Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Hungarian Lecsó (lecho)


The other day, I found a "treasure" in my local supermarket, Publix, which I'm proud to announce. A gorgeous bag of local sweet mini peppers, in assorted colors. When I opened the bag, the fresh, and sweet aroma just permeated throughout my little kitchen. I have been waiting for these amazing little sweet, and crunchy, colorful peppers, that when I picked up the bag from the special stand, a little old lady asked me..."are they real?...I didn't want to be mean,  and say..."no, they're plastic"...she really meant well, and I wasn't about to make a "snarky remark!"
Such a huge bag of these gorgeous peppers can be made different ways. My second choice: Roasted peppers...and why not? They are ever so delicious, and with these tiny peppers, you almost don't even have to remove the skins, after roasting them. Just drizzle vegetable oil on the peppers on a aluminum foil lined bake pan, and add pieces of garlic, or chopped garlic, salt and pepper, and fresh rosemary, and bake at 425 degrees for about 45 minutes. Leave the little peppers whole, when you roast them. It's even more delicious when you open them after they're done. It is not hot, or spicy, just sweet, and pleasant yummy flavor.
I still had the second portion of the bag of new red potatoes, so I pre-boiled them, first, cutting them in half, and boil them till almost done, and sauteed them in extra virgin olive oil, and butter, and added fresh chopped parsley, freshly grated sea salt, and fresh ground black pepper, and made an amazing vegetarian meal out of the lecso, potatoes, and nice crusty bread, to dip into the rich tomato/paprika sauce. "Out of this World"...amazing, and healthy dish!

Hungarian Lecsó (lecho)
my own recipe

About 2 lbs. of sweet assorted, or hot peppers
1 large onion sliced, or chopped
3 cloves garlic chopped
1 large can of a 28 oz. diced tomatoes
or you can use about 4 fresh chopped tomatoes
4 Tablespoon vegetable oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tablespoon sweet Hungarian paprika
1/2 cup of water

In a large skillet, saute onion and garlic over medium high heat, till onion gets a golden color. Pull skillet away from the heat, and add the salt, pepper, and paprika. Stir, to combine, add the water, and add the mini peppers, cut into half, removing the seeds, or with the larger peppers, cut into strips, and also removing the seeds. Stir to incorporate, and saute for a few minutes, then add the tomatoes, and cook slow, over medium heat until peppers get slightly softened, and tomatoes get to a thick consistency. Serve them as a side dish, or appetizer, or save some to add to scrambled eggs, which is a super delicious breakfast treat. Serves 4-6

This is the bag of the sweet peppers.They are from a local Florida produce farm. They are so incredible, and delicious. So full of natural vitamin C.


I mentioned in my last post about going to the Greek Festival, which this year is the 36th event. It happens to be just down the street from my son's house. A beautiful Greek Orthodox church is hosting the event, and it's ope to the public. Admission is only $3.00. and even if you do not go with your family, or friends, you can hang out by yourself, and enjoy the live entertainment, and the best, of the best Greek food, that is lovingly made by the members of the church. Here's my family, walking to the event. Just minutes away, streets are totally lined with cars, and needed police escorts to make sure that everything is running smooth. The place was set up with a huge tent outside, and the smell of the outside grilling was incredible. Beautiful sunshiny day, on a Saturday afternoon, with gentle breezes coming from the Intracoastal water.
The first thing we saw when we walked in was the dancers, in their folk Greek authentic costumes. These young people did such a wonderful job...so entertaining!



No Greek festival can be without Baklava...and I'll tell you, these were the best I've ever tasted. They were $2.50 for a tiny triangle piece, but worth every bite of it, which I literally shared with 2 other members of my family, just one bite...oh, so incredibly rich!

It would not be a Greek festival without the Moussaka, a Greek style Shepherd's pie...ground lamb, layered with potato slices, and baked eggplant slices, topped with a rich Bechamel sauce, spiced with nutmeg, and cinnamon. So good, and comforting...and very filling!

 As we walked outside the Pavilion, I looked up in the sky, and saw the "happy sky writer" in action, again. sending the "good news" our way. Wonder if anybody pays him for sharing the message of Jesus!...at any rate, such a nice gesture on a clear, and sunny S. Florida day!
...and here's my family, sharing this lovely "smorgesbord"...a variety of "happy meals"...no, not McDonalds, but great Greek food, and next to my little grandson is my chair, and my favorite Greek salad...and oh, a nice ice cold Greek beer. No one else was drinking beer...just me, the "happy Nonna-Grandma"
Inside the Pavilion tent was this amazing Greek band, that played such good music, that brought people to their feet to dance.


Just look at all the fun stuff to buy, that is traditional Greek fun things for festivals, such as this.
Look at all these people underneath the Pavilion tent. It must take the church all year to plan this successful event, for a whole weekend, every year of the last week in February, and each year the weather somehow turns out perfect.




Enhanced by Zemanta

26 comments:

Indonesian In Turkey said...

wow.. Good food and great perfomance from Greek festival. Seems very much enjoyable moment for U and Fams.
And thx for sharing Lecho recipe, my hubby would love that ^_^

Hilda said...

Really nice ande delicious.
kisses

Rosemary said...

What great fun! All of it . . . baby peppers, little old ladies in the supermarket, and that wonderful Greek festival. Have a beer for me Nonna!

Melynda said...

Another beautiful day! Being "the Mom" does have it's privileges, enjoy them always!

Mari said...

Lovely post, great recipe and great food!!! I am dieing here for a piece of baklava. I guess I have to make some myself. There are no Greek restaurant here :(

Handsome son and beautiful daughter :)

Have a blessed week.

Mrs K said...

Wow these are lovely moments and pictures are absolutely necessary:) I loved how your grandson has his hand on the chair,looks like he has reserved the spot,making sure no one else takes it.Loved the recipe you have posted:)

aipi said...

Just bookmarked this one - It sounds great. I love the great colors n gorgeous flavors in every dish you post, Elisabeth :)

Seems like you guys had lot of fun at the festival..beautiful n warm pictures!!

US Masala

mia maria said...

I enjoyed your entire post but my mind is stuck in baklava, my favorite sweet :)

Michael Toa said...

I love roasted peppers. Give me roasted peppers and bread, and I am sorted.
Looks and sounds like you had great fun at the Greek festival. I'll definitely join you for a beer or two Elisabeth! :)

Swathi said...

Elizabeth, I like that roasted sweet peppers. Greek festival sounds fun. love baklava. Nice writeup as usual and clicks.

kitchenmorph said...

lovely post. loved the peppers on top and loved it thru the greek festival to the last snap of your son and daughter...yea joseph sure has tht look!!
wonderful greek spread. livya shd see this.

Pegasuslegend said...

What great fun and good food as usual your pictures are full of love and wonderful good times!

Lizzy said...

I love reading about your adventures, Lizzie...you are such a fun Nonna-Grandma! I adore roasted peppers and would love to find a bag of treasures like yours. I will have to try your lecso...such a brilliant color and I can only imagine the incredible flavor! xoxo

Sabby said...

Everytime I visit your blog, i get to see some new stuff and lovely pics....really enjoy browsing through.....yummm food as ever....

Sabby
http://foodfunfreak.blogspot.com/

Angie's Recipes said...

What a great event!
Those roasted sweet peppers look so mouthwatering! I somehow want to dip those red potatoes with some of those sweet pepper sauce.

Junia said...

wow the red skinned potatoes and the lesko looks delicious!!! :D

sanjeeta kk said...

Love those roasted peppers! What a great event.

Lite Bite

Magic of Spice said...

Looks like a wonderful day! And I love your recipe...those little peppers are indeed wonderful! Hope your having a great week :)

Kathy said...

Elizabeth, Wonderful post! I really enjoyed your photos of the Greek Festival and your family. Sounds like a lovely day was had by all. I also loved your pepper recipe…would love to give it a try as soon as I can find some nice peppers.

Annie's Dish said...

That festival looked like so much fun! I love stuff like that.

Patty said...

Elisabeth...your photos are more and more beautiful...

Ildy said...

Hi, Elisabeth!
A kedvenc ételemet csináltad meg!:) Imádom a lecsót! Én tojással készítem, nagyon finom. Úgy próbáltad már?
Milyen jó hangulatú mulatságon voltál:) És azok mennyei falatok....yummy:)

Mateja ^_^ said...

What a nice way to spend time with family Elisabeth!!! Did you buy one of those belly dancer's outfits I saw on one of the photos ;) Glad you had wonderful time! And the the Hungarian peppers' dish looks super yummy! Thank you for sharing and have a great weekend- OPA :)

Sandra said...

Love your version of Hungarian Lecsó..I guess where I was born we had so much of Hungarian influence that we were making this often..this is our favorite especially on summer times:)
Greek festival is always fun..looks like you guys had so much fun!

Angellove's Cooking said...

What a great recipe again, Elisabeth!!! I should try this :)... And it seems you have got lots of fun!! Oh, and great photos of the Greek festival!!

Nancy said...

Hi
What a wonderful pics you have here.
Perhaps you're interested to submit your food photos on a food photography site that has tagline "Food Photography that will make you hungry" :)

http://www.foodporn.net
It's free to submit, free to join, and a lot of members can enjoy your creation!