2 large zucchini, cut in strips
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vegetable bouillon
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon dried dill
salt and pepper

1. Combine zucchini, water, bouillon, dill, salt and pepper in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer until zucchini is tender.
3. Remove from heat, do not drain liquid.
4. Stir in butter, sugar and lemon juice.
5. Blend flour into sour cream and stir half of zucchini liquid into mixture.
6. Mix flour and sour cream mixture into the sauce pan.
7. Return to heat and cook until sauce thickens.

Makes 6 servings

1/2 small red cabbage, grated
2 large carrots, peeled and grated
1/4 cup dried apricots, quartered
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt

1. Combine cabbage, carrots and apricots in a bowl.
2. Mix lemon juice and yogurt together.
3. Coat cabbage, carrots and apricots with lemon juice and yogurt mixture.
4. Refrigerate the salad for at least half an hour before serving.

Makes 6 servings

2 large potatoes, peeled and grated
1/2 medium onion, grated
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon dried dill
salt

1. Combine potato, onion, egg, flour and dill in a bowl.
2. Heat oil in a large frying pan and add the potato mixture by heaping tablespoon for each latke.
3. Allow to brown and then flip, frying both sides.
4. Season with salt while hot.

Makes 8 plackis

1/3 cup paprika
3 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups cooked egg noodles

1. Melt butter in a deep skillet over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and paprika and cook until tender.
3. Add all off the mushrooms, stirring until they have simmered down.
4. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
5. Stir in sour cream.
6. Reheat and pour over egg noodles to serve.

Makes 6 servings

JÓ ÉTVÁGYAT!

I have no idea what that means, it was the header on a Hungarian website I was browsing. I'm going to pretend it's the Hungarian version of bon appétit. I'm sure someone will correct me eventually if it translates to something completely
different like NOT DUMPLINGS AND GOULASH AGAIN!

Everything I've ever read about Paprikash is that the amount and quality of paprika is extremely important (hence the name) and typical store bought variety will never do. One website even suggested I take a trip to Hungary and pick some up there. People are crazy about paprikash. Unfortunately I don't have an Eastern European market down the street (or possibly even in this province) so the stuff in my spice rack had to suffice.

Even with a third of a cup of paprika it was still sort of bland. It was like a mildly stroganoff flavored sauce for the egg noodles. It took me a long time to cook down all of those mushrooms too, so I'm mildly disappointed. It was supposed to be served with dumplings, but I've tentatively scheduled myself to make Perogies this weekend and that's just too much dumpling for me.

To substitute this starchiness I cooked up some Placki, which is identical to a latke, which is a potato pancake. It tastes as though a potato pancake would with no surprises whatsoever. They do photograph well, though. One of the recipes I found recommended that I stuff them with beef goulash, but I was trying to make this a vegetarian meal.

The Red Cabbage Salad was OK, but I doubt the leftovers will get eaten. I'd definitely add more than the recommended amount of apricots if I made it again. The dressing tastes great until the flavor of the cabbage overwhelms it, but the bites with apricot seem to neutralize that quite well.

The Zucchini Dish (they call it Tökfõzelék) was my favorite of the bunch. It's thick, creamy, lemon and dilly, as you'd
expect from a creamy dill sauce, and creamy sauces and zucchini go together so beautifully. The plackis tasted a lot better when drenched in their residual sauce, too. It complimented pretty much everything on the plate. The only thing missing from this meal was some nice plum brandy. I suppose there's still time to run to the liquor store…