Hungarian Pogácsa

Pogácsa - pronounced  POH - gah - chuh.   Kind of as in, "You were the head of the biggest crime family in Providence until the  po-po gotcha!".  Capisce?

These savory biscuits (my sweet tooth does not control me ALL the time) are a staple of every Hungarian bakery and home kitchen. A perfect snack for any time of day or part of a hearty meal, they come in a few, simple varieties: butter, cheese and--my favorite--pork crackling. As you should know by now, I have many childhood memories filled with these little buttery, cheesy biscuits made by this old lady my grandparents knew, who I called Erzsi néni - -"Aunt" Lizzie--who isn't just some old lady, but a family friend who ran her own baking business. She lives in Florida now. :(   I'd call and ask her to ship up some pogácsa--the best I've ever had--but I wouldn't be able to ask in Hungarian any more.  But that's a story for another day.

Back to the one at hand. This day of spring break, sadly, I was feeling particularly lazy, so even though we had bacon, which would be close enough to cracklings, in the house, I decided to give my arteries a rest (whatever you say, Matt) and make cheese  pogácsa. Next time, bacon lovers, I'll give it a go. Promise.

So bring on the cheese! I decided to use some shredded white and yellow cheddar, extra sharp to complement the buttery dough.  The dough, which turned out excellent-- I always worry the first time I try a yeasted dough--was from a pork crackling (tepertős) pogácsa recipe on The Hungarian Girl, a blog that my dad actually found. He now hints ever-so-subtly by sending me links to her recipes saying I should give them a try. Once I'm home, of course.


When I was home for break this last time, I finally decided to give them a go. I actually had a recipe book--a gift from Dad-- I could have used, but, like I said, I was feeling lazy, so I didn't want to convert metric measurements or figure out what to substitute for "quark" (the cheese, not the elementary particle).

That said, I don't want these pics to be misleading.  I just thought the text would be fun, 'cause my pics have been getting kinda flat. So enjoy!