Category Archives: Family Recipes

Eggs and Cheese, Meatless Main Dishes

Pirogy

Pierogi, also known as Verenyki

Pierogies are a type of dumpling stuffed with cottage cheese and served with heaps of fried onions and sour cream.

Pierogies evoke in me a mild love/hate response. They were definitely part of our childhood gastronomical experience, and while I didn’t find them terribly exciting (rather greasy with the fried onions, actually), they seemed to provoke fierce enthusiasm in the rest of the family. How could I go against that flow?

So, for you Pierogy lovers everywhere, here is the recipe:

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/2 t salt
  • 1 egg
  • Water
  • 1/2 lb cottage cheese (can be mixed with coarsely-mashed potatoes)
  • 2 T sour cream
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1/4 t salt
  • Fried onions and extra sour cream (optional)

For the dumpling envelopes:

Sift flour and salt into bowl; make a depression in center and drop in egg. Moisten with water to make stiff dough. Knead until smooth. Cover and let stand 30 minutes. Divide dough in half and roll to 1/8″ thick. Cut into 2-1/2 to 3″ circles.

For the filling:

Mash cottage cheese (and mashed potatoes if using)  with 2 T sour cream, eggs and salt. Mix well.

Preparation:

Place 1 heaping teaspoonful of cheese on lower half of circle; moisten edge of top half with water and fold. Press edges together.

Drop into a large kettle of boiling water. Cook for 5-7 minutes, counted after water returns to boiling.

Serve with fried onions and sour cream. Some people like to brown the drained pierogies with the fried onions in a pan before serving.

Meat and Poultry

Sweet and Sour Beef (Svickova)

SVÍCKOVÁ (pronounced SVEECH-koh-vah)

  • 3 lbs rolled beef rump or rib roast
  • 3 slices bacon
  • 1 t salt
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup celery, diced
  • 1/2 cup carrot, diced
  • 2 T chopped parsley
  • 1/2 cup diced onion
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/8 tsp thyme
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/4 cup vinegar
  • 1 T sugar
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 2 cups sour cream

Loosen cord from around roast and place bacon slices evenly around it. Re-tie, rub with salt and set aside. Melt fat in heavy saucepan; add celery, carrot, parsley and onion; cook for 10 minutes. Stir in bay, thyme, and pepper. Place meat on top of vegetables; cover and simmer for 1 hour. Add water, vinegar and sugar. Cover and bake in 350ºF oven until very tender. Add water as needed. Slice thin and serve with a sauce consisting of: 1/4 cup flour blended and simmered with meat juices from the pan the meat was cooked in, into which is stirred 1 pint sour cream.The vegetables will have cooked apart and will help thicken and season the juices.

Drawing by Alois

Desserts and Sweets

Loretta’s Molasses Cookies

  • 1-1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup shortening
  • 2 beaten eggs
  • 1 cup molasses
  • 4 cups flour
  • 4 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ginger
  • 1 tsp salt

Cream sugar and shortening. Add eggs and molasses. Sift together dry ingredients and combine all. Drop and press onto greased cookie sheet and bake at 375 F for 10 to 12 mins.

Meat and Poultry

Chicken in Green Sauce

Pollo en salsa verde

  • 1 large onion
  • 1 handful of fresh coriander
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 6 tomatillos (Mexican green tomatoes)
  • 1 serrano chile
  • 1/4 cup water or chicken broth
  • 1/2 tsp salt, or 1 bouillon cube
  • 1 chicken, cut up
  • oil

In blender, combine onion, coriander, garlic, tomatillos, chile, water, and salt. Brown chicken in oil in a large pot. Add blended sauce and simmer until chicken is tender and sauce has thickened. Add more water or broth as needed. Serve with rice and tortillas.

Desserts and Sweets

Date Squares

Also known as Matrimonial Cake, these date squares were one of Mom’s standby desserts that we all loved.

  • 1-3/4 cups rolled oats
  • 1-1/2 cups flour
  • 1 t baking powder
  • 3/4 cups brown sugar
  • 3/4 cups margarine (use 2/3 cups coconut oil instead for an easy vegan version)
  • 3/4 lb. chopped dates, pitted
  • water
  • 2 T brown sugar
  • 1 t vanilla

Mix oats, flour, baking powder, 3/4 cup brown sugar, and salt. Rub in the margarine. Press 2/3 of mix firmly into bottom of greased 8″ pan.

Boil the dates with a little water and 2 T brown sugar until soft. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Spread carefully on top of the oat and flour base in pan. Cover with rest of the oat and flour mix, this time pressing it only very slightly into dates.

Bake at 300 F for about 40 minutes.

Cat, by Talon,Dec 2008 after seeing one of Kati’s drawings
Eggs and Cheese, Meatless Main Dishes

Chilaquiles a la Angel

  • Oil
  • 12 corn tortillas, 1 day old or more (stale but not dry)
  • 3 ripe tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 chicken bouillon cube
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 serrano chiles, seeded and chopped finely
  • 1/4 cup water
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 cup grated Manchego or Mozzarella cheese

Cut tortillas into strips or in triangles. Heat 1/2″ oil in wide frying pan. Brown and crisp tortillas in batches. Drain on paper towels and set aside.

Sauté onion in a little oil till soft. Add tomatoes, bouillon cube, garlic, chiles and water. Cook until tomatoes are mushy and liquid is slightly reduced. Throw in coriander and adjust salt. Cook 5 minutes. Throw about two thirds of fried tortillas into sauce and toss to coat. Add 1/2 of the grated cheese and toss again.

Let simmer for 2 minutes to soften tortillas slightly and melt cheese. Add the remaining tortillas and toss quickly. Top with remaining cheese and allow to sit for a minute until cheese has melted. Serve immediately.

Vegetables and Salads

Carol’s Potato Salad

  • 4 white potatoes
  • 2 carrots
  • 3 hard cooked eggs
  • 1 small zucchini
  • 1 small onion or 3 green onions with tops, chopped
  • 1 green pepper
  • 1 stalk celery
  • 4 radishes
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 3 tbsp chopped parsley
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 tsp thyme or fines herbes
  • Mayonnaise
  • 1 tsp vinegar

Boil potatoes in their jackets with carrots till tender. Drain and cool. Cut potatoes into large cubes and carrots into small cubes. Steam whole zucchini until barely tender. Cool and cut into small cubes. In a bowl, combine finely chopped green pepper, celery and onions. Add seasonings, herbs and garlic. Toss together carefully with cooked and cooled vegetables, adding enough mayonnaise to moisten well. Sprinkle on vinegar (garlic or cider vinegar is best) and toss lightly. Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours to let flavours penetrate. Serve topped with sliced or quartered eggs, parsley and radish slices.

Breads and Pancakes

Pan de Campo (Peasant Bread)

Country bread from Chile

These dense bread rolls, slightly toasted on a griddle and smothered with sweet Chilean butter and strawberry jam,  made one of my favorite breakfasts during my stay in Chile. The heavy, almost layered consistency of the bread made it special. To me, the heaviness of Pan de Campo was a product of baking it in the shadow of the towering wall of the Andes that stood above us in Santiago.

Chile Alps (Pan de Campo)

Ingredients for Chilean Pan de Campo (Peasant Bread)

  • 20 grams (about 3/4 oz) yeast
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 2 t sugar
  • 7 3/4 – 8 3/4 cups flour
  • 1 cup melted shortening
  • 2 cups warm water mixed with 1 T salt

Mix yeast with 1 cup warm water and sugar. Let stand 20 minutes. Pour into a ring of flour along with cooled melted shortening.

While mixing, gradually add 2 cups warm water with salt. Work until light and shiny (10 minutes).

Form into a roll and divide into 18 pieces. Knead each piece and pat with hands into 2 cm (3/4″) thick rounds. Pierce with fork. Let rise.

Bake at 400F for 15 to 20 minutes.


Desserts and Sweets

Lemon Meringue Pie

  • 4 T cornstarch
  • 4 T flour
  • 1/2 t salt
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups boiling water
  • 1 T butter
  • few gratings lemon rind
  • 1/3 cup lemon juice
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 1 9″ baked pie crust
  • 4 egg whites
  • 8 T sugar
  • 1/4 t vanilla
  • pinch salt

In double boiler, mix cornstarch, flour, salt and sugar. Add boiling water. Cook and stir over direct heat until mixture boils. Set over hot water, cover, and cook 20 minutes. Add butter, lemon rind, lemon juice, and yolks. Cook and stir until thick. Cool.

Prepare merengue with egg whites beaten stiff with 8 T sugar, vanilla, and salt. Add 2 T of merengue to filling and fill pie shell. Spoon rest of merengue on top of pie.

Bake at 425 F about 5 minutes or until brown.