KelKáposzta Fözelék – Creamed Savoy Cabbage and Potatoes

KelKáposzta Fözelék - Creamed Savoy Cabbage and Potatoes

Credit: Cser Mama

Ingredients

  • 1 Lg. head Savoy Cabbage
  • 3 lbs. red potatoes peeled and diced
  • 1 medium onion diced
  • 1 tomato, peeled and diced
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • ½ red pepper, minced
  • 1/3 cup organic extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 cup (68g) organic all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp. Hungarian sweet paprika
  • approx. 6 cups water
  • salt to taste (~1-1/2-2 Tbsp)

Directions

  1. Wash cabbage, pat dry, remove core and cut cabbage into bite size pieces.
  2. Add chopped cabbage to pot, and add enough water to just cover cabbage.
  3. Bring water to boil and boil cabbage for 10 minutes.
  4. While cabbage is boiling, peel and dice potatoes, onion and tomato. Peel and mince garlic and mince the red pepper.
  5. Strain water from cabbage and discard cabbage water
  6. Add diced onion, pepper, garlic, tomato and potatoes to cabbage, add 6 to 8 cups of water, stir ingredients and slow boil until potatoes are soft. Can be covered.
  7. For roux, heat olive oil in skillet and add flour, sauté a few minutes stirring continually intil it gets toasted. (Sometimes I add a little more olive oil if the flour seems too dry while trying to sauté / toast flour stirring continually)
  8. Add teaspoon Hungarian paprika and continue to stir for a few seconds. Be careful not to burn paprika. Pull pan off burner before adding liquid from cabbage and pototoes to insure paprika does not burn.
  9. Drain liquid from potatoamd cabbage into a measuring cip and add it to roux, stirring with a whisk until smooth and creamy.(should be about 4 cups of liquid) Cook over low heat stirring continually until sauce is nice and thick.
  10. Stir sauce back over potatoes and cabbage and stir until well incorporated.
  11. Add a tablespoon of salt, Taste, and then add a little more salt if necessary. I think I added another teaspoon to a teaspoon and a half more salt at the end. Salt to your preference.

3 thoughts on “KelKáposzta Fözelék – Creamed Savoy Cabbage and Potatoes”

  1. That looks lovely. Amazing how there are as many recipes as there are kitchens. When my family came from Hungary in 1956 it was almost impossible to find savoy cabbage, so my mother improvised and used Brussel sprouts, cut in half. Years later she grew savoy in her garden, and it was readily available in stores as well. I hated this “true” version. To this day I make it with Brussel sprouts. I don’t add garlic and use lots of caraway seeds (which I grind in my coffee grinder). Salt, paprika, caraway. That’s it for spices or herbs. Also, I learned that the “rántás” colour (darker or lighter) depends on what you’re using it in. For cabbage-type things it’s a medium golden brown. For things like kidney bean, it’s darker. Gentle things like carrot or pea need a light golden colour. So, for this dish, I make a medium coloured “rántás”. Just a couple of RULES I follow from way back when. A tip my mother and her mother before here used. If you add a 1/2 tsp of finely chopped, really darkly fried (sautéed) onion to most fözelék or soup for that matter, it will add a mysterious added flavour. You won’t taste the onion, but you’ll wonder what gives it that extra “oomph”. (I usually fry a whole finely diced onion in oil until dark and put it in the fridge with extra oil to keep it from drying out. I can just dip into it when I need to) Sorry to make you read so much. It’s nice to share. I’ll have to try your version next time I make this dish.

    1. That is very interesting. I love hearing the background stories for people’s family recipes. I love all of the creativity, innovation and diversity there is as people adjusted due to availability of ingredients as well as personal preferences. I love brussel sprouts and that sounds amazing 🙂

      Thank you for sharing! Happy cooking!

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