On July 20th, my good friend Lori and I hosted a dinner party at her home and we called it Jidlo, Pivo, Vino (Food, Beer, Wine). The goal was to expose friends to food popular in the Texas Czech community that didn't include the three things most people think about (kolaches, sausage, or sauerkraut.) We wanted to be seasonal and we made everything from scratch (unless otherwise noted.) Our menu is below along with lots of photos taken by us and attending friends (who I thank for their generosity in sharing... Don Jansky, Zoy Kocian, Sarah Shephard.) A special thank you to Roberta Vasek for homemade peach cobbler and Robin Graham-Moore for home baked rohlicky. Thank you to everyone who brought wine, beer, and slivovitz. And to Lori's husband Glen for indulging us and putting up with it all.
Some things I learned:
- My mom's fried chicken recipe is rock solid but I will never fry chicken for 20 people again. (Took 2 hours.)
- Dinner parties are AWESOME.
- I wish we'd had a microphone so every time someone told an interesting story, all 20 people could hear it.
- I want to throw another dinner party after sufficient rest from this one.
- I'm not as big a fan of slivovitz as I thought. Bring on the Becharovka!
Jidlo, Pivo, Vino Menu
Appetizer Board
Hudson's Meat Market Dried Kiolbassa
Hudson's Meat Market Jalapeño and Cheese Summer Sausage
Venison Jerky
Homemade Stary Syr (Cooked Cheese with Caraway Seeds)
Homemade Pickled Okra, Bread and Butter Pickles, Pickled Beets
Homemade Tomato Jam
Main Course
Fried Chicken
Cucumber and Tomato Salad with Onions
Pan Fried Okra with Onions and Garlic
New Potatoes with Butter, Onions, and Parsley
Rye Rolls
Robin Graham-Moore's Rohliky
Kolach-Dough Dinner Rolls
Dessert
Roberta Vasek's Peach Cobbler
Apple Pie
Buchta with Cherry, Prune, and Pecan Filling
The Beverages
a bottle of Becharovka
a bottle of Slivovitz
various wines
various beers
iced tea
a bottle of home-brewed cantaloupe wine from my cousins Ann and Gerald Adams
This is fabulous, thanks Dawn!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this idea! All of the food looks perfectly delicious. And what a beautiful table you set. The home-grown flowers are so charming and pretty.
ReplyDeleteLinda W.
Great food, drink and company. Reminded me of get together at my granny’s house when she would make fried chicken for a crowd with “Czech potatoes”!!! Thank you Dawn and Lori for hosting. It was a culinary adventure. 💕
ReplyDeleteHere is a Czech Okurkový Salát (Cucumber Salad) recipe from Niskovic u Brna from my cousin Milan's wife Dasa:
ReplyDeleteIngredients:
a. to je na recept na 5 velkých okurku = this is a recipe for 5 large cucumbers
b. okurky nastrouhat na struhadle. = grate (not sliced) the cucumbers very fine
c. dát tam cukr 1 lžicku (velkou jak na polévku) = add 1 tablespoon sugar (large spoon like for soup)
d. 1 lžicku sul = 1 tablespoon of salt
e. 1 lžicku ocet = 1 tablespoon vinegar
f. trochu vody asi 1 sklenku - add some water, about a glassfull
g. trošku asi na prst cerný pepr = about as pinch of black pepper
Directions
h. to vÅ¡e zamÃchat a dát do lednicky = mix the ingredients and then place in refrigerator and let set until served. If too runny drain off some of the juice