One Can Never Have Too Many Latkas

Since I love latkas and welcome the opportunity to make some I also try to come up with different varieties of latkas. These recipes have come out great.

3-4 large potatoes
3 eggs
1/4 c flour
2 tbsp of  subziash (Persian mix of dried parsley, leek and spinach)
1tsp slat and pepper
Potatoes are shredded on small shredding blade in a food processor and drained of excess liquid. I keep the starch that comes out with the liquid and put it back in the batter. The rest of the ingredients are mixed well with the shredded potatoes and subsequently fried in oil and drained on paper towel. Best when served hot with sour cream.
I love potatoes and pumpkin so I thought these  would go good together. See if you like this combo.
Here it was hard to approximate how much I was putting in, since pumpkins come in different sizes so after shredding the potato and pumpkin I weighed both. By volume shredded vegetables seemed to be the same. Here how they measured out to be.
2 large potatoes (approx 2 lbs)
1/2 of med pumpkin (approx 1.2lbs)
3 eggs
1/4 c flour
salt and pepper
After shredding with small blade both pumpkin and potato are drained and mixed well with the rest of the ingredients. The latkas are fried at slightly lower temperature of oil, to allow the pumpkin to cook through. Additional salt and pepper may be needed to taste. After I was done with half the batter, I decided to add something to it. I mixed in
1tsp of sumac and
3/4 tsp of paprika.
That added little more flavor to these and this version came out delicious, too. My kids and husband loved it and enjoyed for lunch with sour cream.

Latkes, Draniki, Deruny, Kartoffelpuffer, Bramborák etc.

It is Hanukkah time again and that means fried food. The holiday that celebrates the miracle of oil lasting for eight days even though there was only enough for one. So, oil is celebrated and it is the key element in the kitchen this time of the year, and the preferred food for frying is latkes. Latkas are not uniquely Jewish, in fact they seem to have been adopted. According to Wikipedia

Potato pancakes are commonly associated with traditional cuisines of Luxembourg (gromperekichelcher), Latvia, Lithuania, Austria, Belarus (as draniki), Germany (f. ex. as Kartoffelpuffer), Poland (as placki ziemniaczane), Ukraine (as deruny), Ashkenazi Jewry (as latkes or latkas (Yiddish: לאַטקעס, Hebrew: לביבה levivah, plural לביבות levivot)), Hungary, Slovakia, Persia and the Czech lands (as bramborák or cmunda), although other cuisines (including those of India and Korea) have similar dishes, such as Gamjajeon. It is also the national dish of Belarus. In Ukrainian, Belarusian and Russian cuisines, potato pancakes are commonly known as deruny (Ukrainian: деруни) or draniki (Russian: драники, Belarusian: дранікі). Throughout Germany, potato pancakes are also very common under the names Reibekuchen or Kartoffelpuffer, and they are eaten either salty (as a side dish) or sweet with apple sauce, sugar and cinnamon; they are a very common menu item during outdoor markets and festivals in colder seasons; a traditional favorite in southern Indiana during holiday festivities.

Note that more traditional latka is much thicker.

I think that this dish is more like hash browns then pancakes. The exception is my mom's recipe.
Most recipes I come across have all the liquid squeezed out of them, with adds to the crisp and crunch of  the final latkas. My mom's recipe is different. It still has the crunch but the texture and thickness is different. These come out very thin and soft in the middle with lacy and crispy edges and take very little flour. As a kid I remember, it was a long process of grating the potatoes by hand on fine grate and inevitably your hands would be scraped. The Russian name of latkas is draniki, roughly describes what happens to your hands in the process of preparing it. My grandma said if your hands are not scraped you did not make latkas, because it was not possible to came away undamaged.  It would also take some time to go through all of the potatoes, so by the last potato is done, the grated potatoes would have oxidized and turned purplish gray. I thought that was the right color.

These days my food processor gets the job done in no time. Before Hanukkah I get those huge baking potatoes at Costco and with that supply I get though latkes week just fine. For this recipe I use fine blade. Labeled A. 

1 very large potato
1 egg
1 tbsp of flour
1/2 tsp salt and pepper
Mix all ingredients after the potato is grated and cook in hot oil. You may need more salt and pepper after they are done. Once the edges turn golden brown I flip them and in about another minute they are ready. I place cooked pancakes on the paper towel, to drain excess oil.  
Latkas #1
Other more traditional latkas are done in much similar manner except that the potato is drained after being grated on blade A
3 large potatoes
3 eggs
4 tbsp flour
1 tsp salt and pepper.
Additional salt may be needed after cooking. I use large metal mesh colander to drain potatoes before mixing in eggs and flour in the batter. When they are fried they are thick and sometimes I try to level out the latkes on the frying pan so they are not so thick and high.  Drain cooked draniki on the paper towel. They are best  hot of the pan with a dollop of sour cream. Yes, it has become tradition in US to eat them with apple sauce, but growing up I never heard of such thing. It is blasphemy to me, this dish is best with sour cream!

Latkas #2

Another traditional latkas are done with exactly same recipe but shredded on a different blade and the potato again is drained after being grated on Blade C. That gives these latkes different texture and bigger crisp. This is much closer to hash browns then to pancake.
3 large potatoes
3 eggs
4 tbsp flour
1 tsp salt and pepper.
The process of cooking is much the same as in the previous recipe.

Latkas #3
Yet another classic recipe calls for addition of an onion to the mix. But the rest of the recipe is almost the same.
3 large potatoes
1 large onion
3 eggs
4 tbsp flour
1 tsp salt and pepper.

I first use the Blade B or C to shred the potato, then transfer it to drain. While that is draining, I switch the blade to regular double edge blade and blend together the onion and the rest of the ingredients. Once the batter is ready I transfer it to the bowl and add the drained potatoes then mix well. The rest of the cooking process is the same as in other recipes.
Eating same thing for a week will get boring even if you love potatoes and anything fried. So, to keep things interesting I think up different ways a recipes that I will add in the next post.

Chicken Spice Rub

There is a spice mix that I have came up with and have been using all this summer on chicken. I have done chicken on the grill and also baked it in the oven, as well as broiled it. Chicken comes out tender and flavorful. The mix is really easy to make. I use an old large spice container to mix and keep the leftover rub in. Once I run out I refill it by adding the ingredients to it. Sometimes I use table spoons to measure and if I do not need to  much I use teaspoons. Therefore I'm using equal parts as measurement.

2 parts each of:
Paprika
Sumac
 No-Salt Seasoning like Mrs Dash
1 parts each:
Celery salt
Curry powder
Ground mustard
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Turmeric
Cumin
Chili
Salt
1/2 part Allspice
optional dash of Smoke powder

I made chicken breast bone in, on the grill with this spice rub and it came out really tender and not at all dry, as sometimes happens with chicken breast.  I suspect that turmeric powder has tenderizing properties, or perhaps the curry powder does. In any case I do not  have the same effect when I use other spices on chicken. At our friends house this summer I made similar rub, he may have been short on some of the ingredients and I did not use all that are on the list. I covered chicken leg quarters in the spices and due to grill malfunction the chicken spent about 1 hour and 45 min on low heat under cover. The result was supper juicy and tender chicken parts that was falling of the bone and soon vanished of the plate. On another occasion I made 10 lbs of leg quarters and my co-workers enjoyed it at the weekly Sunday potluck. The top picture shows this recipe used for baked chicken.

When broiling I put the tray in the middle of the oven and not too close to the heating element. I believe that high heat seals in the juices as it cooks the meat through. This is sliced up chicken breast, that is still juicy after almost 30 min in the oven.

I have not tried this rub on beef, but I did on turkey. It definitively added a lot of flavor to turkey. I do not cook pork so if you try it on it let me know how it was.

Lecho or Lecsó

When I was growing up in Soviet Union we did not have a large variety of fresh fruits and vegetables through out the winter months. We did have carrots, potatoes, onion and occasional beet or cabbage. If we were to eat fruits and veggies in the winter it would have to be canned. A lot of people, my grand parents including, would  spend their summer time between the little plot of land that they were lucky to have and kitchen, canning the fruits (and vegetables) of their labor. I do not know where they got the strength and how they lived on 5 hrs of sleep in the summer, but if it was not done it was not there when you need it in the winter. A lot of people survived like that during Soviet era, - that's communism - or socialism for you.
My grandparents canned everything that they grew. We had apple compote; we were eating sour cherry dumpling in the middle of the winter, as well as many jams and vegetable spreads were consumed in the winter, thanks to the tireless work of my grandparents. Occasionally, you could buy vegetables in cans in the stores, but not large variety. For some reason, this one is particularly stuck in my mind. Not sure why, since it was never made by my grandma. Perhaps, it just stands out in my memory because it was not made by her as almost everything else was. In any case, this was labeled as either Hungarian, or Bulgarian dish and was common  in the diet of Soviet people. I do not know the recipe of the dish in the jar, but after some experimentation, I think I came up to something very close to it, except may be more delicious then I remember.
This recipe is really simple, not authentic and vegetarian in my version.

Here Lecho is soaking into a slice of sourdough

2 onions cut up in large dice
3-4 carrots sliced or cut
5-6 red, yellow or orange peppers cut in pieces
can of plain tomato sauce
2-3 table spoons of paprika
1/2 tbsp of salt 
1-2 tblsp oil
The rest is easy. In a large sauteing pot, add oil and to it all of the vegetables. Paprika, and salt sprinkled over and tomato sauce is added to it. Stir often and start with large flame under the pot, then when everything is uniformly mixed and seem to get along, bring the flame lower and cook for another  20-30 min. All of the veggies will be tender and soft. I suppose canned or fresh peeled tomatoes will go well instead of tomato sauce, I have even added catchup before, when it looked like all of the fluids evaporated and it looked too dry. This makes a nice side dish or goes well over rice and polenta.

Fried Green Tomatoes

The most predictable weather in the States is in the Bay Area, California, in my opinion. The temperature is fairly stable and not much of a pattern. Hot in the summer and rainy in the winter. Lot of South Bay residents I know grow their own tomatoes. Our backyards are shaded by the number of fruit trees. I have figs and persimmons, nectarine and guava, and get to try our neighbor's plums, apples, apricot and lots of other fruits. Ah, the joys of California's weather. This year however, I got cough by surprise by the sudden coming of fall weather. Well, I knew that autumn was approaching, it just came to suddenly, and it feels like it got colder in a day, not gradually. I think my tomatoes got cough off guard, too. I doubt that any green tomatoes will get to ripen on he vine. Well, that should not be an obstacle to good food. I always thing of the movie when I cook this dish. There are a lot of versions of this simple yet delicious recipe on the net.

5 large green tomatoes thickly sliced

3 eggs

1/2 c milk

1 c flour

1 c bread crumbs or panko or corn flake crumbs, or a mix of any of those 

salt & black pepper

vegetable oil for frying

Optional favorite spices, like Italian seasoning ad Mrs Dash,  could be added to the flour. Sliced tomatoes are dredged in flour, then dipped in mixture of eggs and milk, then coated in bread crumbs and fried in oil. About 5 at a time are submerged half way in oil. Once one side is browned, the tomato slices are flipped over. That takes about 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Place on the plate that is paper towel lined. I like to keep those worm in my toaster oven, they are better crunchy, so do not heat in the microwave.

Eggplant Caponata and more

This is one of those recipes I came across while reading an old cook book on Italian cuisine. I got instantly curious and had to try it. It turned out fantastic and really delicious. I have used it many times, however I decided to expand on the recipe and do more with it, or just not limit myself to eggplant. I used more vegetables than original recipe. I added peppers zucchinis and more tomatoes in addition to increasing the capers and pine nuts. Here is what happened.

I modified to this

2 large diced eggplant in 2 cm

2 chopped onions

2 large peppers

2 large zucchinis

2 diced celery stalk

4 skinless diced tomatoes

1/4 cup of capers

1/4 cup of pine nuts

3 tablespoons sugar dissolved in

1/3 cup wine vinegar

I follow original recipe for the most part. I cook everything together. Even though it calls to remove the eggplant, I don't. I saute the veggies together . Instead of canned tomatoes, here I used fresh but peeled, since we have such an abundance of them this summer but canned is fine, too.

Make scrumptious appetizer or side dish. 

 That is what it looks like

Teiglach for Rosh Hashana

When I was a kid, my grandma cooked a lot of foods, that are here referred to as cuisine of Ashkenazi Jews. I did not know that when I was growing up, it was just something my grandma cooked. She was an excellent chef, and her tiny kitchen produced many fantastic dishes that now live only in my memories. That is the thing with people... we do not thing that something that is there all the time, one day may be gone.  My aunt says that she has some of grandma's recipes, but I know that its likely, she does not have the ones grandma made for Jewish holidays. Plus, grandma cooked by feel, look, and touch more then a recipe. It is very sad that I do not have her recipes to carry on, still I try my best to keep traditions alive for my kids.

Every Jewish New Year we celebrate with honey. Apples are dipped in the honey to have a sweet year ahead. Every year I make a honey cake, or lekach where I use honey instead or sugar. This year I decided to do something different when I remembered something grandma made once in a while. I remember that grandma prepared a home made noodles as well as little pieces of cooked dough that we put in the soup - mandlen, here called soup nuts. The cooked pieces of dough are similar to nuts in size and texture, so I can theorize that when it was eaten in the impoverished regions within pale of settlement , it was thought of as nuts.

The sweet treat I would like to share is nothing more then cooked dough with nuts caramelized in honey. 
Naturally, since I do not have grandma's recipe to follow, I read all the recipes that I could find and made my own version of this signature dish. I tried to remember the taste of my grandma's recipe and that is what guided me in the ingredients I did or did not use.

dough:

4 eggs

1/4 c salad oil

2 cups of flour

1/8 tsp of salt

oil for frying

candy:

1 lb of honey

1/2 c hazelnuts coarsely chopped

1/2 c walnut pieces

1/2 c  almond sliced or chopped

1/2 pine nuts

lemon peel from 1 lemon

In a food processor blend eggs and oil with salt, then add flour. Once the dough comes together turn it out to well flowered board. Roll the dough into less then 1/2 inch thickens and cut into strips then into bean size pieces. Make sure they do not stick together but shake off any excess flour when cooking. I tried both methods of cooking the dough. about 1/3 of the batch I cooked for about 7-8 min in the 450F oven and the rest fried. Fried pieces of dough is much better looking and much better tasting. I realized that frying is not as healthy as baking the dough, but let's face it, this is a dessert that is made once a year. As with all the desserts it is not meant to be a main dish, but rather shared and savoured in small amounts with family and friends.  The next step is cooking the honey. In a large pan honey is brought to a boil and then simmer, thickening it and reducing it in volume for about 8-10 min. I love nuts and I do not like them toasted. Most recipes out there call for the nuts to be toasted, but I did not. I do not think toasting here, add anything in flavor, so I skipped toasting nuts. Once the honey is ready all of the dough and nuts is added to the honey and stirred carefully, the mixture is very hot. Stir and mix in the lemon peel making sure everything is coated evenly. Cook for additional 5-10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the mixture.

Once it resembles more of a ball then a stew, the dish is done. Cooked mixture then transferredd onto the large dish that can be sprinkled with a layer of sliced almonds before turning out the candy. The loose honey will still settle down to the bottom, and make it difficult for the candy to pick off from the plate so do not fret. As the mixture cools it becomes easier to handle and can be formed into individual small portions. I left the plate as it looks in the picture and cut off servings as needed. This was a fun dish to make and eat.

Fire Roasted Pepers

This is one of my staple recipes I cook all the time. Luckily I live next to an Oriental supermarket and bell peppers  there usually very inexpensive. I pick up a dozen and roast them over the the open flame right on the stove. Garlic and olive oil with addition salt make perfect dressing. The peppers keep great in the fridge for about one week. It is not recommended however to keep garlic in oil for longer then 10 days, to prevent botulism. In any case, the peppers usually do not survive that long. They make an excellent appetiser, side dish or become an excellent addition to a sandwich.

I have put the peppers in sandwiches out of lavash bead for one of the birthday parties for my kids. I like lavash roller sandwiches since they are easy to make  and make great finger food at the party.

I made several different varieties.
One was with turkey, another with pastrami and last one with roasted vegetables. 

Lavash is usually much lower in calories then a regular bun, not to mention that one piece of lavash once rolled up gets cut into much smaller pieces. Having given the link above, I want to note that Trader Joe's lavash is smaller then the kind I buy at my Middle Eastern store. Some things I want to note is that lavash is really thin and must be fresh out of sealed bag for the rolled up sandwich to be a success. Once the bag is open the bread dries out really easy and starts to crumble when you try to use it. Lay your lavash out and place the driest ingredients out, covering about half to 1/3 of the bread. Once you start to roll you will want and additional layer of bread to hold the sandwich together. If you are using a mayo or your favorite spread it should go on the top of meat and not on the bread itself.  The bread gets torn easily so ingredients should not really be very moist. In the past I have sprinkled some milled flax seed directly on the lavash to act as an absorbent . Vegetarian rollers go great with hummus, but once again, lavash does not like to much moisture and once soggy, it falls apart. I hope I do not completely discourage anyone, as this is great idea for the party.

Grilled Vegetables

Since I do a lot of grilling in the summer and eat a lot of red meat, I do not forget about cooking veggies on the grill. I have an easy recipe that I came up with and have being using to several years now. It always comes our great. I start out with fresh herbs. I have lots of oregano in my garden and in the summer, I always have fresh parsley in my fridge and I usually buy grown plant of basil at Trader Joe's. These are the main ingredient for a vegetable marinade. Garlic and extra virgin olive oil  other ingredients together with salt and pepper for seasoning.



Many vegetables can be used here. This particular time I had zucchinis, onions and celery, but in the past I also used green beans, asparagus, carrots and green onions. In a small handheld blender 
4-5 garlic cloves,
12-15 sprigs of parsley (stems and all),
5-6 basil leafs, oregano leaves from 3-4 stems,
3/4-1 c of oil, 1
 tsp of salt and
1/2 tsp pepper.
 Parsley leafs ground up well in the blender but basil if too tough and oregano is to woody.

Everything gets pureed into soup like mix and added to a large plastic Ziploc bag with the vegetables. Since there is salt in the mix, it helps to draw the water out the veggies and marinate them, almost cooking them half way. The bag is placed in the refrigerator for a few hours and can even stay there overnight.

The veggies are sliced and cut in a manner that will be easiest to handle them when cooking. Long strips, that will not fall through in between the cooking grates is best. However, that is not always possible and in that case vegetable grilling tray or a pan is your best fiend. Cooking times vary between the vegetables so use your discretion on how long your veggies stay on the grill.

The left over juice - marinade is excellent for bread garnish. Dip one side of the bread in the marinade and add to the grill and cook until golden brown and crunchy. It is like garlic bread but even better.
 Do not use the left over marinade without cooking it.!!!

Corn Salad

Summer is the season of the corn and it is everywhere on sale. There are some great deals out here and you can get 6 ears for a buck in the summer. I love corn. It brings so many childhood memories. My grandma used to boil it for a long time and it was never as sweet as it is today. I used to add a little sugar to the water when I cooked my corn but these days it is not necessary. It's not the Soviet corn of my childhood and today's corn has been engineered and is sweet even raw. In fact, I often chose my corn by picking one kernel of the corn and tasting it to see if it is sweet. In the summer I am doing a lot of grilling. Often to optimize my time and to avoid running between the stove and the grill I try to just grill. The other  day I baked potatoes right on the upper shelf. If I am grilling something already, I put corn in it's husk on the upper shelf of the grill or over small flame. It does not exactly grill it, but rather steams it in its husk. Lately all of the corn has been super sweet. I can eat a lot of it if I do not stop myself. There are a lot of things that can be done with corn. I find myself most often making a salad rather then soup or a corn chowder, although I like those, too. This salad is really simple and can be served warm or cold.

approx 2 tbsp oil for sauteing
1 small onion or a 1/2 large preferably sweet, diced
8 oz of mushrooms chopped
1 red pepper, diced
3 ears of corn (kernels only)
3 green onions chopped
2-3 tbsp of fresh dill
1/4 c -1/3 balsamic vinegar
salt pepper to taste.
optional 1 garlic clove pressed
It is fun to get one of the ears of corn in different color. One white the rest is yellow, of the other way around but not necessary. I start by sauteing an onion and add to it mushrooms then pepper.Corn kernels is added last and it does not need too much cooking. There is a tricky part to cooking corn. There is so much sugar in it that its going to inevitably get caramelized to the bottom of the pan. You can stir and stir but it is unavoidable. The only thing you can to is not to scrape the burnt on sugar off the bottom with your spatula. It does not matter if you have a non stick pan or in constant motion stirring, it is going to happen. just do not scrape that burnt on sugar into the salad. In few minutes, when the corn is cooked, transfer it to the bowl and add the vinegar, dill and green onion.and mix the salad while it is still hot. You can substitute fresh dill for parsley, basil of other fresh herbs, it's your choice. It is a nice side dish or a cold salad the next day.

Beef and Zucchinis Skewers

I will admit that it was not my idea, to arrange it like that but the spices and ground meat preparation is all mine. For this odd looking but delicious dish I used fresh and dry Italian seasoning. I used fresh Italian parsley, oregano, basil and a lot of it.

1 large onion

4-5 garlic cloves

half of bunch of parsley

1/2 c of oregano leaves loosely packed

1/2 c of basil leafs loosely packed

1 tbsp of dry Italian seasonings

Salt and pepper

3 lbs ground beef

4-5 zucchinis similar in size and thickness

In a food processor puree all of the seasonings together until they make uniform soup like mix. Add to the beef and blend well by hands in a large bowl. Clean and peal zucchinis so that they look striped. Slice them in about 1/2 inch slices. Skewer the zucchinis on the soaked bamboo skewers and leave gaps in between the slices. Add enough ground meet to skewers to create uniform thickness on each skewer. Wrap each skewer in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for about 1-2 hours before grilling. This does not need to be grilled, however and can also be baked. Instead of wrapping in plastic, each skewer can be wrapped in foil and baked. It does not need to be frozen then, the foil will keep the shape and juices of the skewer if they are baked in the foil wrap. If you will grill, then keep in mind that the skewer is placed parallel to the grill bars and not across it. That way, the grill marks will look like those on the picture. Grill few minuted on each side as you turn slightly each skewer. All together it should take about 25-30 min. Here there is a bit more meat then one person can handle, so I recommend to add less meat if you are planning 1 skewer per person.

Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti

When I made simple almond biscotti, I realized that once my kids see the cookies 2 dozen will turn into 1 dozen really quick and I will not have enough for a gift. So I decided to see what other biscotti I can make. I only had almonds and hazelnuts. Then my gaze fell on the Nutella that is always in my pantry. Of course, Nutella is a perfect marriage of hazelnuts and chocolate. I will use that!

3 eggs
1 c sugar
1 stick 1/2 c melted butter
1/2 c Nutella
1 tsp of vanilla extract
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of baking soda
3 1/2 c flour
1 c whole hazelnuts
Beat together eggs and sugar, then add all liquid ingredients including Nutella. Sift together the dry ingredients and add them to the egg mixture. The whole hazelnuts are added and mixed in well. Dough will look a bit like cookie dough. Line your baking sheet with silicon mat and dump dough on it to shape a log.  I use silicon mat for baking and shaping the dough. My hands never end up dirty, and the dough does not stick to the mat either. I simply roll the dough by rolling the mat in to a cylinder around it and smoothing out thicker parts to get a log even in thickness and height. my log take the entire length of the baking sheet and is about 1 inch tall.  Bake at 350F for about 30 min. The log will spread out and will get slightly taller. Cool the log off and slice on the bias into about 1/2 inch thick slices with  serrated knife. Arrange them on the baking sheet and bake another 20-30 min at 275F. Makes about 2 dozen. Cool on wire rack and enjoy with cup of coffee or tea.

Almond Biscotti

I love biscotti and I admit I do not make them often. This batch was made as a thank you gift. The story goes like this. My husband is a fire breathing,  no eating, dragon. He loves Indian food, mainly for the amount of heat it can generate and the flavor is great, too. One of his colleague's many years ago introduced him to his mom's creation of home made green pickled mango, brought in directly from India. My husband was savouring every bite and eating it in a manner that it would last. He enjoyed several batches of this delicacy mainly by himself, since even I would not stand that much heat, but more so, I know how much he likes it, so I wasn't going to take it away from him. The current batch my husband was enjoying was delivered to his colleague by his mom herself, who was here visiting from India. My husband insisted that we pay back in kind and insisted we make something for the lady, that she will appreciate. After some negotiation he found out that she loves biscotti and I was only happy to oblige. I thought that something classic will be a good start.

3 eggs
1 c sugar
1 stick 1/2 c melted butter
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of cinnamon
3 c flour
1 c whole almonds
2 tbsp of sliced almonds
Beat together eggs and sugar, then add all liquid ingredients. Sift together the dry ingredients and add them to the egg mixture. The whole almonds are added and mixed in well. Dough will look a bit like cookie dough. Line your baking sheet with silicon mat and dump dough on it to shape a log. I use silicon mat for baking and shaping the dough. My hands never end up dirty, and the dough does not stick to the mat either. I simply roll the dough by rolling the mat in to a cylinder around it and smoothing out thicker parts to get a log even in thickness and height. my log take the entire length of the baking sheet and is about 1 inch tall. Top the log with sliced almonds evenly, making sure that they will stick to the log. Bake at 350F for about 30 min. The log will spread out and will get slightly taller. Cool the log off and slice on the bias into about 1/2 inch thick slices with  serrated knife. Arrange them on the baking sheet and bake another 20-30 min at 275F. Makes about 2 dozen. Cool on wire rack and enjoy with cup of coffee or tea.

Grilled shrimp skewer

I was feeling adventurous and came up with this simple marinade for shrimp. What inspired me to do it, I don't know, probably the fact, that when I opened my fridge to put the shrimps in it, my eye fell on the bottle of pomegranate molasses that I rarely use. I said that is what I'm going to use and it was an interesting taste.

To a galon size Ziploc bag I added
1/4 c of oil
3 tbsp Pomegranate molasses
1 tsp honey
1 large garlic pressed
Once the ingredients were in the bag, I locked it and  agitated it to emulsify the marinade. The shrimp were added and mixed well in the marinade, then returned to the refrigerator for about 2 hours.
I always forget to soak my skewers and that is why they look like that on the photo, but the good thing about the shrimp is that they cook in about 5-7 min or faster depending on the size. When the shrimp has changed color - it is done. To make things look fun I added chunks of apricot, yellow pepper, green onion and celery in between the shrimps. I used 2 skewers because I notice that if there is only one then it is not always easy to turn on the grill and items start spinning on the skewer and one side does not cook, as the other is burnt. Getting 2 skewers through the shrimp and vegetables may not be easy as you pierce but much easier to grill. Medium heat is best and the smaller the shrimp the faster it will cook.

Cilantro Burgers

I was experimenting and came up with this burger recipe because I just think that plain beef patty is plain boring. I want more!

3 lbs of ground beef

1 large bunch of cilantro

1/4 c of garlic cloves

1 large onion

1 tsp of cumin

1 tbsp kosher salt

1 tsp ground pepper

Start your food processor, and add a few sprigs of cilantro to it at a time, so it does not end up get caught in the machine but gets well chopped. Then add garlic and finally onion, that was cut in large pieces. You want the onion to be in the consistency of fine dice and not puree or liquid. In a large bowl combine ground beef, mix of cilantro, garlic and onions, cumin, salt and pepper. Form your burgers, and when you are think you are done make a little indentation in the middle of burger as if you are trying to make doughnut but not pierce the patty all the way through. This will help maintain the burgers uniformly flat and not bulging in the middle. I place formed patties in the freezer for about 1 hr before grilling. I'm always afraid that the burger will fall apart on the grill, so to prevent I apply a little oil with silicone brush on the side of the patty that will be facing the flame and repeat this step right before turning the burger.

Salt Cured Salmon, a.k.a Lox

I used to buy smoked salmon at Costco back when it was reasonable priced since my husband and younger kids love a bagel with cream cheese and lox for breakfast. But the price has risen from about $9/lb to $20 and I said: "wait a minute! I can do it myself!' So the large Keta Salmon fish that I got on sale was used in a third recipe - home made lox. The tale end of the fillet was used here. I make a smaller piece then this recipe calls for, so the amount of spices added was adjusted. This picture is of King (Chinook)Salmon.

about 2 lbs of salmon boneless and skinless

3 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp kosher salt
2-4 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp dry dill
2-3 tbsp brandy
dash of liquid smoke of smoke powder
Line a container with plastic wrap. Mix dry ingredients and smoke powder then place half of the mixture on the bottom of the container, spreading it out evenly. Place fillet on top on the mixture and cover with the rest of the mix. sprinkle with liquid ingredients. Cover with the plastic wrap by folding its edges onto the fish and place in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. The fish can be cured in one large piece or cut in a smaller slices before salting. It is easier to slice in thin portions after curing but sometimes it is easier if thicker slices are done before curing and are just ready to go. Either way, it is simple to make and impressive to serve.

Salmon Soup

I think that soup is just about the easiest thing to cook. Everything gets chopped up and tossed to cook in a liquid. It is only the about what to chop in there and what liquid to use. Like I was saying in my previous post, Keta Salmon was on sale and the large fish went a long way and was used in 3 different dishes.
The bones and skin were used in the stock, that was used as a base for the soup the next day. The head of the fish makes for a rich stock and in Asian supermarkets  it can often be purchased  by itself. The fish that I got was headless so it made for less stock in volume.
To the large pot I added the skin and bones of the salmon,
1 large onion
2-3 cloves of garlic
1 celery rib
1 carrot
1 bay leaf
10 pepper corns
salt
several sprigs of fresh baby dill and parsley
and enough water to cover the fish and the vegetables. Stock will feel richer if there is fish head and a lot of bones and somewhat lighter if there is more water added and not as many bones. The stock is brought to a boil and turned to low simmer immediately after. Watching the stock and not allowing it to over boil will insure clear and not cloudy soup. The stock is cooked for about an hour or longer if you forget to turn it off, it will only become richer. After turning it off add the dill and parsley and allow to cool.
There is still some fish flesh on the bones and if you feel like it you can pick through the bones and collect that for the soup if not, just drain the stock through a mesh colander to catch everything that you don't want in the soup. Depending on the amount of stock you have you will need

2-3 carrots shredded or thinly sliced

1-2 celery ribs thinly sliced

3-5 small red skin or 1 large russet potatoes cut in small cubes

1 large onion diced

2 garlic cloves sliced

2 tbsp of oil

1 bay leaf, salt and pepper

for garnish:

3-4 dill sprigs

2-3 green onion chopped

Start by sauteing onions in a large soup pot. Then add carrots and celery. Sauteing adds an extra layer of flavor to the soup but not a necessary step and can be skipped in case you are pressed for time. Add the rest of the ingredients and stock. Cook till the potatoes are done about 15 min. Turn off and add the chopped dill and green onions or it can be added to the bowl of soup directly. The soup is light and flavorful at the same time. If your kids are not into fish but do eat meatballs you can trick them into eating fish is you add it to this soup in the shape of balls. Instead of making burgers you can use this recipe and make little fish balls and drop them into the cooking soup. They cook fast in the boiling stock and make a rich soup that is a meal.
My husband like to add a small piece of butter and a slice of lemon into his bowl. I admit, it adds an extra level of flavor.

Salmon Burgers

For a couple of weeks now, my local supermarket had a sale on wild caught Keta Salmon. I know that we all should eat more fish and this one is the easiest to cook. There were several things that I made out of the huge fish that I bought. It could not be eaten in one meal and had to be enjoyed in several dishes. My kids generally do not like fish unless it is presented in a way they can take it - burgers! That  is the easiest way to get them to eat fish.

2 lbs fillet of salmon (bones removed)

1 large onion
2 garlic cloves

1/2 bunch Italian parsley
1/2 bunch baby dill
salt and pepper
1 egg

I remove the fillet, reserving skin and bones for stock. In a food processor I pulse one large onion, garlic and small bunch of each Italian parsley and baby dill with salt and pepper. Add an egg to the green mass and then the fillet of salmon. The salmon is cut in small pieces and food processor is pulsed with addition of each piece.It does need to be smooth and uniform, the ground Salmon is chunkier. It should not resemble ground beef and no worries if some small chunks are in there will work out well in the final product. After the mass is well incorporated patties can be formed. If the burgers are to be cooked in a frying pan, then I like giving them a coat of bread crumbs. Wet or oil your hands and shape patties to your preferred size.  It is best to line a container with plastic wrap, as the ground salmon may be sticky and not easy to handle. Another way to create a patty is to scoop enough into the plastic wrap and then twist it into a ball. After untwisting and laying the ball onto another parchment or plastic lined tray push it slightly to give it right burger shape. If they were to be grilled then I place the tray with ready burgers in the freezer for about an hour before the grilling time. The grill must be hot and ready before the burgers go in it. With silicon brush I apply a small amount of oil to the side of the burger that is going on the grill; just enough for them not to get stuck. I reduce the heat from high to medium high. I brush a little more oil in the raw side of the burger and flip them only once. Cooking time will take about 4-5 min on each side. 

Bun or no bun is up to you.

In other version of the salmon patty I substituted fresh herbs with 1 tblsp of Rub with Love , coated with bread crumbs and fried them in the pan.

This ground fish works well in the soup, too.

More on that in my next post.

Blueberry Muffins

I could not sleep well last night and woke up very tired at unusual (for me)time of 6 am on the dot. Alarm clock was set for 7 am and when I went to bed I was sure to miss it ringing. My body did not let me oversleep today. Wondering about what to do in the hour that is remaining I thought of what I will give for breakfast to the kids. Somehow blueberry muffins popped up in my head and I walked downstairs and made them. I had blueberries from my recent shopping trip, that were calling to be used. There are lots of recipes for blueberry muffins out there and I read many of them, they are very similar in nature. I guess my recipe is not drastically different from what is out there, however I use somewhat different technique. Most batters are done by whipping up softened butter and sugar, then adding eggs and dry ingredients. I do not think that is very important and I did not have butter at room temperature, mine was frozen solid.  Instead, I make it in the same way I would make a cake. In a food processor I mixed eggs with sugar, then added melted butter and milk and dry ingredients. Once everything is mixed I pull out the blade and with a spatula fold in berries in the same food processor bowl. I place  silicon cups to line the muffin pan, spray them and the flat top of the pan with nonstick spray, fill the cups with batter and bake at 380F for about 20-25 min. I had just enough time to make today's breakfast. To avoid scrambling the egg, melted butter should be cooled, which is accomplished by melting butter in a measuring cup in a microwave and adding cold milk to it once it is melted.

2 eggs
1 stick of unsalted butter = 1/2 cup
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup blueberries

Chicken Wings

I love chicken wings of all kinds. Today I stopped by Lucky supermarket and came across a fantastic sale of wings at ȼ99/lbs. I often buy cooked frozen chicken wings from Costco and the are ready to eat in about 20 min. I recently started cooking wings myself and they go from raw to cooked and ready in just about the same amount of time. Well, little more but definitely under an hour. I usually salt and peeper the wings and drizzle a little sumac and broil them, today however I made it even easier and simpler. I had about 6 lbs of wings. Unfortunately, I notice that they are plumped up with salt water, for as they cook they release a ton of water.  A large foil pan could be used to cook the wings but I make my own to maximize the cooking surface. I line the top of the wife rack of the oven with 2 large pieces of foil, covering the rack completely. Fold in the outer edges of the foil then pinch the corners, creating a very shallow pan then spray with cooking spray the surface of the foil . I use the 18 inch wide industrial size heavy duty foil to do this.
Wings are washed and lined on the foil covered rack. Add liberal amount of Grill Mates® Montreal Steak Seasoning and Sumac and place them in the upper part of the oven but not immediately under the broiler. After about 15-20 minutes of broiling wings are turned over and sprinkled with seasoning again to cover the other side. In about another 20-25 minutes they are done and perfectly seasoned just calling for a cold beer.
Approx 2 tblsp of Grill Mates® Montreal Steak Seasoning
Approx 2 tblsp of Sumac

Bagels

I have said in my other posts  that when I decide to make something new to me but common, like lemon bars, for example, I do not follow the recipe completely. I read a bunch of bagel recipes and did my own thing. My family loves bagels - our breakfast and lunch. I know there are so many bagels on the market and for the longest time I was happy with Noah's bagels and bought them in bulk at Costco.  Then I looked at the ingredient list and as I suspected I found High Fructose Corn Syrup.  In my case, I read labels and find it in so many things, so I can't completely avoid it, if it is in breads and most of the jams, and even in catchup. While it is nearly impossible to rid your diet completely of HFCS, unless you are planning on buying everything organic and make your own breakfast cereal, one can make baby steps and try. Making bagels at home is just one way, also I save money doing it. 

to make about 1 dozen
6 -6 1/2 c of flour
3 tblsp sugar
2 tblsp salt
3 tsp yeast
3 tbls oil
2 c warm water

My KitchenAid mixer does a fantastic job, I do not even get my hands sticky. The dough it really stiff and tough. Avoid the temptation of adding more water. Once the dough is formed, it is cut in pieces and rolled or formed into a ball, then into bagel. Arrange them on the baking sheet and let them rest for no more then one half hour or while the water is boiling. I boil water in my large shallow pan and couple of tbsp of sugar. Drop the bagels in to the water and boil about 1 minute on each side. Place on the baking sheet, and sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds. alternately you may add the seeds to a small plate and dip the wet bagel in it. Arrange on the baking sheet and bake in the middle of the oven at 425F for 20 min.

My husband loves onion bagels and I had to figure out how to make those. To the list of ingredients for those bagels I add

1 small onion finely chopped and sauteed til golden brown
1/2 cup of sesame seeds
1/2 cup of poppy seeds
1/4 c of sunflower seeds
2 tblsp of caraway seeds
reserve about a 1 tbl sp of the mixture for topping the bagels.

Sauerkraut Bread

This is really simple yet delicious dish. Cabbage pies are very common in Russia. There are a million and one recipe for a dough as well as cabbage stuffing. Some require sauteing the cabbage; some add other things to stuffing like boiled eggs; yet others use fermented Russian cabbage or a mix of it with fresh; some doughs are made with yeast and some aren't; the shape may be round or take up entire baking sheet. The pies or breads differ vastly and enjoyed by practically all. Once again I played with different recipes, tried several ways of stuffing and adapted this to my own taste buds and, these days, make it almost exclusively with sauerkraut. For dough I modified my usual Hallah dough recipe and make it with milk.

Dough

4-4&1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
4 tblsp sugar
3 tsp salt
1/4 cup oil or melted butter
1 pkg yeast=2 1/4 tsp
1 1/4 warm  milk
Stuffing
1/2 from  2lbs jar of sauerkraut drained

3large onions

1/3 c oil for sauteing

salt pepper

1 egg for egg wash

I make my dough in my Kitchen aid and do not bother mixing yeast and sugar water separately. In a mixing bowl I measure and sift the flour, add eggs, oil or butter, salt, sugar and yeast then warm milk. Then make dough with dough attachment. KitchenAid does it's job well and the dough is formed and rolled into a ball, ready for resting within 10 min. Using the same bowl, I cover the top of the dough loosely with well oiled piece of plastic wrap. My oven that is not on at the moment but has the oven light on provides a perfect place for the dough to prove. The oven is draft free and T in it raises to about 130F just from the oven light being on. With this conditions the dough is ready to be used in a couple of hours. While the dough is resting I clean the onions, cut them in halves, then quarters and slice thinly. Saute in oil over small flame to caramelize the onions.  It takes about 20 minutes for the onions to get to the perfect condition and to get caramel gold in color. Drain the sauerkraut in colander and squeeze some but not all of the moisture out. Then salt and pepper added and mix well with sauerkraut. After the dough rose and doubled in size, punch it down and roll out on a flour dusted surface to about 1/2 inch thickness. Turn the oven to 375 F. it is best to form the log directly on the baking sheet lined with silicon pad because it is not easy to transfer the log once t is made.The stuffing mix is placed in the middle and dough is formed in to a log. The seam can be placed on the bottom or the dough can be folded in as a 3 folds letter. If the dough is too thick at the ends of a log it can be trimmed and used for a decorative touch as  a small braid or flowers on the top of the log. Most importantly the steam will need to escape somehow, so either the holes have to be punctured in with a knife or a fork of the dough has to be folded decoratively to allow for steam to escape and not tear the bread open. After all has been folded and decorated, egg wash is applied with silicon brush. The bread is baked in the middle of the oven for 40-50 min, till the bread reaches the deep golden color. Allow to rest and cool down for at least 15 min before slicing.

Hallah bread

I love hallah bread and was completely at awe at the Jewish ladies that made it at home every Friday for the Shabbat in Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights. My mom and I lived in that neighbourhood when we first came to US. Every Friday we were invited to a Shabbat dinner by a random Jewish family, for whom having us for Friday night dinner was a mitzvah - good deed. I was not familiar with anything that had to do with cooking and mystery of making bread was beyond me. I could not imagine that bread is something that can be done at home. I know better now and do not think much of it. I do not make it on a weekly basis but often enough not to need to look at the recipe.

4-4&1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
4 tblsp sugar
3 tsp salt
1/4 cup oil
1 pkg yeast=2 1/4 tsp
1 1/4 warm water
1 egg for brushing
Most of the bread recipes call for mixing of water and sugar and letting it ferment and bubble before adding it to the flour. I use my Kitchen aid to make the dough. It's clean and fast. I add the flour and the rest of ingredients then mix it all with hook attachment on dough setting. Cover the dough with oiled well large piece of plastic and place in the oven that is off but has the light on. The light bulb inside the oven provides just enough heat and draft free environment that the dough is fast to rise. Once it is doubled in size, punch it down, knead it for a couple of minutes, cut in 3 equal pieces and braid . Set aside on the baking sheet lined with silicon mat for about 20 min. and turn oven to 375F. Meanwhile make an egg wash and brush on the hallah. It can be sprinkled with sesame or poppy seeds for decoration and place in  375F oven for 30-40 min or until uniformly light brown.