Slovenian Recipes

Menu Sweet Beet Soup (sladka pesna juha) Potato-Spinach Dumplings (njoki) with Gorgonzola-Gouda Sauce Fresh Tomato Garnish Coleslaw I was in the mood for some healthy, not-too-meaty Slovenian food. I had a couple of ideas, both appealing.  One was borscht, or beet soup.  The other was gnocchi, or njoki in Slovenian.   Since I couldn't choose, I decided to make them both. It was a labor intensive dinner.  So let's consider the beet soup first. Months earlier, I had noticed a curious recipe in the Progressive Slovene Women's cookbook.  It was called sweet beet soup, or sladka pesna juha.   Definitely the sweet-and-sour type, with plenty of sugar and lemon juice, along with tomatoes and onions. But I didn't know what to make of the eggs.  What was this, a dessert or a soup? So I dismissed it. But I got to thinking about borscht again, when we visited our favorite Polish restaurant and ordered their version of borscht, which we had enjoye...

Menu   Chicken Paprikash II Latkes (Jewish Potato Pancakes) Applesauce and Sour Cream Green Salad My husband had invited a co-worker and her spouse to join us for dinner.  The date happened to fall on a Tuesday.  “Don't worry, “ he assured me, “I already told them to expect a Slovenian dinner.”  In his mind, it wasn't even a question.  If it was Tuesday, it had to be Slovenian. There was just one stipulation. His young colleague had a food request: Potato pancakes—or latkes, in the Ashkenazi Jewish tradition she and my husband share.  He had mentioned preparing them, a few months back, and she had been impressed, or maybe just nostalgic.  So all I had to figure out was a main course that would go well with potato pancakes.  It shouldn't be too difficult.  I had come to realize that Slovenian and Ashkenazi Jewish cooking styles have a lot in common.   So this would be my first official attempt at a Slovenian-Jewish fusion dinner....