Czech Republic

 Welcome to the Czech Republic!  From the looks of it, this looks like such a charming country!  It has over 2,000 castles, keeps, and castle ruins in the country, and is the second-richest country in Eastern Europe!  According to Google, the capital is Prauge, and the population is 10.71 million people.  Their national dish is...

 

 

Vepřo-knedlo-zelo!

I don't even want to try to pronounce that!  It's essentially pork, a bread dumpling, sauerkraut puree and a cabbage slaw. Sounded interesting.  To go with the Vepřo-knedlo-zelo, we  made Kremrole, which is a Czech version of a canoli.  There were several steps to this meal, and it was pretty tricky to get everything cooked at the same time.  Here's what I did:

Vepřo-knedlo-zelo

Red Cabbage Purée
1/2 red onion, diced
2 tbsp butter
12 oz peeled and cored red cabbage, finely sliced

Salt and pepper, to taste
1 oz orange juice
2 oz red wine vinegar
1 oz chicken stock

1. In a pan over medium heat, sauté the onion in 1 tbsp butter, until translucent. 
2. Add the red cabbage, and cook for another couple minutes, stirring regularly.
3. Season with salt and pepper, then add the orange juice and red wine vinegar.
4. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer over low heat for 45 minutes.
5. In a blender, process half of the cabbage with the stock and the rest of butter. 
6. Combine with the remaining cabbage, and reserve.

Sauerkraut Purée
1 tbsp butter
2 parsnip, peeled and sliced

Salt, to taste
1/4 tsp caraway seeds
3 oz heavy cream
3 oz chicken stock
5 oz sauerkraut

1. Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. 
2. Add the parsnip, season with salt, and cook until it starts to brown.
3. Add the caraway seeds, heavy cream, and stock.
4. Cover, and simmer for 30 minutes over low heat.
5. Transfer the mixture to a blender, and process until smooth.
6. Rinse the sauerkraut in cold water, and drain well. 
7. Combine with the parsnip purée, and reserve.

Bread Dumplings
5 oz gluten free bread, crust removed (I used 5 slices of a loaf)
5 slices bacon, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1 egg
3 oz milk
1/4 bunch parsley, finely chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 pinch nutmeg

1. Cut the bread into 3/4″ cubes, and toast in a 350 F oven for about 15 minutes.
2. In a saucepan over medium heat, sauté the bacon until crispy, then add the onion, and cook until golden brown. Let cool.
3. In a bowl, combine the egg, milk, and parsley. 
4. Add the bread, bacon, and onion. Season with the salt, pepper, and nutmeg, then mix well. 
5. Let rest for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so.
6. Pour this bread mixture onto a clean kitchen towel, and shape into a 4.5″ long log (the diameter will be a bit less than 3″). 
7. Wrap the log in the towel, and secure both ends, as well as the middle, with butcher’s twine.
8. Bring a pot of water to a boil. 
9. Immerse the wrapped bread dumpling log, and simmer gently for 20 minutes. 
10. Take out of the water, and let cool.

Pork

4 pork chops

2 tbsp butter

Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat.
2. Salt and pepper the pork chops on both sides, and add to the pan.
3. Cook for about 3-5 minutes on each side, or until the pork is cooked through.  Set aside.

Assembly
Bread dumpling
2 tbsp butter
Pork chop
Sauekraut purée
Red cabbage purée

1. Unwrap the bread dumpling, and cut into 6 slices. 
2. Melt half of the butter in a non-stick pan. 
3. Sauté the slices until golden brown on both sides, adding the rest of the butter when you flip them.
4. Reheat the sauerkraut and red cabbage purées separately.
5. On each plate, arrange a slice of bread dumpling and top with meat, then garnish with a spoonful of each purée.
6. Enjoy!

(Source:  Vepřo-knedlo-zelo)

 

KREMROLE
Dough

3 C gluten free flour

1 C butter , cold, diced

1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon vinegar
1/2 C sour cream , cold

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons soft butter (to coat the metal cooking tubes)

Decor
2 egg yolks

1 teaspoon milk
3 tablespoons melted butter

Meringue
4 egg whites
1 pinch of salt
1 C sugar
1/2 C water

 

Dough

1. In the bowl of a stand-mixer with the flat beater attachment, mix the gluten free flour, salt and butter at low speed for 2 minutes.
2. Add the egg yolk, vinegar and cream and knead, this time with the dough hook, until a homogeneous dough is formed (add a little cold water if necessary).
3. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and keep it in the refrigerator overnight.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
5. On a very lightly floured work surface, roll the dough to a thickness of about ⅛ inch.
6. Cut strips about 1 inch wide and 6 inches long.
7. Coat all the metal cooking tubes with the butter and roll each strip of dough around a tube making sure that the dough overlaps on each turn.
8. Mix the 2 egg yolks and milk, and brush the kremrole dough with this mixture.
9. Place the tubes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
10. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
11. When the kremroles are cold, carefully slide them off from the tubes.

Meringue

1. Pour the egg whites and the salt into the stand mixer.
2. Pour the sugar and water into a saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat.
3. When the sugar reaches 212 F, start to beat the egg whites at full power. 
4. When the sugar reaches 244 F, reduce the speed of the mixer and immediately pour the sugar gradually. It must be very fast as the temperature of the sugar syrup should not continue to rise.
5. Once the sugar is incorporated, return the mixer to maximum speed and beat for 5 minutes.
6. Reduce the speed of the mixer to medium and beat until the bowl has completely cooled.

Assembly

1. Fill the pastry bag with the meringue and stuff each kremrole.
2. Lightly and gently brush each roll with the melted butter and sprinkle powdered sugar.
3. Enjoy!

(Source: Kremrole) 

 

 

The verdict?  As I said earlier, this was a tricky one to do, as there were so many components! That said, it was actually an enjoyable meal.  I'm not a huge fan of pork chops, and I would probably do a tenderloin instead next time, but combined with the other elements of the dish, it actually worked really well together.  The bread dumpling was very interesting.  There were several different textures, but they worked well together.  My favorite part, interestingly, was the cabbage and sauerkraut puree's!  They were very tasty!  I enjoyed them as leftovers the next day too.  The kremrole was interesting, and very tricky to make.  Gluten free dough just does not behave the same way as gluten dough, so it was tricky to get the dough to wrap around the metal tubes to cook.  I finally figured out the best way to do it (roll it on the cutting board rather than pick it all up to wrap) and they cooked well.  They were tricky and MESSY to eat, but we had fun with it.  The next day we ate them with jam and whipped cream, and they were tasty that way too!

ME

Taste of Vepřo-knedlo-zelo (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 7

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 6

 

HANDSOME HUSBAND

Taste of Vepřo-knedlo-zelo (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing):7

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor):7

 

ME

Taste of Kremrole (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 6

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 6

 

HANDSOME HUSBAND

Taste of Kremrole (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing):6

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor):5

 

Join us next time in Barbados!