On a business trip to Istanbul several years ago, I was introduced a Turkish culinary treat –a steaming bowl of manti, tiny dumplings, nestled in garlick-flavored yogurt and drizzled with peppery oil. I was intrigued by their diminutive size. As I was eating Manti with Garlic Yogurt Sauce and Peppery Oil, I studied each spoonful …
Fish soup, called yushka or ukha (юшка or уха), is a classic dish, popular throughout Ukraine. This Black Sea Fish Soup, called Chornomorska (Black Sea) yushka, a version prepared along Ukraine’s southern shore where saltwater fish are abundant, can be easily prepared anywhere where fresh saltwater fish are available. Yushka is one of the oldest …
Black Sea Fish Soupwith Spicy Sauce -Chornomorska Yushka with Salamur Read More »
Enough winter! It’s February, and we are spending several weeks in New Orleans, away from Chicago’s lingering cold. Here, spring is coming early. Spring fruits and vegetables and baskets of seafood—crawfish, shrimp, scallops, and finfish—are filling local markets. Eager to take a break from months of meat stew, pasta, and chili diet, I am inspired …
This Meatball Chili is my make-ahead-keep-in-reserve dinner this month. Each December, I focus on baking cookies, breads, and cakes, pickling herring, making pâtés, and curing meats for our traditional Scandinavian and Ukrainian Christmas celebrations. Other meals throughout this month are often thrown together at the last minute from leftovers and pantry ingredients. This year, I …
This Ras el Hanout Cauliflower Wedges with Mashed Chickpeas recipe is this year’s addition to my plant-forward repertoire. It illustrates how seasoning with an unusual spice blend can amplify the flavor of a common vegetable. When I was growing up in Maryland, Mama and other family cooks cooked vegetables they knew. Thus, my vegetable diet …
Ras el Hanout Cauliflower Wedges with Mashed Chickpeas Read More »
I first encountered this Poured-Crust Cabbage Pie at a picnic on the eve of Ivana Kupala, Ukraine’s midsummer celebration. Its thin crust enveloped a savory mixture of shredded young cabbage, other vegetables and spices. It was perfect picnic food: fresh, flavorful, easy to eat out of hand on a magical midsummer evening, leaving a lasting …
Poured-Crust Cabbage Pie — and How Ukrainians Celebrate Midsummer Read More »
These Carrot Oladky (morkvyani oladky – морквяні оладки in Ukrainian) are one of many dairy-based dishes eaten during Masnytsia or Syrny Tyzhden (translated as Butter Week or Cheese Week). Masnytsia is Ukrainian carnivale which takes place a week before the start of Lent, which often occurs at the end of February or in the first …
Carrot Oladky – Tender Carrot Pancakes from Ukraine Read More »
My daughter Sophia teases me whenever I choose a beet dish from a restaurant menu, saying, “So Ukrainian of you!”. But I love the sweetness and earthiness of beets, which have been a part of my diet in soups, main dishes, and salads since childhood. This Winter Beet and Dried Plum Salad with Walnut Dressing …
Winter Beet and Dried Plum Salad with Walnut Dressing Read More »
I first encountered this Korean Carrot Salad (in Ukrainian морква по-корейськи, корейський салат з моркви; also called morkovcha in transliteration from Russian) when I started to work in Ukraine over two decades ago. In those days, most fresh vegetables vanished from Ukraine’s markets by the end of October and those that remained were imported and …
It’s soup time! The autumnal equinox just passed, and days are getting shorter and cooler; the rainy season started. Slowly I am replacing the cooling meals of a record-breaking hot summer with warming dishes. Fall rain triggered reminiscences of my first mushroom-picking venture and this Romanian Mushroom Soup. One rainy fall day when I was …