country: Czech Republic

I have always wanted to visit the Czech Republic! The art, the culture, the history. Fun fact: I was an art major in school and a piece of my heart will always belong to the arts. Their food might as well be art, because this meal was amazing! Right up my alley, with bite sized foods and great beer!

Appetizer: Obložené Chlebíčky
Main Course: Vepro-Knedlo-Zelo
Dessert: Trdelnik
Drink: Praga Pilsner Beer

Obložené Chlebíčky is little bites of food, if you're familiar with the Basque think Pintxos, the Spanish think Tapas! These garnished breads are thought to have been created in the early 20th century in a deli in Prague. 

Obložené Chlebíčky

Ingredients:
Fresh sliced baguette
Hard boiled eggs
Fresh sliced tomato
Mini Gherkins
Salami
Hard Cheese
Horseradish

Directions:
1. Spread horseradish on bread and stack with desired toppings

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So traditionally I am not a fan of pork unless it is in the form of bacon or breakfast sausage. This roast pork was amazing though! I think the onion gravy and sauerkraut are really what did it for me! I had NEVER had sauerkraut before this meal! WHAT!?

​Ingredients:
1 tbsp oil 
1/2 tbsp mustard
1 tbsp caraway seeds, crushed
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tbsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2.5 lbs pork shoulder
1 large onion, diced
1/2 C water
1/2 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 2 tbsp water
1 tbsp butter

Directions:
1. Mix together oil, mustard, caraway seeds, garlic powder, salt & pepper then rub on pork roast and set aside for 30 minutes
2. Preheat oven to 350F 
3. Place onions in roasting pan with water before placing roast, fat side down, on top of onions and covering pan with foil
4. Roast 1 hour. Remove foil, turn roast, score the fat. Continue roasting, fat side up 2 hours uncovered (add more water if pan is drying out). Remove from heat, reserve pan juices. Let sit about 10 mins before cutting into thin slices. 
5. In a saucepan, bring pan juices to boil. Gradually add 1/2 C water to make a sauce. Mix butter and cornstarch solution to thicken slightly, reduce heat, simmer 5 minutes. Serve with sliced pork, dumplings and sauerkraut. 
6. For my sauerkraut, I simmered it for 15 minutes with chopped, cooked bacon

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These were so much fun to make and took some ingenuity to create! They were light and delicious. 

Trdelnik

Ingredients:
Pastry:
3 C flour
7/8 C milk
5 tbsp melted butter, slightly cooled
2 eggs
1 tsp active dry yeast
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
5 tbsp flour - for work surface
olive oil - for greasing Trdlo sticks

Walnut-Cinnamon Crumb:
1 C walnuts
5 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
1. In a large bowl combine pastry flour, sugar, dry yeast, and salt
2. In a medium bowl whisk together 2 egg yolks (save the whites), milk, and butter
3. Add liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well until dense. Form the dough into a ball, place in a bowl, cover and let it rise in a warm place until it nearly doubles in size. 
4. To make the Trdlo sticks you will need to roll an old magazine into a stick and tightly cover with foil, tucking the edges inside of the rolled up magazine. You will need 3-4 of these. 
5. Place walnuts in a ziplock bag and use rolling pin to crush them before transferring to a medium bowl with the sugar and cinnamon. 
6. In a small bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. 
7. Preheat the oven to 390
8. Once dough has nearly doubled in size, sprinkle working surface with flour and roll the dough into a disk about 3mm thick. Using a small knife, cut the disk lengthwise into ribbons about 1/2" thick
9. Grease each Trdlo stick with oil and highly wrap strips of dough around each making sure to slightly overlap itself on each wrap. Brush with the egg whites and generously coat with the walnut-cinnamon crumb. 
10. Place the sticks on a rimmed backing sheet crosswise so the pastry is not touching any part of the dish and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden on each side. Once done remove from oven, let cool and slowly slide off of Trdlo