Cooking with pálinka – three delicious recipes

If you are not quite ready for the incomparable burning sensation that a shot of pálinka gives you, here are three recipes you can try not to be left out. You cannot go home from Hungary without trying pálinka, so these dishes will help to be included but without the burning taste and intensity.

Let’s start with a soup recipe from Nosalty, ideal for fall.

Butternut squash soup with quince pálinka

What you will need: 1 kg squash, 1 l chicken stock, dill to taste (preferably fresh), ginger to taste, half a bunch of fresh parsley, chili to taste, white pepper to taste, 1 pinch of nutmeg, 1 tsp of seasoning, salt to taste, 1 dl Fat Cream, 1 tsp sour cream, 5 dkg of pumpkin seeds and 2 tsp quince pálinka.

How to prepare the dish: Peel the butternut squash and cut it into smaller cubes. Put it in a pan and add as many chicken stock as it takes to cover the cubes. Then, add the spices, the finely chopped parsley, the whole ginger and dill (do not chop these because they will be removed later). When the squash cubes are soft, put the mixture in the blender and mix well.  Combine the cream with the sour cream and add a little bit of the soup. Then, gently mix the cream and sour cream mixture with the soup, whisk gently. Last but not least, you add a little balsamic vinegar and the pálinka, and top it all with fried seeds.

Let’s move on to the main course. Szicsek Pálinka has two great recipes you can try with pálinka: a lamb and a chicken dish.

Rack of lamb with rosemary peach

What you will need: 9 tbsp peach pálinka, 0.9 kg rack of lamb, 5 tbsp peach jam, 0.2 kg bread crumbs, 4 tbsp soy sauce, 1 bunch of rosemary, 3 tbsp butter, 0.5 kg canned peach.

How to prepare the dish: First, you should mix the peach jam with the peach pálinka and soy sauce. Add salt and pepper to the lamb, then spread the mixture onto the meat. IT is best if you put it in the fridge for at least 3-4 hours. Before roasting, sprinkle bread crumbs on the meat for best results. Also, sprinkle some oil on top, then roast the lamb in a preheated oven. While your lamb is baking, prepare the peach: heat the butter in a pan, then add the diced peach and chopped rosemary. Start frying the mixture, then pour some peach pálinka onto the pan too. When the lamb is ready, let it rest for 5 minutes before slicing it up. Best served with the hot peach and some mashed potato.

Chicken legs with pálinka

What you will need: 5 chicken legs, 6 dkg smoked bacon, 2 smaller onions, 1.5 dl apricot pálinka, 9 apricots, 2 dl dry white wine, a pinch of ground bay leaf, salt and pepper.

How to prepare the dish: Cut the bacon into tiny cubes and fry it in a pan. First, add the chopped onion, then the chicken legs (washed, dried and cut in half) and sautée the mixture. Then add the spices and the apricot pálinka together with the white wine. Let it cook under the lid. If there is too much liquid, remove the cover. Once the legs are soft, and the excess liquid is gone, remove the chicken legs and add the pitted, half apricots into the pan and sautée them for a few minutes. Then add the chicken legs and bring it to boil. Serve with steamed rice.

If you would not stop here, check out these other fantastic dessert recipes with pálinka:

https://dailynewshungary.com/baking-palinka-3-amazing-dessert-recipes/

Source: www.szicsekpalinka.co.uk; www.nosalty.hu