Slovak traditional meals

Halušky (maybe dumplings) Ingredients: 2-3 Potatoes Flour 4-5 tbsp Salt 1 egg Instructions: Peel potatoes and finely shred them. Add egg and flour. Make a dough that is not too tough but not to watery. You may use more or less flour or add a little bit of water if it is too tough. Add 1 tsp of salt. Boil water w 2 tbsp of salt. use teaspoon to drop a little bit of the dough into the boiling water. Be sure the water is always boiling. When halusky are done they will float on top of the water, Pick them out with a strainer. Because I didn't find bryndza here in the US, (it is cheese from sheep), I used 1 package of Feta Cheese and 3/4 of a pack of cream cheese, and 3-4 tbsp of milk. Heat everything together. Mix all the time. When it starts to boil, remove from the heat. Cut up little pieces of bacon and fry them. Serve halusky with the cheese sauce on top and sprinkle with the bacon pieces.

Bábovka Ingredients: 5 eggs 250 grams powdered sugar 250 grams backing flour (regular, not self rising) 150 ml vegetable oil 150 ml hot water 2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. vanilla 1 tbs. cocoa powder Butter or shortening to grease pan Instructions: Separate egg whites from yolks. Set the whites aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix yolks with sugar. Add slowly oil, then hot water. Mix in flour and backing powder. Beat egg whites alone in another bowl until they expand about 3 to 4 times. use an electric mixer on high speed for this. Add these egg whites to the batter. Mix by hand. Add vanilla if desired. Pour half into greased round angel-cake pan. Mix the cocoa into the remaining half and pour on top of the first layer in the pan. Don't mix together. Bake for 45 minutes. Check with toothpick (toothpick will not have mixture on it if the cake is done) by poking it into the cake. Sprinkle finished cake with powdered sugar. You could also add raisins or nuts to the original batter or pour chocolate on top of the finished cake.

Dusená cuketa – Stewed Zucchini Ingredients: 2 Medium Zucchini 1 Tomato 2 Tsb. Oil or 1 Tsb. Butter 1 Tsp. Rosemary or 1 Tsp. Basil 1 Garlic Clove - pressed Salt - to taste White Pepper - Several Pinches Instructions: Wash zucchini and cut into 1.5 inch strips, cut the seeds from the centers. In medium saucepan, heat butter or oil, and let the zucchini start to simmer. Stir it a lot so it doesn't burn on one side. Boil a cup of water and pour this over the tomato in a bowl. The entire tomato should be covered with the hot water. Let this sit only for 15 seconds. Then rinse the tomato with cold water and peel off the skin. Cut the tomato into cubes. After the zucchini has cooked for about 8 minutes total, add the tomato cubes, the garlic, and the spices. Makes 2 portions. Simmer until the zucchini is soft. Serve hot and add salt to taste.

Bublanina Ingredients: 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened 1/2 cup sugar 3 large eggs divided, at room temperature 1 tablespoon Amaretto or other almond liqueur (optional) 1/2 teaspoon salt Pinch of cream of tartar 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 pound washed, pitted sour cherries Confectioners' sugar Instructions: Place rack in center of oven and heat to 350 degrees. Butter or lightly coat with cooking spray a 9-inch-by-9-inch baking pan. In a medium bowl, cream together butter, sugar and yolks until light and fluffy. Add liqueur, if using, and salt, mixing well. In a clean medium bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until stiff. Alternately fold in egg whites and flour into butter-egg mixture. Turn batter into prepared pan and scatter cherries evenly over top. Lightly press down cherries into batter until partially covered. Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cut into 6 equal pieces. Serve warm or cold dusted with confectioners' sugar.

Zemiakové placky Ingredients: 3 large potatoes one egg Salt Marjoram black pepper half a small onion 1-2 cloves of garlic 1 spoon of flour oil Instructions: Using a fine food grater, shred 2 or 3 large peeled potatoes. Then take a strainer and press it down on the potato shreddings. Turn the pot over and drain out as much water as possible. You can also take a wooden spoon and press out more water. Then repeat with the strainer. Next shred half of a small onion and 1 or 2 cloves of garlic. Add one egg, salt, marjoram, ground black pepper, onion and garlic. Also add one tablespoon of flour. Mix together. Heat up oil. Then add about two tablespoons of potato mixture per pancake. Be careful here, because if water is left in the mixture, the oil will splatter out. Use the back side of the spoon to flatten out the pancake. Fry each side for about 4 minutes, until the pancakes get nicely dark brown. It helps to use two spatulas when flipping the pancakes.