Hopefully, what we have up there translates to "Grandma's Halušky with Cabbage or Curd Cheese."

When my wife's grandmother, Mary Macejko, emigrated from a small village named Žakarovce in the Slovak region of the newly formed Czechoslovakia in the early part of the 20th century as a 9-year-old girl, she didn't bring much with her except a language, a religion, traditions and memories:



Naturally, many of those memories revolved around food and mealtimes, which are always happy occasions for any family; this recipe, simply called halušky, is another. The folk of Žakarovce are peasants, humble and close to the land, and this meal is so eastern-european peasant, grandma-in-a-head-scarf-digging-for-potatoes-out-behind-the-cottage that you won't believe such goodness can come from the earth.

Here's your ingredients list:

◦2 lbs of smoked, thick-sliced bacon (you could also use ham, sausage (such as kielbasa), pork shoulder, chicken or beef, such as chuck roast, etc.)
◦1 large head of cabbage or 2 small heads of cabbage OR 1 large container of cottage cheese
◦2 large onions, chopped
◦4 cups of flour
◦4-6 potatoes, depending on size
◦2 eggs
◦salt and pepper

Lots of step-by-step pix, so I am going to link to my source post at http://foodsoftheworld.activeboards.net .

If interested, click here:

http://foodsoftheworld.activeb...pusta-alebo-tvarohom

in order to learn how to turn this:



into this:





Hope to see you there!

Looks absolutely mouthwatering!Going to try this soon.

robin - you will not be disappointed, i promise.

i've got quite a few notes in there with step-by-step on making them - it should cover any questions you have, but if you find yourself wondering what's up, just let me know!

I made this recipe the other day. It is excellent, but like a lot of Eastern-European recipes, you will spend some time doing prep work. But it is well worth it.

I sure wish you lived closer.....I am not much on these types of dishes...they look great, but this a lot of work cooking for one.

This evening I made a Rogan Josh curry using elk.
Delicious.

max - you're absolutely correct: prep work is the key. i have learned to do everything i can in order to get things lined up and ready to when it comes time to actually put it all together. it's easy to see now why the typical peasant or rural wife was tied to the kitchen all day long, with three meals a day to make and bread to bake.

bill - need to find a way to overnight some to you! it's great stuff ~

Tasun: Many thanks for the recipe! I must try this.

let me know how you like it, and take some pictures!

Tasunka: The halusky with cabbage was very good. We all had seconds and thirds. A definite keeper recipe. I made half the recipe and it was good for three with leftovers. Thank you!

that looks outstanding, bill ~ a perfect preparation!

i enjoy it as leftovers for lunch the next day. usually we have enough leftovers for most of the week. i think a lot of these old "peasant" recipes are designed with large, hard-working families in mind.

excellent job, and i'm glad you liked it ~

ron

Ron: The family is already pestering me about when we can have "halooshky" again ...

That brings back some childhood memories for me. Although I am of polish/hungarian decent, my parents made a very similar dish. Tonight we will be having chicken paprikash!

465H&H

bill - what esle can you do but comply with their request??

465 - hope the chicken paprikas turned out well. for a similar carpathian version of chicken paprikas check out my "paprika hendl"post - this recipe has a pretty interesting hsitory ~

GAAAAA! Another one I have to make!

let me know how it goes!