Grilled Potatoes with Garlic Dip

Potatoes are most used vegetable and side in Czech cuisine. If you were to prepare something on a grill, e.g. our recipe for skewers, you may try to make grilled potatoes in tin foil with garlic dip. It goes very well with meat and you can please your vegetarian friends as well. Of course, you don’t have to necessarily grill them, but bake them in oven.

Ingredients

  • potatoes
  • fresh thyme, rosemary
  • 250 ml of sour cream
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • salt and pepper
  • chives
  • butter

Directions

  1. Clean potatoes thoroughly, don’t peel them. Cut in the middle, but not all the way through. You can pierce large potatoes with fork.
  2. Fill with piece of butter and thyme and rosemary.
  3. Wrap potatoes in tin foil and put on grill for 30-40 minutes and turn sometimes. (You can brush tin foil with a bit of oil.)
  4. Meanwhile mince garlic and mix it with sour cream and season with salt and pepper.
  5. Serve in grilled potato skin with chopped chives.



Potato Pancakes

Potatoes are the most used side in Czech cuisine. Potato pancakes are called bramborák or cmunda and are very popular. You can either serve it simply as side dish or as main dish, for example with sauerkraut and salami. Potato pancakes goes well with goulash or katův šleh (“executioner’s whipping”).

Ingredients

  • 1 kg of potatoes
  • cup of milk
  • 1 egg
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • flour
  • marjoram
  • salt, pepper
  • oil for frying
  • optional: salami, bacon or ham

Directions

  1. Peel raw potatoes, wash and shred. Pour off some water from shreded potatoes.
  2. Season with salt and pepper. Add egg, marjoram and minced garlic.
  3. Add milk and flour. Dough shouldn’t be too thick.
  4. Panfry in heated oil in shape of pancakes.
  5. Potato pancakes serve fresh and hot.



Potato Salad

Potato salad is traditionally served with Schnitzel and cannot miss at Czech Christmas dinner table with carp. Every family prepare potato salad by their own recipe according to their taste and customs.

Ingredients

  • 2kg of potatoes
  • 3-4 carrots
  • 1 celery root
  • onion
  • 5 pickled gherkins
  • 4 hard boiled eggs
  • canned peas
  • 300g of ham
  • spoon of mustard
  • mayonnaise and tartare sauce (according to your taste)
  • salt, pepper

Directions

  1. Boil unpeeled potatoes in water with salt and let cool off. Then peel potatoes and cut to small cubes.
  2. Boil root vegeteables in water with pinch of salt and vinegar. Let cool off and cut to small cubes and mix with potatoes.
  3. Same way add chopped onion and gherkins, cubed boiled eggs, peas, cubed ham and mix together.
  4. Blend mustard and mayonnaise, season with salt and pepper. You can also pour a little of brine from pickled gherkins.



Potato Soup

Potato soup has signaficant position between soups in Czech cuisine. It’s prepared in various ways according to region or family recipes.

Ingredients

  • 500g of potatoes
  • 2 onions
  • 2 carrots
  • 1 celery
  • 1 parsley root
  • parsley sprig
  • mushrooms (optional)
  • 2 spoons of flour
  • marjoram
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • bouillon cube
  • salt, pepper
  • oil

Directions

  1. In large pot saute chopped onion in oil and add flour and stir until it has golden color.
  2. Pour 1,5l of water stir and bring to boiling point.
  3. Add cutted vegetables, potatoes and mushrooms and boil slowly until everything is tender.
  4. Add bouillon cube and season with salt, pepper, garlic, marjoram and parsley sprig. Allspice and bay-leaf could be used as well.
  5. Let cook for another few minutes and serve with bread.