OT Strangeness with Strangers including recipe - Page 5

> Edna Pearl wrote:
>> I have my GM's apple strudel recipe and guard it with my life. (Though I
>> *have* given it to my best friend -- just in case I lose my copies.) It
>> takes hours to make. The dough is full of lard (nothing else will work)
>> and has to be so thin you can see a flowered tablecloth through (I have
>> my GM's flowered tablecloth, which is just the right size) but so strong
>> you can pick it up without it tearing. The dough when rolled out is
>> almost as big as my dining room table. The finished product weighs about
>> ten pounds. In order to get it out of the pan, you have to wrap the pan
>> in the tablecloth, flip the whole thing upside down, on a tray, and
>> unwrap the tablecloth.
>> Did you ever see the movie "Dune"? Remember the sand worms? That's just
>> what my strudel looks like. You expect the end to open like a big
>> sandworm mouth and devour everyone at the table, as well as the table.
>> EP
> Edna, that is priceless! I'm comming for a visit... I'll bring the GMNT
> to help us eat/wressle with the strudel...
> I cheat and use filo pastry. Not, it isn't the same, but is does save my
> tablecloths... ;)
> --
> Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
> Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
> http://www.katedicey.co.uk
> Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

> Oh incidentally, did your GM make these incredibly hard, dark brown/black
> mollasses cookies? I can't find a recipe, mostly because I don't know what
> to call them. When we were kids, we used to call them "dog turds." (Sorry,
> but that really is what we called them. No reflection on their taste, but
> that's what they *looked* like.)

>I have my GM's apple strudel recipe and guard it with my life. (Though I
>*have* given it to my best friend -- just in case I lose my copies.) It
>takes hours to make. The dough is full of lard (nothing else will work) and
>has to be so thin you can see a flowered tablecloth through (I have my GM's
>flowered tablecloth, which is just the right size) but so strong you can
>pick it up without it tearing. The dough when rolled out is almost as big
>as my dining room table. The finished product weighs about ten pounds. In
>order to get it out of the pan, you have to wrap the pan in the tablecloth,
>flip the whole thing upside down, on a tray, and unwrap the tablecloth.
>Did you ever see the movie "Dune"? Remember the sand worms? That's just
>what my strudel looks like. You expect the end to open like a big sandworm
>mouth and devour everyone at the table, as well as the table.
>EP
>> Edna, you should send all sample to me so I can give you the
>> definitive answer on Kolache.
>> My mama didn't cook much czech food and g'ma didn't teach
>> us. I have spent a lot of energy and calories trying to recreate the
>> memories of the czech food. I doubt I will ever get near apple
>> strudel in my memory, but not for lacking many attempts.
>> All the sibs that remember g'ma's baked goods appreciate
>> any effort. ; ) Cousin just got back from a summer in Europe
>> and claims she found some 'just like we remember' strudel in
>> Poland somewhere. Yum!
>> Taria
>>> I'm half Czech, and any mention of a "kolache" (phonetic spelling because
>>> I don't know how to do diacritical marks in an e-mail) leads to arguments
>>> regarding what actually constitutes a kolache -- sometime acrimonious
>>> ones.
>>> I hope you were not injured during this exchange :-D
>>> EP
>>>> Forgive my spelling, when venturing into foriegn languages it is even
>>>> iffier than usual.
>>>> I was shopping today, sort of. Browsing for a new washer as my 15
>>>> year old Whirlpool has finally developed a problem expensive enough to
>>>> fix that I might as well buy a new one.
>>>> While we were in Home Depot I heard a man exclaim "I would pay fifty
>>>> dollars for a gomboc!" I immediately whirled around and walked back
>>>> down the aisle and said "Done! What kinds and how many?" I mean jeez
>>>> I am having to shop for a new washer, money is good right now. He
>>>> looked at me oddly. I cringed and said "Oh dear, didn't you just say
>>>> you would give fifty dollars for gomboc?", thinking maybe sticker
>>>> shock was taking it's toll. He said he certainly did say that, but
>>>> they only come in one kind so I had confused him. I pointed out that
>>>> I know how to make szilvas gombac, jam gombac, turros gombac, and
>>>> makos gombac, there are indeed all different kinds. We had to huddle
>>>> and compare notes. He walked away in a bemused state with some
>>>> recipes on his palmie, and I walked away in a bemused state with the
>>>> knowledge that Hungarian mathmeticians made a three dimensional object
>>>> that has one stable and one unstable point of equalibrium when it is
>>>> sitting on something. Guy is a math teacher at the college, his wife
>>>> kept telling him if he wanted something exotic he was going to have to
>>>> cook it!. So far as the hungarian mathmeticians, apparently they
>>>> thought it would be cool to name their thingy after dumplings.
>>>> Mrs. Lina (don't even ask me to spell her last name, RIP) that used to
>>>> live up the street taught me how to make these.
>>>> Before starting, set a pot of water to boil, deep is good, wide is not
>>>> so important.
>>>> The Dough
>>>> take equal quantities flour and cold plain mashed potatos, for every
>>>> cup of flour use one egg, and a half teaspoon (or thereabouts) of
>>>> salt.
>>>> Cut enough butter into the flour to achieve a meal like texture.
>>>> Add potatos and salt and mix, add eggs. Work into a dough and fill as
>>>> directed. If your flour is very dry, you may need more fluid.
>>>> Seperate an egg, and try one half or the other, adding the rest if
>>>> needed.
>>>> Szlivas Gombac
>>>> make dough with 2 cups of flour
>>>> Take a dozen plums (you may need more if you use those weeny prune
>>>> plums, or less if you use monstrous huge ones), wash well, then cut
>>>> them just enough to get the pit out. Replace the pit with a sugared
>>>> almond.
>>>> Put a plum in the center of each square, moisten the edges, fold over
>>>> and seal. Take the dumpling between your palms and roll it into a
>>>> ball.
>>>> Turn the water down to a gentle boil, keep it boiling but don't let it
>>>> get exuberant.
>>>> Put the dumplings in the water one at a time with a slotted spoon. let
>>>> cook for about fifteen minutes, they will rise to the top when they
>>>> are done remove them as they come up. Set aside in a collender to
>>>> cool.
>>>> In a frying pan, melt another couple of tablespoons of butter. Add
>>>> fine crumbs (a cup or cup and a half thereabouts), and brown.
>>>> roll the dumplings in the crumbs.
>>>> serve as is or sprinkled with sugar or cinnamon sugar.
>>>> The above may be made with small apricots instead of plums, with
>>>> sliced fruit if the pits are stubborn, or with pieces of almost any
>>>> somewhat soft fruit.
>>>> With the following fillings be extra careful about sealing the dough,
>>>> and gentle when rolling into balls. Also gauge your quantity of
>>>> filling carefully, use too much and it will burst the dumpling and
>>>> vanish into the boiling pot:
>>>> jam gomboc
>>>> make as above, but use a small spoon of jam instead of fruit.
>>>> turos gombac
>>>> use a small spoon of drained cottage cheese as filling.
>>>> If you want these as a main dish or savory side, skip the sugar. In
>>>> that case you can add crumbled bacon to the cottage cheese if you
>>>> like.
>>>> makos gombac
>>>> grind a cup of poppy seed, mix over gentle heat with a two tablespoons
>>>> of sugar, two tablespoons of milk, and an egg white, until thickened.
>>>> (not very long at all)
>>>> when cool use as dumpling filling.
>>>> NightMist
>>>> mouthy thing aren't I? (G)
>>>> --
>>>> Legolas is my house elf
>>

> The bakeries here put the whole construction into a deep pan (for that
> type of strudel -there are lots of other types) and then serve slices
> out of the pan. They also make smaller. Is there some reason the
> entire sandworm has to go in one batch?