Best Family Favorite Czech Recipes

Broccoli finally arrived in my garden and I have cut three to four bunches for meals later in the year. I like to eat a handful and freeze the rest. Preparing broccoli for later use or freezing is pretty simple. Typically I prepare my cut veggies like beans and broccoli by blanching in hot water bath then transferring to a cold water shock, then into the freezer. However, time has seemed to have got away from me this past week.  My veggies were cut a few days ago and their time spent in the crisper was just about up. (My cut broccoli was going on day three of refrigeration). As I got home last night to a very warm home courtesy of our current heat wave, I decided to forgo the traditional stove top blanch technique and  opted to steam the broccoli or as I call it, “microwave blanching” or steaming. I basically precooked the broccoli in a microwave safe container. I placed the small portion of broccoli in a microwave safe dish and placed a few teaspoons of water in the di...

Allow me to intoduce a family favorite recipe that brings back many fond memories of waking up to the smell of baked apples, pancake batter, and bacon on occasional sunday mornings in the late fall and early winter. Restaurants and households that I have visited all seemed to have done a pretty decent job of creating the Apfel Pfannekuchen, but this home recipe seems to take the cake. Yes, that pun was intended. I like the flavor and texture of the german apple pancake as it seems to be a "culinary mixer" in which custard meets bread pudding who in turn meet french toast with baked apples. Please give this one a try next time you want to create a fun breakfast for family or guests. The recipe is ideal to prepare right now as apple harvest season is upon us. The beauty of this recipe is that the batter can be prepared the night before and refrigerated prior to the next morning's use. I also highly recommend a crisp tart apple such as a granny smith to offset the sweetne...