It’s time to introduce a weighty representative of the Hungarian, more precisely the Gypsy gastronomy to you. (Here I would like to call the attention of  fitness devotees and healthy lifestyle gurus that the following rows may disturb the peace.) Pan-fried pork collar steaks in Gypsy style are real macho food, because of the huge amount of garlic they are definitely not recommended before a date. Gypsy cuisine is famous for its heavy meals and this delicious, juicy, fatty, smoky and extremely filling dish gives a proof of it. Altough it’s not a complicated dish, many people can’t make it properly.

Some hints:

• use boneless pork collar steaks
• don’t leave the meat in the marinade for days, one hour for marinading is perfectly sufficient
• don’t cut the edges of the collar steak
• don’t flatten the slices otherwise they will be tough after frying; the thickness of the pork collar steaks should be maximum 1 cm. If you have thin slices, you can fry them well without flattening.
• don’t pour in water while frying since collar stakes should be quickly fried, not steamed.

photo: zserbo.com

Ingredients:

• 6 boneless pork collar steaks (about 150 g each ~5 1/3 oz)
• 200 g (~7 oz) smoked bacon
• 4 garlic cloves

For the marinade:

• 4 tbsp oil
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp prepared mustard
• 1 tbsp sweet ground paprika
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp salt

For the garnish:

• 1 kg (~2 1/4 lbs) small potatoes
• 1/2 tsp marjoram
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp sweet ground paprika
• oil

First make the marinade. Place 4 tablespoons of oil in a bowl, add mustard, ground paprika, salt and 4 garlic cloves crushed with a garlic press. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper and mix up until well combined.
Brush both sides of the pork collar steaks with the marinade and layer them in a bowl. Cover and place in the refrigerator for an hour to let the savours merge.

Now come the potatoes. Wash them thoroughly, cut them lengthwise into quarters. Season with marjoram, oregano, 1 tablespoon of ground paprika, salt and pepper. Give it a splash of oil and stir together. Put the potatoes in a baking pan and place in the oven preheated to 200°C / 392°F. Stir every 15 minutes. After 40-45 minutes check with a needle if potatoes are tender. Roast until soft and golden brown.

Cut the bacon into half fingerbreadth slices, in this case I use a larger piece of bacon instead of the pre-packed thin slices. Make incisions on the bacon slices, they should look like a cockscomb. Heat up a frying pan and place in the bacon slices to render. Roast until the fat melts away. Use a slotted spoon to remove the bacons and place them on some paper towels.

Lower the heat and place the marinated collar steaks in the rendered fat. Fry them for 4-5 minutes on both sides, so the steaks become juicy and tender. If you fried the meat longer, it would be tough as an old boot. Remove the collar steaks from the frying pan and spread with the four cloves crushed garlic cloves.

Microscopic portions are out of question, Gypses always serve platters of plenty. Place the roasted potatoes, collar stakes and bacon slices on a large platter, and also serve some pickles. Oh, and don’t forget cold beer!