy fillets. You're almost there. Set the burner to minimum heat, stir in the parmesan cheese and simmer uncovered for another hour. If you're making the gnocchi, now it's the right time to start preparing it.
Add olive oil to a medium size skillet, add gnocchi and sauce to your liking, and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan cheese and serve hot.

Gnocchi

Put potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with cold water by 2 inches. Add a tablespoon of salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a simmer (medium heat) and cook potatoes for 15-20 minutes depending on the size. When pierced with a fork the potatoes should feel very tender.
Drain potatoes and run them under cold tap water. Remove peel (they should slip off easily) and pass them through a potato ricer, food mill or grater. I don't have the first two kitchen tools so I grated the potatoes on a small hole cheese grater.
Sprinkle potatoes with the flour, add the egg yolks and half tablespoon salt. Knead well until the ingredients are mixed well and the dough is smooth, about 3 minutes. Cut the dough into 5 pieces, sprinkle flour on the rolling surface and roll them out into long ropes (about 3/4 on an inch thick). Cut dough into thumb size pieces (or smaller if that's what you prefer) and place them on a piece of parchment paper. Sprinkle with flour and let them rest.
To cook, bring a large pot of generously-salted water to a boil. Add gnocchi to the pot making sure you don't over fill it. Work in batches if you have to. Stir gnocchi and let them cook for about 1 minute until they float to the top. Remove them from the water using a sieve.

NOTES

If using a non-stick dutch oven for the ragù, the cooking times may reduce a bit. I prefer the cast-iron though because the heat is distributed evenly and the temperature swing is minimal.

Migas Breakfast Tacos

June 01, 2015 by Aurel Pop in Breakfast/Brunch

I've been struggling with coming up with a story for this post. Initially I didn't understand why this was happening, but then I realized that it was because every time I read an article about Austin, breakfast tacos are always mentioned. It feels like there are no more stories to be told about them. With that in mind I'll spare you the usual rundown and go straight to the point: breakfast tacos are absolutely fantastic and deserve all the hype!

If you aren't from Austin and you happen to take a trip here, don't make the mistake of not having a breakfast taco even if it's not for breakfast. You see, Austin is a weird place where most of the taco places will serve you breakfast tacos all day long. It's Austin's favorite breakfast after all. It's got all the ingredients for the perfect breakfast: eggs, vegetables and cheese.

Migas breakfast tacos are perhaps the most famous of all. It's also the preferred breakfast in our household. Almost every weekend we have them by either making them at home if we have the ingredients , or by going to our favorite breakfast taco place, Veracruz. With the monsoon season hovering over Austin for the entire month of May, getting drenched in the rain in line at a taco stand didn't sound like a very good idea, so we made sure that our grocery list included eggs, tortillas, onions, tomatoes, peppers and queso fresco.

Preparing migas shouldn't take too long. You can have them ready and steaming on your table within 20 minutes. If you consider that to be a lot of time, just take a minute and think about how long it would take you to get dressed, drive to a taco shop , wait for your food and then go home. I'm all about efficiency so I prefer cooking my breakfast tacos in my pajamas. Is there really a better way to spend a rainy weekend morning?

In the recipe I recommend corn tortillas, but you can go for flour or whole wheat if that’s your preference. Corn tortillas make the tacos more authentic in my opinion and add a distinguished Latin American taste. The vegetables are also open to variation. The ones I mention in the recipe are the usual suspects in Austin migas, but spinach or mushrooms are also good options. The most important part of the migas and the ingredient that cannot be replaced is the tortilla strips. Migas translates to English as crumbs, so if you're removing those you're having a vegetable scramble and not migas.

Enjoy!

MIGAS BREAKFAST TACOS

Yields 8-10 tacos
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

5-6 eggs, pasture raised
1/4 cup milk (whole or low-fat)
3/4 cup queso fresco, crumbled (or cotija, añejo, or mix of all)
1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
2 TBS canola oil (peanut, or sunflower seed)
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1/2 bell pepper, diced (red, green or mix of both)
1 jalapeño, deseeded and sliced (or serrano pepper)
1 medium tomato, diced
2 small tomatillos (optional)
1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
1/2 poblano pepper, diced
1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
2 corn tostadas, broken into bite-size pieces (or fried tortillas or thick corn tortilla chips)
1 tsp kosher salt (add more to taste)
8-10 corn tortillas
1 avocado, sliced
1 lime, wedged
1 TBS queso fresco, crumbled (for garnish)
1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped (for garnish)

Instructions

In a medium bowl beat eggs until the yolks and egg whites are well combined. Add milk, cheese and pepper. Do not add salt just yet as it will make your migas watery and the tostadas less crunchy. Set aside.
In a deep skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is shimmering add onions, bell peppers and jalapeños and cook until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and tomatillos and cook for another 3 minutes. Season with black pepper (still no salt).
Pour in egg mixture. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir for about 1 minute. Put in back on the stove and continue cooking for another minute or two. Add poblano pepper and half of the cilantro you have prepared. Repeat the one minute off, two minutes on while stirring and folding the mixture. This procedure will make your migas creamy while keeping the vegetables crunchy. When you reach the desired consistency (I prefer the eggs on the runny side) remove from the heat and fold in the tostada pieces. Now it's the time to salt it. Taste and season to your liking. You're done!
Serve migas on corn tortillas with avocado slices, chopped cilantro, pepper slices, and crumbled queso fresco with lime wedges on the side. If you want to take your breakfast taco to the next level add a few spoons of my Fiery Jalapeño Salsa and/or the milder Roasted Vegetable Salsa.

NOTE: Corn tortillas tend to fall apart easily, so you may want to double up with 2 per taco.

Zserbó Cake (Gerbeaud Cake)

May 28, 2015 by Aurel Pop in Dessert

Hungarians don't talk half as much about food as Americans do, but they love to eat. Eating is sacred and home cooking is present in every household. A regular meal consists of a hearty dish followed by a fruity desserts. Zserbó is one of the latter. It is one of the most famous Hungarian desserts, along with Somlói Galuska and Kürtőskalács. Interestingly enough, all three of them have walnuts as a main ingredient.

The cake was invented by a Swiss chocolatier named Emil Gerbeaud who moved to Budapest in 1884 to take charge of a famous patisserie called Kugler. His staple dessert, a layered apricot and walnut cake (zserbó), slowly became famous all over Hungary. Although the original recipe calls for apricot preserves, it is not unusual to find the cake using ginger and apple, plum jam or honey and walnut filling.

Even though I am not a big fan of sweets, growing up I couldn't ever resist zserbó. My Hungarian grandma, Iolika, made this cake all the time. The main reason was that she and my grandpa had a huge apricot tree with a bench under it right next to their kitchen. As a kid I couldn't wait for June and July to come, not only because of my birthday and summer break, but also because that was the time when the cherries and apricots ripened. All the fruit trees were so full that often times I didn't even have to climb them (or the bench for that matter) to get to fresh juicy fruits. The branches would bend under the weight of the apricots, cherries or pears to the right height for the little chubster Aurel to reach them.

While my other grandpa, Bunu, grew amazing vegetables, grandpa Tatus (his name was Aurel like mine and my father's) had a huge orchard in his backyard. He had a variety of trees and bushes full of red and black currants, strawberries, cantaloupes, grapevines, apricots, white peaches, cherries, pears, apples, quince and plums. Can you imagine spending summers there and eating all of these homegrown fruits? No wonder the first thing on my shopping list to this day is fruit.

July, August and September were also the months Iolika would make preserves out of the fruit we couldn't eat during the summer. It was a delight to open a jar of sour cherry compote during the cold winter nights and eat it while Tatus was watching soccer and drinking homemade wine. Breakfasts during during those days consisted of apricot or plum jam thickly spread over an equally thick loaf of fresh, warm bread and huge cup of chocolate milk.

My grandpa Tatus was a big man. Over 6 feet tall and probably around 300 pounds on a good day. He loved eating and I inherited that habit from him. As a kid, I used to have eating contests with him. I remember one time, I must have been 5 or 6, for dinner we each ate seven loafs of bread with homemade dry sausage, tomatoes, peppers, onions and radishes. The memory of that night is still sharp in my mind, not only because I was able to eat as much as Tatus for the first and probably last time in my life (although I'm sure he had more once I fell into a food coma and passed out), but also because it was the best day I ever spent with him.

When Iolika was baking or preparing homemade noodles and pasta, she would pass me a piece of the dough to knead, roll and shape to my liking. I remember the little green chair I used to sit on while she was at the table doing serious stuff. I didn't have my own mini table, but I was given a big white chair to serve as my work station instead. I even had my own mini rolling pin. We listened to the radio and sang Hungarian songs while the kitchen filled with the smell of freshly baked goods. It was amazing and I am so grateful to have lived such a great childhood.

This cake has new meaning to me nowadays. On my first date with Roni, one of her questions after finding out my Hungarian heritage was if I could make zserbó. Without any hesitation I replied, "Of course, I can." even though I had never made one before on my own. I liked her way too much to let her slip between my fingers just because of a stupid cake that I've seen my grandma make several times before.

Roni's obsession with with this Hungarian delight comes from her own heritage. Her maternal grandparents were Hungarian and her whole family is crazy about zserbó . Last year when I went home to visit my family, Roni asked me to bring her zserbó. I wasn't sure if she was kidding or not, so I decided not to take the risk and actually did it. Imagine how awesome it was going through 3 airports with a cake in my hand. In the end, the airline made me check in my carry-on, which they in turn lost, and the zserbó arrived several days later in broken chunks and crumbs. Roni polished it off anyway.

Every time I make it, Roni's mom, Rachel,stops by our place as soon as the cake is done. Last time I made it, I had to put the cake in the freezer so that they could eat it sooner. If we happen to have leftovers the next day, Rachel usually comes over again and leaves with a tupperware full of cake. All of this makes me happy though, because the best reward I get out of cooking is making my beloved ones happy. After all, Roni's family is my family here in the U.S.

This recipe belongs to my mother, though. Shortly after committing to making the cake for Roni I Skyped my mom and asked for the recipe. I had to do all the translation and conversion from the metric system though, so I feel like it's partially mine, too.

I also added a little spin by making my own apricot jam, mainly because I find the preserves to be too sweet here in the U.S. but also because apricots were on sale. You can save 20-30 minutes by using only store-bought apricot jam (one 14oz jar will do), but I recommend you adding a little bit of orange or lemon juice to make it more tart. I hope you'll try this amazing dessert and if you're going to like it at least half as much as Roni's family, I will consider it a huge success.

Egészségedre! (Cheers!)

ZSERBÓ Cake (Gerbeaud Cake)

Serves 8
Prep time: 45 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Inactive time: 1 hour

Ingredients

Dough

1/2 cup whole milk
3/8 oz dry yeast (1 packet)
1 tsp cane sugar
3 cups flour, all-purpose
8 oz unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
1-2 eggs, pasture raised
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp baking soda
3 1/2 oz sugar, powdered, brown or mix of both

Walnut Filing

3 1/2 cups walnut halves
3/4 cup sugar, brown, powdered or mix of both
1 lemon, zested

Apricot Jam Filling

1/2 cup brown sugar
1 pound apricots, pitted and quartered
6 cardamom pods
8 fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
1/4 cup brandy
6 oz apricot preserves

Chocolate glaze

2 TBS brown sugar
2 TBS unsweetened cocoa powder
2 TBS water
4 oz dark chocolate, chopped
2 oz unsalted butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 365F (185C). Heat up milk to around 110F (45C). Add yeast, 1 teaspoon sugar and mix well. Set aside for 10-15 minutes until the milk starts to bloom (you'll see it bubble up).
In the meantime, combine flour, chunks of soft butter butter, egg, salt and baking soda. Mix it well and then add the rest of the sugar and yeast mixture. If using a stand mixer with a dough hook set it to low and let it run until the dough becomes smooth, but still sticky. I prefer kneading it with my hands, but that's just a personal preference. Once the dough is nice and smooth, put it in a bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and let it rest for 20-30 minutes.
While the dough is rising, put walnuts, sugar and lemon zest into food processor and pulse a few times until the walnuts are finely chopped. I prefer it chunkier, but smooth is fine, too.
Heat sugar in a medium sauce pan over medium heat, stirring constantly with a spatula or wooden spoon for about 5 minutes. Toss in the apricots, cardamom pods and mint and cook for about 5 minutes. Carefully pour in brandy. Ignite mixture with a matchstick or by slowly tilting the pan to the side so the flames can reach it. Let the flames die out and cook for another 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove cardamom pods and mint leaves and transfer the mixture to a food processor. Add apricot preserves and pulse until you get a jam like consistency.
Butter a 13x9-inch baking pan. Alternatively you can use parchment-paper to line the baking pan.
Divide the dough into 3 equal parts. Roll them out to the size of the baking sheet. Transfer one layer of dough into the pan, pressing it into the corners to fit. Spread half the apricot preserves over the entire layer, followed by a layer of walnuts mixture. Repeat the dough/jam/walnut procedure one more time then cover with the third layer of dough. Using a fork, poke a few holes in the top layer. That will keep the dough from bubbling up. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the top is golden brown. I using more than 3 layers you may have to bake it longer.
Remove from the oven and let is cool for about 30 minutes.
While the cake is cooling prepare the chocolate glaze by dissolving sugar and cocoa powder in water over medium heat in a small saucepan or a double boiler. Add chocolate chunks and using a whisk stir until the chocolate is melted. Bring mixture to a boil and add the butter. Remove the saucepan/double boiler from the heat and mix well until the butter is completely melted.
Cool the mixture for about 5 minutes and then stir the glaze again. The consistency is right when the glaze is thick enough to coat the spoon you're using for tasting. When it's ready it will be warm and still pourable.
Pour evenly over the cake. Chill for at least one hour before serving. If you have any walnut filling left sprinkle it over the top. It's not the traditional way, but I don't like wasting anything.