Czech Kolaches - Kolace

Ingredients

- 4 1/2  cup of flour
- 2 packages of Active Dry Yeast
- 1/2 cup of milk
- 1/2 cup of warm water
- 3/4 cup of butter
- 1/2  cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 4 egg yolks

Directions

1. Put yeast into warm water and stir to dissolve and bubbles (about 10 minutes).
2. Mix together butter, sugar, salt and egg yolks until light and fluffy.  Add yeast mixture,
milk and 2  cups of  flour.  Beat at medium speed 5 minutes. Batter should be smooth.
3. Stir in all remaining flour to make a soft dough.
4. Place in bowl and grease the top.  Cover and let rise in warm
place until doubled, 1 to 1 hour 30 minutes.
5. Stir down and turn onto lightly floured board and divide into 15 - 25 equal balls (depends on size you like). 6. Cover and let rest for 15 minutes. Place dough balls 2" apart on baking sheets.
7. Press each ball of dough from center outward with fingers of both
hands to make a hollow in center with a 1/2" rim around the edge.
8. Fill each hollow with 1 tablespoon filling.  Cover and let rise in warm place until
doubled (30 - 40 minutes).
9. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes or until brown.
10. Brush tops of kolaches lightly with melted butter and sprinkle lightly with sugar powder.
11. Remove from baking sheets and place on racks.

Filling

Prunes:
1. Cook 30 prunes in water to cover until tender.
2. Drain and mash with fork;
3. Stir in 1/4 cup of sugar. Filling should be thick.
Makes enough for 15 kolaches.

Apricots:
1. Cook 30 dried apricots in water to cover until tender.
2. Drain and press apricots through strainer.
3. Stir in 1/4  cup of sugar.  Filling should be thick.
4. Makes enough filling for 15 kolaches.

Poppy seed filling:

1. One cup of milled poppy seeds boil with 8 fl. oz of milk

2. Stir continuously till thick mix.

3. Zest half of a lemon and add to mix, together with 2 tablespoon of sugar, and ground cinnamon.

4. Makes enough filling for 10 kolaches.

Hot red wine - Svarak

Ingredients

- 1 liter of cheap red wine
- 10 pieces of whole cloves
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1/2 of lemon
- 1/2 of orange
- 4-7 teaspoons of sugar

Directions

1. Poor wine into big pot, add cloves, cinnamon sticks, orange and/or lemon and heat up. (Do not boil)
2. When hot add sugar (should be sweet enough for your taste) and serve.

Drink during long cold winter, or as a festive drink with friends or just because its good:)

Czech Bread - Cesky chleba Sumava

Ingredients

Dough:
8 cups of flour
2 big cooked potatoes or 4 smaller ones
4 teaspoons of salt
3 teaspoons of caraway
water

Leaven (Foam yeast):
2 packages of Fleischmann's Active Dry Yeast (1/2 oz)
5 teaspoons of warm water
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of flour

Directions


1. All ingredients for leaven mix in warm porcelain bowl and let foam in a warm spot (80-85 degrees) for 15 minutes.
2. In a big bowl mix flour, cooked and smashed potatoes, salt, caraway, leaven and 15 oz of warm water.
3. Make really nice dough and let sit on warm spot in the kitchen for 45 minutes (or when the dough get 2x bigger).
4. When the dough rises, make two same halves. Work the dough again and make 2 loafs.
5. Sprinkle the baking plate with flour (so the bread wont stick) and cover with cloth let work for another 15 minutes.
6. When rises smear breads with salted water (2 tablespoons of salt mix with 2 cups of water) and place into oven for 15 minutes (390 degrees Fahrenheit). After 15 minutes take out smear with salted water again and put to the oven for another 15 minutes (340 degrees Fahrenheit). After that bake for another 15 minutes for 320 degrees. Last step is smear with salt water and bake for another 10 minutes (until nice golden color).
Bread will get nice crust on the surface.
7. Finish bread take out of the oven and let cool down.

Tip from me:
- eat warm with butter
- place one loaf in the freezer and you can have fresh bread again later.

Czech Donuts - Koblihy do trouby

Ingredients

- 4 cups of flour
- 1 cup of milk
- 1 yolk
- 1/3 cup of sugar
- 1/4 cup of butter
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 2 packages of dry yeast 

For filling you will need:
- your favorite jam or chocolate filling 

Directions

1. Mix all the ingredients into dough. Let it sit for 30-40 minutes. It will get 2x bigger. 
2. Roll the dough flat and using 2'' circle form start cutting out donuts.
3. Put jam or chocolate on half of all donuts, cover with the other half of donuts. Push on edges so the jam don't come out while baking.
4. Put on baking paper and let sit for another 20 minutes. 
5. Bake for 12-15 minutes (350 degrees Fahrenheit). You want to get a golden color.
6. Spread with butter when done and let cool down.
7. Serve with milk.

24 pieces 

Super easy pasta casserole - Sunkafleky

Ingredients

- 1 pound of your favorite pasta
- 1/2 pound of any salami, ham or sausage
- 3 eggs
- 4 cups of milk
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of black pepper

Directions

1. Cook pasta as said on box.
2. Put pasta into baking pan, add salami chopped into small pieces. Add salt and black pepper.
3. Pour milk mixed with eggs into pan.
4. Bake for 30 minutes (300 degrees Fahrenheit) or until milk gets thick.
5. Serve with pickles.

Czech style easy casserole

Ingredients

- 5 big potatoes
- 2 sausage (any you like)
- 1/2 of big onion or 1 small one
- 2 tomatoes
- 8 oz of cream
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of pepper

Directions

1. Cut potatoes, onion, tomatoes and sausage in small pieces.
2. Preheat oven on 350 degrees Farenheit.
3. Put everything in baking pan, add salt and pepper and poor cream over the mix.
4. Bake 30 minutes or until cream is thick and potatoes are soft.

In addition you can add cheese on the top.

Potato pancakes - Bramboraky

Ingredients

- 6 large potatoes
- 2 eggs
- 6 cloves of garlic
- 1/4 cup of milk
- 3/4 of flour
- 1 tablespoon of dried marjoram
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- oil

Directions

1. Grate the potatoes
2. Add milk, crashed garlic, eggs, salt, marjoram and mix well.
3. Add the flour.
4. Start putting pancakes on a hot oiled frying pan (the thinner the better, size doesn't matter)
5. Fry slowly each side of the pancake until golden color.

In addition you can add pieces of any meat, sausage, bacon or sauerkraut or any cheese in the mixture.

Spinach soup

Igredients

- 1 bag of frozen spinach
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- 5 oz of cream
- 2 cloves of garlic
- salt
- black pepper

Direction
1. Heat up butter, add thaw spinach and 1/2 liter of water.
2. Add salt, cream and cook for 15 minutes.
3. When done, add crushed garlic and blend with hand blender.

Tomato soup

 Ingredients

- 15 oz of diced tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- 1 tablespoon of flour
- 2 teaspoon of salt
- beef or chicken bouillon (according to package)
- 1 teaspoon of sugar
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
- bread croutons


Directions

1. Heat up butter in a pot, add flour and make a flour mix. Add tomatoes and poor 1 liter of water.
2. Cook for 20 minutes. Take of the heat and mix with hand blender. Add salt, bouillon sugar and cinnamon. Possible to add cream when finished.
3. Eat with bread croutons.

Garlic soup - Hangover cure

Ingredients

- 2 big potatoes
- 1 tablespoon of flour
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- 4-6 cloves of garlic
- salt

Directions

1. Heat up butter, add flour and cold water. Add salt,and potatoes (cut in small pieces).
2. Cook for 15 minutes. Before the end of cooking add garlic (cut in small pieces).
3. Eat with bread croutons or garlic bread.

Thick leek soup with thyme

Ingredients


- 2 big leeks
- 2 tablespoon of olive oil
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- 4 tablespoon of flour
- 3,5 oz of soft cheese (Laughing Cow)
- 1 liter of chicken broth
- salt
- pepper
- 4 oz of cream
- 2 teaspoon of thyme

Directions

1. Peal leek, cut off the hard end and cut in small pieces. In a big pot heat up oil and butter, add leek and let it seared up. This will take 3 minutes. Add flour and stir well.
2.Into mix add pieces of cheese and mix until smooth. Poor the chicken broth in and mix. Add salt, pepper and boil for 20 minutes.
3. Take of the heat, poor into blender (or blend with hand mixer). Add cream.
4.Add thyme and its ready to eat.

Svickova - vegetable sauce

Ingredients

- 2 pounds of Tenderloin in one piece
- 1 bag of frozen vegetables - preferably celery, carrot, parsley root - same amount of each. You can also use fresh vegetables. The more the better.
- water
- 5 bay leaves
- 5 balls of allspice
- 5 balls of whole black pepper
- 1 cube of beef broth
- flour
- 4-8 oz. of cream
- 2 tablespoon of butter
- salt

Directions

1. Put the whole piece of meat into big baking pan, add salt. Cut vegetables into small pieces and add to the pan with meat. Add water into pan so the meat is half covered by it. Add bay leaves, whole black pepper and allspice. Cover with lid and bake (400 degrees F.). Check water level during baking.
2. When the meat is soft enough (falling apart) take it out of the pan and put aside.
3. Take out all the spices and poor vegetables into blender. (make sure all pieces of spices are out) Blend well and you have the base for our sauce.
4. Put sauce in a big cooking pot, add cube of beef broth, add as much water as much sauce you want to have (1-2 liters). Boil
5. Mix 1 cup of flour with water, make a paste of it and add to the sauce. The sauce should get thicker.
6. Cook and stir the whole time for another 5 minutes.
7. Take of the heat and add cream.DO NOT BOIL WITH CREAM!
8. Cut meat into slices (1/2 inch thick)
9. Eat with dumpling.

Fried Cheese

Ingredients

- block of hard cheese (your preference)
- 3 eggs
- 2 cups of flour
- milk
- bread crumbs

Directions

1. Cut cheese in 1/2" thick slices.
2. In larger bowl whisk flour and eggs (enough to cover all the cheese) and put each slice in the mix. Mix should be thick enough and sticky for the bread crumbs to stay on it. If its too thick use milk to make it the perfect consistence.
3. In other bowl cover cheese in bread crumbs.
4. If you have a cheese that is softer and tends to melt, repeat this process one more time.
5. Eat with french fries, potatoes or vegetables salad.

Garlic spread - the best spread you will ever taste

Ingredients

- 4 oz. of mayo or miracle whip
- 8 oz. of cream cheese
- 6 cloves of garlic according to taste - more = better

Directions

1. Mix mayo, cream cheese and cut garlic together.
2. Spread on bread, toast or any cracker.
3. Possible to add grated cheese, cut up onion...
4. Taste delicious.

Czech Gulas

Ingredients

- 2 pounds of beef - any part is possible
- 2 pounds of onion
- oil
- 1 beef or chicken bouillon
- 2 tablespoon of paprika
- 1 teaspoon of black pepper
- 3 teaspoon of salt
- water
- flour mix - 3 tablespoons of flour, 1 cup of water - mix with fork until you make a paste for thickening the sauce

Directions

1. Cut beef into pieces. Preheat oil in a big pot (must fit 2 liters of sauce) for 350 degrees. When ready, sear onion - gold color, add beef in the pot. Sear the meat, add salt, pepper, paprika.
2. Add water 2 liters.
3. Close with lid. Cook until meat is soft and its falling apart - check every 30 minutes if there is enough water.
4. When meat is soft enough, add flour mix into the sauce, wait for the flour to make the sauce thick. Cook for another 5 minutes.
5. According to taste - add chili peppers, green peppers, sausage...

Ready to eat with bread dumplings - see below.

Bread dumplings

Ingredients

- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups of flour, sifted with a pinch of baking powder
- 4 slices white bread, cut into cubes


Directions

1. Beat eggs, salt, milk in a large mixing bowl; add flour gradually.
2. Continue beating with a large spoon (the dough must be smooth and stiff enough to hold its shape).
3. Stir in bread cubes last.
4. Have a clean, wet towel ready. Place dough in bowl with towel over it, set aside to rise.
5. Shape the dough with wet hands into rolls 8in by 3-4in diameter (think sub-roll) and drop into a large pot of salted boiling water.
6. Boil, covered, for 45 minutes.
7. Remove from water and slice the dumpling 1/2 inch thick with a cotton string (it keeps the dumplings fluffy).

Sauerkraut and Baked Pork

Sauerkraut

Ingredients

- 1 jar of sauerkraut
- 5 tablespoon of sugar
- 2 tablespoon of flour

Directions

1. Poor sauerkraut in a middle size pot, start boiling, stir continuously.
2. Add sugar - more or less according to taste.
3. Add flour mix in well. Cook for about 5 more minutes, let the flour to blend in and thicken the sauerkraut juice.
4. Serve with dumplings and pork.

Dobrou chut - Enjoy your meal.

Baked Pork

Ingredients

- 4 slices of pork shoulder - always taste better with some fat on it
- 2 teaspoon of caraway
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of black pepper
- 1/2 of onion
- 2 tablespoon of oil
- 1 cup of water
- 4 cloves of garlic

Directions

1. Sprinkle pork with salt, black pepper and caraway, put in a baking pan with a lid.
2. Chop onion and sprinkle on and around pork and poor water and oil around meat, add sliced garlic.
3. Put in preheated oven for 400 degrees F and bake for 2 hours.
4. Look at the meat every 30 minutes, the water cannot cook out.
5. After 2 hours, or when the meat is falling apart take out of the oven.