82-Lincastcr Farming, Saturday, September 17, 1994
Man
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Farming Staff
LEBANON (Lebanon Co.)
Sourdough rye bread, sweet rolls,
home-canned spaghetti sauce,
sauerkraut soup, and Moussake are
a few of Joe Gonya’s specialties.
The Lebanon Countian said that
his interest in cooking began many
years ago when paging through a
magazine. When he asked his wife
to make a recipe that was pictured,
she challenged him to try it.
He did.
“It was great,” he said.
After that, cooking became a
regular Sunday activity.
For most people, cooking for a
spouse and five children is much
different than cooking for 60 peo
ple. But to Gonya, his reaction was
if he could prepare a meal for six,
he could do it for 60.
It wasn’t many weeks after
cooking for the first time that a
cook was needed to prepare meals
for 60 men attending a religious
retreat sponsored by his church.
Gonya volunteered.
His wife planned the menu and
wrote instructions for the meals.
It was so successful that Gony
a’s been cooking for the church
sponsored event at least SO times
since the first event.
He also is part of a hunting camp
for 10 men. It was a bit hectic for
the men to hunt and then scramble
to prepare a meal at the end of the
day.
Gonya had a solution.
He said, “I like to hunt but I’d
rather cook.”
Consequently, Gonya cooks all
day in the cabin while the others
are hunting.
“Everything is made from
scratch,” Gonya proudly reports.
Homemade bread, fasnachts, and
whatever else appeals to Gonya.
who prefers to experiment with
new dishes.
“I follow recipes somewhat and
then adjust them to my liking,
said Gonya, who attributes his
improvisions more to his impati
ence and dislike for following
rules.
Gonya’s wife Priscilla is a home
economist and a nutritionist who
follows recipes precisely and is an
excellent cook.
Gonya said his cooking is some-
In The Kitchen
times a point of contention
between the two, for which Gonya
takes the blame. He is an impulsive
cook who on the spur of the
moment decides to stir up a dish—
one that may use the sour cream for
a menu his wife had planned to
make. Her best-laid plans are often
in disarray from Gonya’s cooking
experiences.
His wife does enjoy eating his
cooking—sometimes. Because he
improvises, the meal may taste
wonderful but he can’t duplicate it
again because he doesn’t know
exactly how he made it Some
times, he painfully admits, his con
coctions may turn out less than the
best a problem that could be
avoided if he followed the recipe.
Gonya appeases his culinary
urges by cooking spaghetti dinners
for his church. At Easter, he makes
SO loaves of sourdough rye, which
are eagerly purchased by friends at
his church.
During the past years, the
Gonyas have hosted 36 foreign
exchange students who stay in
their home for one year. Four are
living with the family. Gonya
enjoys sharing his cooking exper
tise with them and teaming new
dishes from them.
The Gonyas also enjoy traveling
to other countries. Last year he and
his wife taught English in Czecho
slovakia and he caml home with
an extension collection of Slova
kian recipes.
“Every place we go, I try to find
some new recipes,” said Gonya.
Usually the cooks are happy to
share their recipes with him.
Gonya is retired from a sales
manager position in the steel
industry. He has toyed with the
idea of becoming a restaurant chef,
but considers that he wouldn’t
want to be tied to a regular
schedule.
He is also a Master Gardener
with the Penn State Cooperative
Extension. He has a large garden
and preserves the produce from it
The combination of gardening and
cooking work well as he preserves
the produce from it
Over the years, Gonya has com
piled a looseleaf notebook of hun
dreds of recipes. Here are a few of
his favorite recipes.
MOUSSAKA
Serves 8
2 pounds lean ground beef
1 teaspoon beef bouillion
granules
1 large onion
Saute the onions lightly, then
add meat and brown. Meat should
be woiked with a fork while
browning.
Add:
'A teaspoon cinnamon
'A teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup tomato sauce
'A cup red wine
Mix thoroughly until even
consistency.
Prepare:
4 medium zucchini, diced into
one-inch cubes
1 cup black olives, chopped
Saute above in butter until onions
are soft.
Prepare white sauce:
'A cup butter
'/icup flour
2 cups milk
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs, beaten
Mix butter, flour, milk, sour
cream until well blended, then add
beaten eggs and stir well. Heat
sauce until it starts to thicken and
hold aside.
Place zucchini mixture into bak
ing dish, well greased.
Sprinkle with grated romano
cheese, parsley flakes and cover
lightly with grated mozarella or
pizza cheese.
Pour meat mixture over
zucchini-cheese mix.
Pour white sauce over entire
mix and top with light dusting of
romano cheese. Cover with grated
mozarella cheese.
Bake in 300 degree oven for
about one hour, then lower oven to
250 degrees until ready to serve.
GULAS
'A pound meat per person (half
pork, half beef)
'A pound onion for each pound
meat
All of pork fat trimmed from
pork
Two tablespoons lard
'/ green pepper per person
1 toe garlic per person
1 medium potato per person
1 whole canned tomato per two
persons
1 small jalepeno pepper (for six
or more people)
2 teaspoons marjoram per six
people
Salt and pepper to taste
Cut meat into 1-inch cubes and
trim fat from pork and save
Chop onions and peppers coarse
Cut potatoes in % -inch size
pieces
In a large pot add two tables
poons lard and heat. Saute
chopped onions until soft, not
brown. Add pork fat, beef,
jalapeno pepper, a little water to
keep from getting dry, and
chopped garlic. Cook for one hour,
stirring so onions do not bum.
Remove pork fat and add pork
meat and cook another hour. Add
chopped green peppers, tomatoes,
marjoram, salt, and pepper, and
continue cooking. Add a small
amount of water to make liquid.
One half hour before serving, add
cut potatoes. Serve over biscuits or
steamed bread.
Jfomtstead
Jfotes
Joe Gonya (Ikes the challenge of trying new recipes, the
harder the better.
LAZY DAY STEW
Arrange two pounds raw bee
cubes in pan large enough to hold
them in a single layer. Do noi
brown meat.
Prepare potatoes, carrots,
onions, and celery, in bite-sized
chunks. Prepare enough to make a
complete layer of each and place
on top of the meat
Mix one 8-ounce can tomato
sauce with one can water, foui
tablespoons tapioca (for thicken
ing the gravy) one tablespoon gra
nulatcd beef boullion, and one
teaspoon sugar. Pour over veget
ables and beef.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Cover with heavy aluminum foi
and put in 325-degree oven for at
least three hours. Cut back to 2SI
degrees. Stew should be ready b>
this time but can be held at 200
degrees for some length of time if
necesary, and as long as left sealed
with foil it will not dry out. The
stew should have a delicious gravy
in the bottom of the container. Prep
time for the above is about one
hour. It’s a one-pot meal. Great
when served with homemade
bread or rolls. Use rolls to soak up
the gravy.
Ivana Plinhtova, an exchange student living with the
Gonya family, helps prepare homemade tomato soup.
A master gardener with
the Penn State Cooperative
Extension, Gonya consid
ers tomatoes his specialty.
He raises several varieties
In his garden to can spagh
etti sauce. He also answers
gardening questions that
callers phone Into the
Extension.