Jó étvágyat!

My internship has been going well. It has been a lot less busy since we have finished up everything having to do with Golden Week. Besides work I have been cooking some good Magyar food. I work in the same area with Ágota and Ildiko and they are always talking about what they are going to have for dinner and I decided I would get in on the action. I had Agota teach me how to make Paprikás Krumpli. It is essentially a potato stew with paprika sauce. I made it with two kilograms of potatoes so I would have enough for the whole week. It was a big success! It was so delicious. It took me a while to make (cutting the onions, peeling potatoes, cutting potatoes, cooking, etc.). The next morning at the press summary meeting, Molnar Kati asked me what I did last night because I looked tired. I told her I made Paprikas Krumpli. Then Agota added that I made two kilograms worth, so then she understood. Then, after a week of paprikas krumpli, my co-worker Agota felt bad that that’s all that I was eating, so she brought me lunch one day. Cherry soup, rice mixed with vegetables and chicken. It was amazing. The fruit soup Hungarians make is amazing. Needless to say, jol laktam. I have the best co-workers in the world.

This week I decided to take a crack at what may be my favorite Hungarian dish: toltott paprika (stuffed peppers). I decided to teach you all how to make it as well.

1. Dice some onions and brown in oil. You want them to be translucent. As you can see I might have cooked mine a little too long. I put in some garlic too.



2. Remove the seeds from peppers. In America you can’t get these peppers, so it really won’t be the same.



3. Take some ground meat---pork or beef and mix it with rice, salt, onion/oil mixture, one egg, pepper and some paprika. It’s almost like meatloaf. I even used my hands, my mother would be so proud.



4. Stuff the meat mixture into the peppers. Make sure you leave a hole in the middle so the rice has room to expand.



5. Place them in a pot, cover with tomato juice (lightly seasoned) and bring to a boil. After it boils lower the heat and cover. Cook for about fifty minutes.





6. Eat!



It really wasn’t that difficult and it was really delicious. You can eat it with whatever. Agota recommends eating it with potatoes. Anyway, things are going well here. I’m not starving, that’s for sure.