Golubtsi

My sister-in-law Rachelle, asked me if I was going to make a Russian recipe in honor of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and actually, I had thought about it.  This recipe according to Natasha of Natasha's Kitchen is a classic Russian/Ukrainian dish. This morning was exciting, when I went shopping for this recipe.  I felt like a New Yorker.  I still couldn't get my van out of the ice and snow, so I took my son to preschool on the MTA bus.  Thankfully the butcher shop I have chosen to go to is just down the street from the preschool.  I came prepared, wearing a backpack for my shopping trip.  I went to the butcher and asked for the meat needed for tonight's and tomorrow's dinner.  It was fun watching the butcher prepare the meat.  He was very nice.  After I went to the butcher, I went down the street to a grocery store next to the train station and bought the other ingredients for my Russian inspired meal.  I needed to go to the train and refill my MetroCard before I could go home.  It was cold, but I loved filling my backpack and walking around town like a true New Yorker.  On we go to the recipe.  Golubtsi is basically Russian stuffed cabbage.

 It tasted really good.

 Ingredients for this recipe are: 1 small head of cabbage, 1 1/2 cups carrots, 1/2 lb. ground pork,
1/2 lb. ground turkey, 1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice, 1 1/2 cups marinara sauce ( I used homemade, recipe found here), 4 tablespoons vinegar, 2 tablespoons butter(not pictured), 4 tablespoons olive
oil (not pictured), 1 egg, and 1 1/2 tablespoons salt.

Preheat oven to 450 Fahrenheit

Fill stock pot with water 2/3 full.  Add vinegar and 1 tablespoon salt to water.   Cover with lid.
Turn on burner to medium-high.  Bring water to boil.

 Grate all the carrots.  Saute half with 2 tablespoons oil and 1 tablespoon butter over medium-low
flame until tender.

 Add 3/4 cup marinara sauce and simmer for 1 minute.

 Put rice, meat, egg, carrot marinara sauce and 1/2 tablespoon salt in bowl.

 Mix it until it looks like this.

 Water is boiling, after removing core of cabbage add to water with core facing up. 

 Boil cabbage for five minutes.  Flip over and begin peeling off each layer, with tongs I was able
to peel two layers after five minutes.  

 Remove middle vein with paring knife.

 Add a golf ball size amount of meat mixture to cabbage leaf half.

 Fold leaf over meat.

 Now roll.

 Done, repeat with the second leaf.  Once you have filled to leaves you can peel two more and
repeat same process.  Each two layers will be ready after filling the previous two leaves.

 Place filled cabbage leaves in a oven safe dutch oven or other oven safe dish with lid.  After all the filling has been used, keep the pot of water on the stove.

 Saute other half of carrots in 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter over medium
flame until tender.

 Add remaining 3/4 cup marinara sauce and simmer for 1 minute.

 Pour 1 1/2 cups cabbage water and remaining 3/4 cup marinara sauce over rolls in the dutch oven.

Bake for 20 minutes then lower temperature to 350 Fahrenheit and bake 1 additional hour.

Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Beef & Black Bean Empañadas (with a little tamale flare)

What do I mean by an empañada with a tamale flare?  I changed the recipe and included Maseka so it tastes like a tamale but has the look and portability of an empañada (as in you can pick it up and it won't crumble between your fingertips or require a fork and knife to eat).  I enjoy making and eating Mexican food.  Of course, I'm fairly certain my gringo heritage and my lack of a Mexican grandmother, as I pointed out before, means my knowledge is limited as to what authentic Mexican food is truly like. Forgive me as I share with you a recipe I came up with on my own that has a Mexican flare to it.

If an empañada and a tamale got together.

Ingredients for this recipe are: 140 grams of all purpose flour, 140 grams of Maseca flour
(total of about 2 1/4 cups), 1 egg, 1 stick frozen butter, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 cup ice water,
and 1 tablespoon vinegar (I tripled the recipe since I was bringing this to a potluck at church).

For the filling I used leftover chili.  Did you make the chili I posted about here? I drained it in a large sieve over a large bowl, I needed a less wet filling.

Preheat oven to 375 Farenheit

 Add all ingredients to a bowl.  Using your fingers break apart the butter into pea size pieces,
then use the pastry blender to finish incorporating all the butter throughout the flour.

My massive ball of empañada (with a tamale flare) dough goodness.

 Put out a large sheet of parchment paper on work surface.   Dust with flour and roll out dough
to a large rectangle about 1/8 inch thick.

 Cut dough using a 4 inch round cookie cutter.  Place 1 tablespoon of filling in the middle.
Fold over, press edges and crimp if you would like or use a fork.

 My husband kindly photographed my impressive empañada skills.

 Look at those beauties?  Brush with egg wash (1 egg yolk, and 1 tablespoon water mixed). 

Bake on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet for 10 minutes, maybe more.
 Check your food after 10.

I love how they turned out.

By the way, I had to test one before we went to our church potluck, and yes it tasted like a tamale
 but so much more portable.  I have memories of eating tamales my mom bought from a local
Mexican store and topped with canned chili.  Don't mock me, it was really good.
This is for you mom.  Thanks for the idea.

Enjoy!

Ricotta Cheese

Today I did something daring.   I bought raw milk.  I have heard about raw milk and how much better it is for cheese making.  Lately I started trying to find milk that would make better cheese and that is when I stumbled upon a co-op in NYC that specializes in bringing a lot of dairy and other farm foods to the masses safely.  This afternoon with the company of my good friend Angela, I picked up my first two gallons of raw milk.  When we got back to my apartment, I had my husband drink both the raw milk and our whole milk in a blind taste test.  He said the raw milk did taste like it had more fat, but the flavors were similar, so the jury is still out about the raw milk in our home.  My plan today was to make ricotta cheese with one of the two gallons of raw milk.  I have been reading about ricotta and what it is and how to make it.  True ricotta is made with the whey from making mozzarella cheese.  Now the mozzarella cheese process I posted about before is the American Mozzarella cheese and uses citric acid.  True Italian mozzarella is made using cultures from buttermilk and yogurt and allowed to curdle for a much longer time.  The true Italian mozzarella has a different whey than American, since an acid isn't used to curdle the milk, and so the ricotta is different.  I also read that making ricotta (Italian for twice cooked) from whey is difficult and doesn't make very much or is even successful every time.  I decided to use the vinegar method, since it has yielded the best results for most home cooks.  I used the Capone Food's Ricotta Recipe mostly, I changed it a little.

Homemade ricotta, so easy and perfect for all sorts of yummy recipes.

 

 Ingredients for this recipe are: 1 gallon raw milk or whole milk, 1 pint Half & Half if using raw 

milk or 1 pint heavy cream if using whole milk, 1 tablespoon salt, 1/2 cup vinegar.

 Heat milk and salt in non-reactive stock pot on medium heat until it reaches 185 Fahrenheit.
Stir milk to prevent scalding continuously.

 

Add vinegar.  Stir for 15 seconds.  Cook for additional 2 minutes and remove from heat.

Pour curds into cheesecloth lined mesh sieve placed in larger bowl.  Allow to drain in refrigerator
for 2 hours or overnight if possible.

This is not true Ricotta, but it is so much easier to make and has a similar texture and flavor.

This Ricotta will keep for two weeks in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!