gluten free

Slovak Style Egg Spread

Slovak style egg spread - can you guess the ingredients?

Some say that everything is better with butter. With Slovaks, that extends to egg spread.

Yes, butter as a base with egg spread. When I first saw my mother in law making Slovak egg spread, I raised my eyebrows. Butter? But then I tasted it and became a firm fan.

Sometimes egg mixtures can be a spread or a salad, like my recipe 3-Ingredient Egg Salad/Spread. This is definitely a spread, not a salad.

It’s a fast and filling meal to make, whether you don’t want to cook because the weather is still hot or because you’ve got to eat in five minutes.

Butter is making a comeback after being vilified for years, which is great because it tastes amazing. So get in even more butter with Slovak Style Egg Spread!

Slovak style egg spread - can you guess the surprise ingredient?

Slovak Style Egg Spread
 
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Ingredients
  • 5 eggs
  • ½ cup (125 ml) butter, softened
  • 1 tsp mustard
  • onion
  • salt
  • pepper
Instructions
  1. Make hardboiled eggs according to your preferred method. I boil them for an undefined amount of time while I forget about them, and then remember - oh, my eggs! Cool in cold water.
  2. When cold enough, peel eggs and chop. Mix with softened butter, mustard, chopped onion (according to taste) and salt and pepper. The amount of salt will depend on whether your butter is salted or not.
  3. Garnish with chopped chives or parsley if desired.
  4. Spread on bread, crackers, flatbread, etc or use as a dip. Enjoy!
 

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Medovniky or Perniky Spice Mix (simple and elaborate versions)

Spice mix for making Slovak medovniky or perniky, simple and elaborate versions - Almost Bananas

Medovniky (recipe) are Slovak spiced honey cookies eaten year round but made especially during Christmas and the winter season. Perniky are soft cookie ‘sandwiches’ with plum butter and uses the same spice mix as medovniky. Available to buy prepackaged in Slovakia, this spice mix is for those who don’t have medovniky spice mix in their store, or for those who just want to experiment and make their own.

One of the adjustments of moving to a new country is getting used to different packaging and availability of foods, including spice mixes. You would never find pumpkin spice mix in Slovakia, for example, even though all the spices are common here.

I’ll never forget the time I first made chilli here. It was within the first few months of coming to Slovakia and I bought a package of ‘chili’ and liberally dumped the contents into the pot. But it was pure chili pepper, not chilli powder like I assumed. It was a spicy mistake (although I think I realized my mistake before it was too late and managed to scoop out a good amount of the pepper).  Click to continue reading

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Cream of Zucchini Soup with Dill

Slovak Cream of Zuchinni Soup with Dill - Almost Bananas

This super easy creamy soup is a delicious way to eat abundant zucchini, even for those who don’t like it!

I’m a terrible food blogger. I made this soup a while ago but didn’t write down how much of what I used (because I was going to remember, ha!) and then we went on holiday…and now it’s past dill season. But it will be dill season again, and you’ll have pinned this recipe to try then, right?

My mother in law makes this soup fairly often in the summer. Every year she claims she’s not going to plant as much zuchinni as last year, and every year she does.

Click to continue reading

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How to Cook Brains: Slovak Mozgy

How to Eat Brains Slovak Mozgy

When at a Slovak zabijačka (za-bee-yach-ka), a family pig slaughtering, the first food to be cooked is lunch. Without fail, my mother in law makes mozgy, a dish containing the brains and spinal cord.

When planning to blog about zabijačka, I wanted to post exact recipes. This, however, was not possible due to a number of factors, like helping out and taking care of children, but most of all because nobody has any idea of how much of an ingredient they use. If I’m lucky, amounts are given in handfuls, sprinkles, and pours.

“Mami, how much onion did you put in?” I ask.

“Oh, I don’t know, until it looks good. However much the butcher says.” my mother in law answers.  Click to continue reading

Food, Offal Food, Savoury Food, Slovak Food, Slovakia & Travel , , , , , , , , 8 Comments

Bone Broth Slovak Sunday Soup

 

Bone Broth Slovak Sunday Soup

This soup makes an appearance every Sunday at my mother in law’s, and now at my house. The clear broth is made with bones, but there is a secret to making sure that the broth stays clear and not cloudy! We call it Sunday soup, although in Slovak it doesn’t really have a name, just ‘soup.’ The broth warms the stomach, aids digestion for the meal to follow, and provides a host of nutrients. It also appears as the first course at weddings and any celebratory occasion when people eat together.   Click to continue reading

Food, Offal Food, Savoury Food, Slovak Food, Slovakia & Travel , , , , , , , , , , 13 Comments

Chicken Paprikash

Quick and cozy, chicken paprikash is a dish commonly made in Slovakia, though originally from Hungry, of chicken cooked in a creamy paprika sauce and served over pasta of some sort. This version is dairy free or full of dairy, whichever you prefer!

Chicken Paprikash - Slovak comfort food

I love finding new dishes with old ingredients. Ingredients that are already part of my kitchen, that are easily available in any grocery store, but combined in a way that I haven’t used before.

For example, chicken paprikáš (pronounced paprikash). Like most dishes that feature sweet paprika, this dish originates in Hungry. Hungry had a major influence in Slovakia during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and naturally this carried over in the realm of food as well

I mean, who wants to turn down a dish of delicious?  Click to continue reading

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Cream of Lentil Soup with Prunes

Prunes are added to Christmas soups in Slovakia. They have a festive sweetness that melds well with the lentils and cream.

Cream of Lentil Soup with Prunes

As I mentioned in my post about how Slovaks celebrate Christmas, each area of Slovakia makes a different type of soup for Christmas. Some make a sauerkraut based soup, others split pea, and still others cream of lentil. What all the soups have in common is the festive addition of prunes.

When I first heard about prunes in soup, I was sceptical. Prunes? In Soup? Weird, I thought. But I’m game to try anything at least once, and so my first Christmas in Slovakia found me discovering a whole new way of eating a childhood food. Click to continue reading

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Spice Cookies (AIP Paleo, GAPS) nut, grain and egg free

These spice cookies are perfect for dunking in tea (if you can’t dunk them in milk). These are very allergy friendly, without gluten, grains, dairy, nuts, or eggs.

AIP Paleo Spice Cookies

Eveyone knows there are 12 days of Christmas, but did you know that they start on Christmas day? Meaning that today is the 5th day of Christmas.

For me this works out well – I had a whole list of goodies I wanted to make gifts with and it didn’t get done before Christmas actually happened. I’ve been planning to make gingerbread houses as well, and, well, that hasn’t happened yet either.

But the good thing is that there are still 7 days of Christmas left. “Merry 10th day of Christmas…here is your Christmas gift. I’m not late, really.” Click to continue reading

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Fermented Cabbage Stuffed Peppers

Fermented Cabbage Stuffed Peppers

If you’ve been around Almost Bananas for a while, you’ll know that I’m a big fan of fermented foods. All the probiotics are beneficial for your health in so many ways, confirmed by science. Fermenting preserves food, and tastes amazing while it’s making us healthier.

Fermenting food is kind of like having a running science experiment in your kitchen. Jars full of bubbling mixes, smells that we are no longer used to. Guests will wonder what on earth is going on in your kitchen.

Once upon a time these were normal foods. And now, we often have to accustom our taste buds to fermented foods, as many grow up without tasting them at all.

Here in Slovakia an old and common ferment is cabbage stuffed peppers. It’s warm enough here to grow peppers and this is a great way to preserve them for the winter. Click to continue reading

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Toasted Vanilla Bean Powder

Toasted Vanilla Bean Powder

Vanilla is one of the most popular flavourings, and for good reason. Somehow it smells sensual, exotic, and elegant all at the same time. And the taste!

In Slovakia, where I live, vanilla extract is not available, but vanilla sugar. Most vanilla sugars are made using artificial flavourings and even the ones using real vanilla have miniscule amounts of vanilla in it. (If you happen to understand Czech, here’s an investigative video into the rip off of buying vanilla sugar.)

Sometimes I get sent a bottle of vanilla extract and I dole it out carefully, torn between increasing the heavenly taste and using up the bottle quickly.

It’s possible, of course, to make your own vanilla sugar or vanilla extract (or tincture?). The problem is that you have to plan and wait, while the vanilla bean steeps it’s goodness into the sugar or alcohol. I’m not very good at getting around to making it until I need it for a recipe, and then it’s too late and I don’t have time to wait. Click to continue reading

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