A history from the traditional to the treif.

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Cheese Kreplach

Today I'm blogging about very familiar recipe such as cheese kreplach. It reminds me my childhood in Zhitomir. We used to eat a lot of kreplach calling them "vareniki".
Enjoy the recipe ! Happy Holiday!

Peas and cheese salad

Peas and cheese salad
6 portions.

I adopted this recipe from one of Betty crocker cooking books. I did some minor changes for the recipe.

Dressing: 1/3 cup mayonnaise, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon mustard, 1/4 teaspoon sugar, 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Mix all dressing ingridients together in large bowl.

1 package (10 ounces) frozen green peas, thawed and drained, 1 medium stalk celery, thinly sliced, 3 sweet pickles, chopped, 2 tablespoons finely chopped red opinon, 2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped. Add all salad ingridients to dressing.

Thinly shred 3/4 cup white american cheese and pour over the salad. Cover and regrigerate about 1 hour or until chilled. Serve on lettuce leaves if desired.

Салат из зеленого горошка и сыра.

На 6 порций.

Приготовить соус: 1/3 чашки майонеза, 1/2 чайной ложки соли, 1/2 чайной ложки горичицы, 1/4 чайной ложки сахара, 1/8 чайной ложки молотого перца. Все перемешать и вылить в салатницу.

1 пакет замороженного зеленого горошка (270 грамм), разморозить и отцедить жидкость, 1 средних размеров росток сельдерея, мелко нарезать, 2 столовых ложки мелко нарезанного красного лука, 3 мелко нарезанных маринованных огурца, 2 мелко нарезанных сваренных вкрутую яйца. Все перемешать и пересыпать в салатницу с соусом. все хорошо перемешать.

Мелко натереть 3/4 чашки мягкого сыра. Посыпать салат. Поставить в холодильник на 1 час. Подавать на листьях зеленого салата.

Obama Foodorama

Today I decided to introduce a nice and quite challenging culinary blog. It's not about everyday food, it's not about new cuisine or organic
ingredients. It's about our President food and food initiatives. Here is Obama Foodorama
One thing I should tell you first, it's quite unique, I even would say, it's very unique, because author has an access to White House.
In one blog you can get events, speeches, recipes, menus, which was made for President. The author is very republican Eddie Gehman Kohan.
Personally I enjoyed every byte of the blog. I hope you will do the same thing.

Picture from Obama Foodorama blog.

Jicama and dry cranberries salad

Jicama and dry cranberries salad
Serves 2.

2 cups fresh greens; 1/2 large jicama, peeled, then julienned or cubed; 1/2 cup dry cranberries, 1/4 cup walnuts.

Dressing: 2 teaspoons of honey, 1 teaspoon mustard, 1 teaspoon apple vinegar, 3 tablespoons olive oil. Salt and pepper by taste. Mix all ingridients together.


Toss together the jicama, greens, cranberries, and walnuts. Pour dressing over and mix well again. Let sit a half an hour before serving.

If you don't know anything about jicama, please read Wikipedia


Салат из сушеной клюквы и хикамы.


на 2 порции


2 чашки листьев зеленого салата, половина большой хикамы, очищенной и нарезанной на мелкие и тонкие кусочки, 1/2 чашки сушеной клюквы, 1/4 чашки мелко нарезанных грецких орех.


Соус: 2 чайных ложки меда, 1 чайная ложка горчицы, 1 чайноая ложка яблочного уксуса, 3 столовых ложки оливкового масла. Соль и перец по вкусу. Перемешать все составляющие.


Перемешать вместе хикаму, листья салата, клюкву и орехи. Полить соусом и хорошо перемешать. Дать постоять полчаса перед подачей.

Ricotta mini cakes

Ricotta mini cakes


36 cookies


2 & 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) butter, softened, 1 cup sugar, 1 egg, 1 cup ricotta cheese

Glaze: 2 cups confectioner's sugar, 3 tablespoons milk.

Heat oven to 350F. Coat 2 baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray.

Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together; set aside. Beat butter and sugar together, add egg and ricotta cheese. beat well until combined. Add flour mixture. Mix everything together.

Drop by tablespoon onto prepared pans. Bake at 350F for 14 minutes, or until lightly browned around edges. let cool on sheets for 3 minutes, than remove from the rack to cool completely.

Beat confectioner's sugar and milk together until well blended. Dip tops of cookiеs into glaze and set aside until glaze has hardened.


Пряники из итальянского творогa Ricotta

36 маленьких пряников.

2 & 1/4 чашки муки, 1 чайная ложка разрыхлителя, 1/2 чайной ложки соды, 1/4 чайной ложки соли, 1/2 чашки мягкого сливочного масла, 1 чашка сахара, 1 яйцо, 1 чашка итальянского творога Ricotta.

Перемешать муку, разрыхлитeль, соду и соль. В отдельной посуде взбить масло с сахаром. Добавить яйцо и творог. Постепенно всыпать мучную смесь. Замесить липкое тесто.

Нагреть духовку до 350Ф. Приготовить 2 дечки. Сформировать шарики из теста и выложить на деко. Печь 14 минут. Вынуть и остудить.

Приготовить помадку. 2 чашки сахарной пудры и 3 столовых ложки молока. Перемешать. Полить помадкой каждый пряник.


Recipe from "Family circle"

The best hamentashen...

You will use this recipe over and over again. Please try and enjoy!

this is a great recipe which gives an irresistable cookie dough in the raw state!
try not to eat it all up before you make your hamantaschen :)) the only thing to remember about this dough is that it will be very soft once you finish making it. it requires FULL CHILLING (overnight or at least 8 hrs) but is instantly ready to roll out from the fridge. i suggest rolling half and keeping the remainder in the fridge until needed. make sure to use a well floured surface and to flour (and keep flouring) the top of the dough well as you roll it out.

ingredients:

1/2 c margarine
1 c sugar
1 egg
2 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
2 tbsp orange juice
1 tsp vanilla extract or pkg vanilla sugar


in a separate bowl, blend the dry ingredients together and set aside.In another bowl, cream butter with sugar for several minutes until light. Add egg, orange juice and blend well. Add the flour mixture and blend until you get a dough. Cover and chill overnight until ready to bake.
this cookie dough bakes at 375F for approx. 12-15 min. depending on the pastry size. adjust accordingly.

Spiced Apple Cake

12-16 generous portions

2 tablespoons (30 g) butter, salted or unsalted, 4 tart, firm medium-size baking apples, peeled, cored and cut into 3/4-inch (2 cm) cubes, 2 tablespoons (30 g) sugar
12 tablespoons (6 ounces, 170g) unsalted butter, at room temperature, 1 3/4 cups (350 g) sugar, 4 large eggs, at room temperature, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 3 cups (420 g) flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon freshly-grated nutmeg, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves, 1 cup (240 g) buttermilk

1. Melt the 2 tablespoons (30 g) of butter in a large skillet and sauté the apples over medium-high heat until the turn golden brown, stirring them as little as possible as they cook.
2. Once cooked through, add the 2 tablespoons (30 g) of sugar and cook until the apples cubes are nicely glazed. (Maria mentioned to cook them until all the liquid had evaporated, but mine had no liquid. So it depends on your apples.) Transfer apples to a plate and cool to room temperature.
3. Preheat the oven to 350F (180C) and butter and flour a 12-cup (3l) bundt pan, tapping out any excess flour.
4. In a stand mixer, or by hand, beat the 12 tablespoons (170 g) of butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla, stopping the mixer between additions to scrape the batter down on the sides, as necessary.
5. In a small bowl, toss the dates, if using, with about a tablespoon of the flour to separate them.
6. In a medium bowl, sift together the remaining flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
7. Stir half of the dry ingredients into the creamed butter mixture, then mix in the buttermilk or yogurt. Then stir in the remaining dry ingredients until just almost mixed in completely, but do not overmix. Visible wisps of flour are normal.
8. Fold in the cooked apples, and dates (if using). Scrape the batter into the prepare bundt pan and bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
9. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn the cake out onto a cooling rack. Once cool, dust with powdered sugar, or glaze, if you wish.

Recipe from David Lebovitz and "The Vineyard Kitchen" by Maria Helm Sinskey