Tag: Ethnic Food

First Snow and Crespelle in Brodo

Early January and the first real snowstorm of the season has finally arrived! From my study window I watch as the world softly becomes enveloped under a peaceful white blanket of powdery snow. A lovely day to hunker down with a good book and a pot of chicken soup simmering slowly on the stove.

One of our favorite series is PBS Kitchen Vignettes; that features short whimsical cooking videos by Aube Giroux, food writer, organic gardener, home cook and film maker. We have enjoyed making several featured recipes including a delicious Blueberry Lime Layer Cake. She has won multiple James Beard Awards for Best Video Webcast (On Location). In 2012, she was the recipient of Saveur Magazine’s Best Food Blog award in the video category.

We have watched the Kitchen Vignette video, Crespelle in Brodo (Crepes in Broth) many times. Crepes are filled with freshly grated parmesan cheese and placed in rich chicken broth; sprinkled with parsley and more parmesan, they looked enticing! I decided to try my hand at making Crespelle in Brodo. I had bought a small crepe pan a few years ago and it was still hanging on my pot rack with the original packaging.

First, set a pot of home made chicken stock on the stove. This is well worth the effort; the resulting broth is delicious and there will plenty leftover to freeze for another time! I added extra carrots to the stock pot and one large potato. When I strained the soup, I reserved the carrot and potato and pureed it with about 6 cups of the soup. This thickened the soup slightly and added a lovely rich flavor and golden/orange color.

Making the crepes was surprisingly easy. I tinkered with the recipe from Kitchen Vignettes, but also checked out Deb Perlman’s method on her excellent blog, Smitten Kitchen. For my version of crepes, I substituted whole wheat pastry flour for half of the required flour. This gave the crepes a nutty flavor and also made them more wholesome and I used whole milk in my version. I also recommend using a crepe pan. I lightly oiled the pan and the crepes cooked quickly and beautifully. As they are finished , you can stack them together on a plate and they will not stick together! They also reheat nicely.

I am happy to report that Crespelle in Brodo was absolutely delicious, the soup rich, so full of flavor and the crepes! While easy to prepare, eating this made us feel that we were in an upscale Italian restaurant. We were curious that crepes or crespelle were Italian; a quick bit of research and we discovered that the dish comes from the Abruzzi section of Italy. This is where my husband’s family is originally from!

“Crespelle in Brodo”- based on a recipe from PBS Kitchen Vignettes

  • For the Crepes:
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup cold water
  • About ¼ cup grapeseed or sunflower oil
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • About 3 to 4 cups freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano cheese
  • Fresh chopped parsley for garnish

Instructions

  • For the Soup:
  • 1 whole small chicken
  • Enough water to cover the chicken
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2-3 celery stalks, chopped
  • 1 large potato, peeled
  • 2 large carrots, cut into large pieces
  • 2 teaspoons dried thyme
  • 1 teaspoon dried dill
  • 2 bay leaves
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 unbleached white flour
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1 cup cold whole milk
  • About 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • About 3 to 4 cups freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano cheese
  • Fresh chopped parsley for garnish
  1. In a large heavy-bottomed stock pot, sauté the chopped onion, celery over medium heat until translucent and fragrant. Add the whole chicken and add water to cover. Bring to a boil and then simmer, covered, for at least 3 hours. About an hour in, as the chicken cooks, take out some of the breast meat to save for serving the soup.
  2. After about 3 hours of simmering, strain everything out of the broth. Reserve the chicken meat for other recipes and use the bones to make a bone broth. Remove bay leaves, onions and celery, but save carrots and potatoes. Using a fat separater, remove fat and pour about 5-6 cups of broth strained broth back into the pot. Use or freeze remaining broth for other recipes. Use an immersion or stand blender to purée carrots and potatoes into the broth, which will thicken it slightly. Add salt and pepper to taste. Keep broth warm on low heat until the crepes are ready.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the salt and flour. Make a well into the center of the flour and crack all 3 eggs. Whisk together well and gradually add the milk, a little at a time, whisking well to avoid lumps. After all the milk has been added, if the batter is lumpy, you can run it through a fine-meshed sieve to get rid of any lumps.
  4. Grease up a heavy skillet or a small crepe pan, using about 1 tsp oil per crepe. Make the crepes using about 1/4 cup of batter per crepe. Swirl the batter around, cook for about 30 to 60 seconds on each side or until golden and bubbly. If the batter is too thick, add a little more water, a couple tablespoonfuls at a time. Stack the crepes on a large plate. They will miraculousy not stick together.
  5. Sprinkle a generous handful of grated cheese on each crepe and roll it up into a cigar shape. (Divide the cheese evenly among the crepes but save some for garnish). Place the rolled crepes seam down into a large serving bowl. Serve two to three crepes per person and ladle a generous scoop or two of broth on top of the crepes. I also added some of the reserved chicken breast chopped, to the soup. Garnish with a little cheese and chopped parsley. ENJOY!

STAY SAFE AND WARM!!

An Update: Leftover crepes also made an excellent breakfast. We first discovered these fruit, yogurt, granola and maple syrup crepes at the Starving Artist Cafe & Creperie in Lee, Massachusetts!

Ukrainian/Russian Roots

From: The Dansker Family Memories by my grandfather Sam Dansker

It is always terrible and disturbing to hear news about war torn countries. Learning about the horrific invasion of Ukraine brought up intense feelings of outrage and disbelief. I realized that this was especially difficult because these are my roots. This morning I received an email with an urgent update from the the World Union for Progressive Judaism from a rabbi that is presently in Kyiv.

My father’s family is from Russia; I have heard stories my whole life and this is what I know: the family was very poor, my grandfather had 9 siblings; they all made it to America except one child who died at the age of 3. They were devout orthodox Jews and were constantly under the threat of attack by Russian Cossacks, they were able to leave in 1914.

From The Dansker Family Memories

This week, I reread a memoir that a cousin helped my grandfather Sam put together in the 1980’s and this is what I have discovered: I knew that both of grandparents were born in Russia, but I never knew from what part of the country. Grandpa Sam was born in a small town in Ukraine called Bazalya, not far from Kyiv. I learned that in the 1900’s, Volhynia Province in Ukraine was part of the former Russian Empire that included Lithuanina and Poland. I learned that my great grandfather played the fiddle and that in addition to Russian, they spoke Yiddish. Between 1910 and 1914 all Jews were expelled from their villages; my grandfather was 13 at the time. They were lucky to have family in St Louis and passage was bought for their harrowing trip to America.

Cleaning out my vegetable bin, I was trying to decide what to toss out and place in our compost bin. In the back of the vegetable drawer was a sad bag of red beets with the greens rotted and an old ignored head of cabbage with the core starting to mold. I thought about our family before they left Russia and how food insecure they were; I didn’t want to waste any food. It was easy to wash away the old leaves and I decided a hearty Ukrainian Borscht would be the thing to cook!

It was interesting to me that this week the NYT Cooking Column said they were getting a lot of requests for Borsht recipes. Sam Sifton said in his article: “The letters are a reminder that cooking is a cultural act: a way to feel connected, to support, to acknowledge the world and perhaps to understand it better.” NYT Cooking

I listened to Bach Cantatas as I chopped up the vegetables; making the soup was deeply soothing and seemed to be best way to channel my thoughts and prayers for the Ukrainian people.

Ukranian Borscht

Ingredients:

1 stalk celery chopped

1 medium onion chopped

3 or 4 red beets- peeled and cut into small cubes. The beets are easier to peel if you cook them in a pot of water for about 20 minutes. Save the liquid they were cooked in and use in the soup pot. Make sure to wear an apron, this is a messy job!!

3 garlic cloves peeled and finely chopped

2 red potatoes cut into small pieces

1/2 head cabbage cut into thin slices

2 carrots peeled and cut into small pieces

2 bay leaves

Serve with chopped fresh dill and sour cream

1/2 small can diced tomato

honey to taste

1-2 tablespoons white vinegar to taste

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Serve with chopped fresh dill and sour cream– I used plain yogurt.

To Make Borscht:

Heat a large soup pot and add olive oil. Saute onions until soft, add garlic and cook briefly.

Add all other vegetables and other ingredients.

Cover ingredients with water, chicken or beef stock (use enough water or stock to come up almost to the top of the pot.)

Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cover pot and cook for about 2 hours.

Adjust seasonings.- add more vinegar or honey to taste. The soup is best if it sits for a day before eating to let the flavors meld together.

Serve with plenty of chopped fresh dill and a big dollop of yogurt or sour cream.

The soup is wonderful with fresh buttered rye bread!

ENJOY!!

My grandma Bella made a strudel that I have never seen elsewhere in Europe; Austria, Germany, Hungary or the Czech Republic. The pastry was not flaky, but more like a pliable soft dough that would be used for Rugelach. The dough was rolled out thin and I remember that it was filled with chopped dried fruit, raisins, walnuts and it was dusted with cinnamon sugar. I regret that I never made strudel with her. I went on a google search and found a Russian style mixed/dried fruit strudel. It sounds very similar and this will be my next baking experiment. Stay tuned!!

AND, as always, here is the “Tree of the Week”! I imagine that the caption is being read by a strong Ukrainian woman!

“Don’t Even Think of It!!”

Stay Safe and Warm!!