Knedlíky French toast, anyone? 5 Czech recipes to inspire home chefs

Since the self-quarantine order was imposed in the Czech Republic, we’ve been cooking at home more often. Social media is full of photos of bread, casseroles, stir-fries, desserts…we get hungry scrolling through our feeds.

How are our cooking adventures going? Join us with these Czech recipes that you can make during quarantine.

We were intrigued by Marketa’s recipe for Dumpling French Toast, which uses leftover bread dumplings in a creative way.  Since we don’t keep bread dumplings on hand, we picked up a pre-made one at Tesco.

The results: delicious! Easy to make and you can dress it up with whatever condiments you like.  We didn’t have whipped cream so we added extra macerated strawberries and a sprinkling of powdered sugar.  We’d definitely make this again.

We cooked smažený květák (fried cauliflower). We followed Kristýna’s recipe except we substituted panko for breadcrumbs because that’s what we had in our quarantine-depleted pantry.

Kristýna says in her video that cauliflower is usually served with potatoes for Czech meals. We had ours as a snack with a squeeze of lemon. You could also serve it with the ever-popular Czech tatarská omáčka (tartar sauce).

This straightforward site is full of recipes and information about Czech holiday traditions, but unfortunately no information about the authors. The section on the roots of Czech regional cuisine includes a bio of Magdalena Dobromila Rettigová. She lived between 1785 and 1845 and wrote a highly influential Home Cookbook in 1826, compiling recipes using local ingredients. She is a true pioneer of today’s “farm to table” movement.

Unfortunately, Czech Cuisine’s recipes don’t include crucial details like how much water to add to the soup, how much of each spice, and how to make the croutons for the top.  But after using up all the garlic in the house, we were happy with the results.

Inspired by Marek and his followers’ submissions, but limited by ingredients, we made some #StayAtHome substitutions. One night we made baked chicken with halušky dumplings tossed in pesto. Another night we made macaroni noodles smothered in bryndzové sheep cheese sauce, and instead of lardons, we used crispy shallots. Please forgive the unorthodox results — we blame the pandemic. Regardless, both dinners paired great with Primátor from the brewery in Náchod, Czech Republic. Na zdraví!