Blueberry Crumb Cake

I love this time of year when blueberries are sold in enormous quantities far beyond the amount any one household could eat before they start to rot. There are only two solutions for this kind of berry-overload: freezing and baking! This summer I have been trying to bake with blueberries at every opportunity. This recipe, which is adapted from the barefoot contessa, was so good that I actually made 2 of them in the past week. People love it when you show up at their house with a piece of cake, it will make them smile every time.

For streusel:
1/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 stick unsalted butter (melted)
1 1/3 cups flour

For cake:
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter (room temperature)
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs (room temperature)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest (grated)
2/3 cup sour cream
1 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
Confectioner's sugar


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch round baking pan.

For streusel:
In a bowl combine white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add melted butter and then add the flour. Mix everything together until crumbly. Set aside

For cake:
Cream butter and sugar together with the paddle attachment of an electric mixer on high speed for about 4 minutes. Adjust mixer speed to low and then add the eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla, lemon zest, and sour cream while continuing to mix on low speed.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Add this dry mixture to the wet mixture and combine on low speed until texture is consistent. Turn off mixer.

Fold in blueberries gently with a spatula, taking care that everything is well mixed.

Spoon the batter into the baking pan and spread evenly with the spatula. Crumble the topping with your hands evenly over the cake batter surface. Bake around 50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool completely. Sprinkle confectioner's sugar on top. Great served with coffee or ice cream!

Sour Lentil Soup

Lentils are a fantastic ingredient because they are cheap, delicious, and can be stored for over a year in dried form. These qualities make them the perfect food for low-income, somewhat disorganized food lovers like myself. This soup is savory and filling, ideal for a cold winter night in Budapest.

1 cup dried lentils
1 medium onion (finely chopped)
3 stalks celery (sliced into small crescents)
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 pound Hungarian sausage (cut into rounds)
Sour cream (for dolloping on top of individual servings)

Start by soaking the lentils in cold water for several hours. Drain the lentils and replace them in a large pot. Add 4 cups of fresh cold water. Add the onion and the celery. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the pot and put on low heat for about 1 hour.

Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan. Stir in about 2 tablespoons of flour and cook until slightly browned, about 2 minutes. Add more flour for a thicker consistency soup. Add half a cup of water and 2 tablespoons of vinegar to the flour mixture and stir constantly to develop a paste. Add this paste to the lentils. Chunks of paste may stick together, so be sure to whisk thoroughly. Soup can be thickened with more flour paste or thinned with more water. Add salt, pepper, and vinegar to adjust flavor at this point.

Fry the sausages briefly with olive oil, then add them to the soup. Let the whole thing simmer together for a few minutes, making sure the sausages are heated all the way through. Add a spoonful of sour cream on top of your serving for authentic Hungarian flavor. Delish!

Stovetop Mac and Cheese

Macaroni & cheese is not something I eat very often when I am in the states, but living overseas always makes me crave this comfort food. Of course Kraft and Annie's have not yet tried to conquer the European market with their product (probably for the better), and this leaves me with a hankering that is hard to sate. Until today! I am pleased to announce the success of my super-easy stovetop mac & cheese:

Macaroni or Shell pasta
Cheddar cheese (finely grated)
Sour cream
Salt
Pepper
Bacon

Fry the bacon in small pieces while the pasta cooks in boiling, salted water. Drain the pasta, and put it back into cooking pot. Take off the heat and immediately add the shredded cheese. Add about 1 tablespoon of sour cream and stir to mix the sour cream and cheese into a sauce. The cheese should melt from the residual heat of the pasta. If it's not melting well put on low heat briefly. Cooking the cheese too much will cause it to become stringy so be careful. Adjust amounts of cheese and sour cream to taste. Add bacon pieces. Salt to taste. In one portion I even added a little Erős pista, a Hungarian hot paprika paste which contributed a nice kick. At the end I ground a little black pepper on top and voilà, macaroni & cheese. Easy and gratifying every time.