June 05, 2012

white bean pate

Old-fashioned country style white bean pate.

Many people ask me what we used to each when we live back in Ukraine many years ago. It's not easy to describe in a couple words our menu. Living in America, we still make some of the traditional dishes. One of them is a white bean pate. It's old-fashioned, tasty, and fulfilling. Living in Ukraine many years ago we did not have a variety of ingridients which are available in western supermarkets and farmer's markets. Moreover, in many cases fresh fruits and vegetable were available for only short period of time. We used to make a big bowl of white bean pate and eat with meat, fish, salad or even shmear on bread. Yes, it's an old-fashioned, but that we used to make and eat many years ago. Nowadays, most of Jewish women  make much lighter version of this dish and enjoy only as a appetizer. Many years ago, we did not have a canned white beans, we used to make pate from raw white beans.  We soaked beans in a large bowl with cold water for overnight.  In the morning, we simmered beans for another 1  to 1 & 1/2 hours.  It was a long process, but the dish is really tasty. My mam asked me to blog about such old dish, so I did.

1 medium to large size white onion, chopped
1 tablespoon shmaltz
2 medium size potatoes, cook it in its skin
1 large carrot, cooked it in its skin (you can cook together with potatoes)
2 cups canned white beans, drained
2 eggs, hard-boiled
2-3 teaspoons lemon juice
salt, pepper to taste

Melt the schmaltz in a heavy skillet and sauté first half of the onions until just browned. Pour the onion into a mixing bowl of food processor. Add second half of onions.
Peel off potatoes and carrot.  Add potatoes, carrot, white beans, eggs, and lemon juice into mixing bowl of food processor, and puree until almost smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer pate to a bowl. Cover and refrigerate. Enjoy!

Традиционный паштет из белой фасоли.

1 большая луковица, мелко порезанная
1 столовая ложка куриного жира
2 небольших картофелины, сваренных в кожуре
1 большая морковка, сваренная в кожуре
2 чашки консервированной белой фасоли, воду отцедить
2 круто-сваренных яйца
2-3 чайных ложек лимонного сока
соль и перец по вкусу

Растопить куриный жир на горячей сковороде. Добавить половину нарезанного лука и пожарить до золотисто-коричневого цвета. Переложить лук в чашку кухонного комбайна. Добавить оставшийся лук. Очистить от кожуры картофель и морковку. Положить в чашку кухонного комбайна картофель, морковку, белую фасоль, яйца и полить лимонным соком. Включить кухонный комбайн и прокрутить до того момента, пока почти не образуется пюре. Вынуть смесь из чашки кухонного комбайна, выложить в глубокую посуду. Поперчить и посолить. Накрыть и поставить в холодильник.

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