The Bakehouse’s work with Hungarian foods has been, for me, one of the most inspiring stories to come out of the ZCoB in the 21st century. It’s a testament to what the willingness to study deeply, to go to the source to learn, to stick with something (as Paul always says) long after the initial glamor has worn off, can make happen. Thanks to the leadership of Amy Emberling (co-managing partner at the Bakehouse and a member of our Stewardship Council) and Frank Carollo (Bakehouse co-founder and former co-managing partner) and the great work of everyone at the Bakehouse over the years, the Bakehouse has become one of the country’s most prominent artisan producers of traditional Hungarian baked goods.

Even after a decade of having these items in our regular baking rotation, I’m inspired anew every time I taste one of the Hungarian products that the Bakehouse makes so skillfully. I’m not alone in that. It’s a rare week that a customer who either grew up in Hungary or has family roots there doesn’t tell me how authentic and excellent the Bakehouse offerings are. While the beautiful chocolate tortes (Dobos Torta, Rigó Jancsi, Esterházy) get most of the initial attention, the Hungarian offering that I almost certainly eat more of than any other is the Potato Bacon Rétes. And, I’m happy to say, Potato Bacon Rétes are back this month after an autumn sabbatical.

Rétes is the Hungarian name for what most of the Western world will know as “strudel.” Rétes comes from the Hungarian word réteges, meaning, appropriately, “layered.” Potatoes, like paprika, are not, of course, native to Hungary. They came from the Western Hemisphere as part of the colonial excursion that came to be known as the Columbian Exchange, at the end of the 15th century and into the 16th century. They became important in Hungarian cooking only when the government ordered people to grow them after famine led to widespread hunger from 1770 to 1772.

The rétes are made with Nueske’s applewood smoked bacon; the sweet smokiness of the bacon offsets the creamy texture of the pretty much perfectly cooked potatoes and the flakiness of that delicious pastry that the Bakehouse staff works so successfully to stretch so incredibly thin. Amy said of the strudel-making process: “The dough is one of those wonders of the baking world that is rewarding to make. It’s like a magic trick!”

The Potato Bacon Rétes is terrific for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. They’re easy to bring to work for lunch, or even to eat in the car while you’re driving. We enjoy them at our house for dinner once a week or so, usually accompanied by soft scrambled eggs. When she first moved here from San Francisco many years ago, Tammie told me one night that “the rétes are like God’s gift to the Bakehouse!”

You can get the rétes every day—while supplies last—at the Bakeshop on Plaza Drive and at the Deli. FYI, if you’re feeding a family, you can also buy a whole, unbaked frozen “log” of them to finish off at your house. Guaranteed your whole home will be filled with wonderful aromas and in about 50 minutes you’ll have a marvelous meal!

I learned this dish probably two dozen years ago from Laura di Collibiano, the woman who’s helped to revive the production of the terrific olive oil Tenuta di Valgiano estate in the western part of Tuscany. She makes it, she said, whenever she has “leftover champagne.” You can of course also let some sparkling wine go flat overnight just to make the risotto—the flatness is important—if the sparkling wine is still freshly opened the heat of the alcohol will dominate the dish.

Risotto, I should say, has long been one of my favorite cold-weather dishes to make. In northern Italy, people eat risotto as often as folks in the rest of the country eat pasta. And, although it can understandably feel intimidating to make risotto if you didn’t grow up with it, it’s actually not very hard to do. If you have a copy on hand, the chapter on Italian rice in Zingerman’s Guide to Good Eating will walk you through the whole process in a great deal of easy-to-understand detail. We have Parmigiano Reggiano cheeses and Carnaroli rice at Deli and on Mail Order’s website that would be ideal for the dish!

INGREDIENTS

4 cups chicken broth (you may not end up using it all)—we sell great housemade bone broth at the Deli. You can also use vegetable broth to make the dish vegetarian.

2 1/2 cups flat champagne or flat sparkling wine

Rind pieces from Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (optional)

2 tablespoons butter, plus more to taste

1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped (about 3/4 cup)

1 cup Italian rice, preferably Carnaroli or Arborio

4 ounces Parmigiano Reggiano broken into 1/4-inch chunks

2 tablespoons finely chopped Italian parsley—rinsed and squeezed dry

Sea salt

Freshly ground Tellicherry black pepper

1/4 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano, for serving

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine the chicken broth with 2 cups of the champagne. If working with an unsalted broth, add sea salt to taste. If you have some Parmigiano Reggiano rind on hand, put a piece into the liquid. Bring broth and champagne mixture to a boil, reduce heat only slightly, and simmer for about 10 minutes. Reduce heat slightly again.

2. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion in the butter until soft and golden (don’t brown or the onion will become bitter).

3. Add the rice and stir well. Sauté for a couple of minutes until the rice is very hot and shiny. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of champagne. Stir until it’s been absorbed by the rice. Add 1/2 cup of the broth-champagne mixture. Stir until absorbed. Repeat the process over and over again until the rice is tender but still firm.

4. The risotto is done when the rice is al dente, about 18 minutes from when it first went into the pan. Add a touch more butter and one last 1/2 cup of the broth-champagne mixture. (If you’ve used up all the broth you can use hot water at this stage.) Stir, yet again, then remove from the heat.

5. Add the parsley and Parmigiano pieces and mix well. The cheese should still be in chunks—don’t let it melt into the dish. Let stand for a minute. Add salt to taste.

6. Serve in warm bowls. Top with the additional Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and a generous dose of black pepper atop each bowl. Serves two generous main courses or four appetizers.

The whole dish can be made in under half an hour and you can probably play with your kids or read your emails while you’re stirring! The result is a great dinner! Because the two featured ingredients here—Parmigiano Reggiano and bubbly—are already so special, it’s a great way to impress company or convey the importance of any event (such as New Year’s Eve!), or in truth, just to make another otherwise remarkable mid-winter evening into some special. I like to celebrate every day as if it were a holiday—cooking this dish for two on a Tuesday evening is a wonderful way to enhance the quality of any relationship! Cheers!