UKRAINIAN BORSCHT (Beet Soup)

Now before you turn your nose up----just give it a try! It's a wonderful Ukrainian recipe that my mother used to make.   
 I love the flavor of the tartness and also the creaminess that the sour cream adds.

Ingredients:

Instead of beef or pork, I just use beef and chicken broth
(3 - 32 oz. beef or chicken broth)
Beets, a bunch (usually 3 to 4),  peeled, pared and cut into chunks
Don't forget the chopped green leaves, too
1 large onion, chopped
10 baby carrots, chopped
2 tbsp. minced garlic in jar
Optional-  I use 1 zucchini, chopped celery, 1 small can of mushrooms)

Sour cream
Salt
Black ground coarse pepper

The pictures that I have here are of the meatless version.

IF YOU USE BEEF----
In a 6 to 8 quart stock pot, place the beef and add enough oil to coat the pan. Begin to brown the meat and continue to add a little water at a time so the meat doesn't burn or stick. This do for about 30 minutes and keep a close eye on it. Now add the water to this along with the about two teaspoons of salt and bring to a boil. Then turn down the heat to medium and cover and let simmer for another 30 minutes.

Add all the vegetables, stir and cover again and let cook for AT LEAST an hour. At this time, add the amount of black pepper you like and taste and see if more salt is needed.    Taste it and see if more salt or pepper  (sometime I use Garlic salt instead). is needed or desired. Cover, and let simmer for one more hour so all the flavors can come together.

 

REMEMBER…the key to soup making  is cooking slow and long.
Now the finishing touches before serving. Take the sour cream and add slowly to the soup, stirring and mixing it up so there are no clumps. Let it melt into the broth.   You can wait and just add the sour cream to each bowl individually. 

I guarantee you've never tasted anything quite like this. Serve with warm French bread or some crusty or chewy bread and butter. Mom would've had dark rye with caraway seeds with it.

TRADITIONAL EASTER PASKA (BREAD)

Grandma Markiw’s Recipe

Ingredients:

1 tsp. sugar
8 – 12 eggs (beaten)
1 cup lukewarm water
5 cups all-purpose flour (more added later)
1/2 cup melted margarine
1/3 cup sugar
3 pkgs. dry yeast
3 cups scalded milk (put aside until lukewarm)
1 Tbsp. salt
8-9 cups all purpose flour

Dissolve sugar in lukewarm water and sprinkle yeast over it. Let stand 10 minutes. Combine softened yeast with lukewarm
 milk and 5 cups flour. Beat until smooth. 

Cover and let rise in warm place until light and bubbly.

Add beaten eggs, sugar, melted margarine and salt and mix thoroughly. Stir in enough flour to make neither too soft nor too  stiff. 

Knead until it doesn't stick to hand. Turn on floured board and knead until smooth and satiny. 

Place in greased bowl, 

 
cover and let rise in warm place until double (at least 2 hrs.) 

Punch down and let rise again. Makes 4 or 5 small round paskas.

(I made one large one with a cross, two smaller round ones, two braided loaves and 2 large nut rolls out of the paska dough out of this particular batch.)

Let rise in pans until almost double. (Don't over raise).  Brush with beaten egg with a little water. Bake 400 degrees - 15 minutes.
Then lower to 350 degrees for about 40 minutes or until nicely brown.

Decorate tops with cross or braids.

NUT ROLLS AKA KOLACHI

Ingredients:

2 dry yeast (in 1/2 c. very warm water) and set aside

1 c. butter (softened or melted)
1 1/2 c. sugar
6 eggs (beaten)
2 c. whole milk
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. salt
9-10 c. flour  (more to add during the kneading)

     Heat milk until very warm. Set aside. Beat eggs well and add slowly to the sugar and butter mixture.  Add softened yeast and mix slowly.  Add flour mixture and milk and vanilla slowly. Knead total mixture for approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Raise for about 1 1/2 hours until dough is doubled.

Make 8 to 10 dough balls. Roll out individually and spread with nut mixture and/or apricot  or poppyseed. Roll each one roll and bake. Prick tops with a fork and sprinkle sugar.

Filling:

1 1/2# chopped walnuts2 tbsp. honey 
2 sticks melted butter
 2 tsp. cinnamon
 2 tsp. vanilla
 1/2 c. brown sugar 
1/2 c. white sugar
 1/4 c. evaporated milk 

(Put nuts in food processor until very fine and add all ingredients a little at a time and mix well).

                                   

                                   

    Cover bowl and let rise 1 hour. 

Cut in 6 portions. Roll out on lightly floured board, 

spread filling lightly and roll. 

Put on greased cookie sheet or use parchment paper

 

prick with fork and brush with milk and sprinkle sugar.

Bake 350 degrees - 40 minutes.

Full of nutty filling

 You can use poppy seed, apricot or any filling.

 

PYROHIS (Varenyky) - Ukrainian Cuisine

(Potato, Onion and Cheese-filled Dumplings)
10 to 12 medium potatoes (peeled and cubed)
½ pound grated medium or colby cheddar cheese
4 medium onions ( chopped)
1# margarine or butter (I prefer butter)
Garlic salt and coarse black pepper
Dough ingredients:
5 - 7 cups all purpose flour
2 eggs
Salt
water (as needed)

 

Cook  potatoes as you would for mashed potatoes until tender and then drain and keep in the pot. 

At the same time the potatoes are cooking, sauté  the onions and the entire pound of margarine. When the onions are done, using a slotted spoon, scoop out about 3/4 of the onions and put into the pot of potatoes. You will be saving almost all the margarine for the end of the recipe with a little bit of the onions. Also,  add the shredded cheddar cheese to the potatoes. Mix the potato mixture until as smooth as possible. It will be a little lumpy with the onions in it. Add garlic salt and pepper according to  your own taste and mix until done.

Set aside to cool while you work on the dough. 

Put 6 cups of flour  in a large bowl and make a well in the middle. In the well, put in one tsp. salt, both eggs ( already slightly beaten), and about one cup of water. Mix well with a strong wooden spoon and add water or flour as needed until the dough is formed.  Add water or flour as needed. When it's almost ready,  it will no longer stick to the sides of the bowl. Place the dough on a well-floured surface and knead it until it is smooth and shiny. Continue adding flour to the board so it doesn’t stick. Set aside, cover  and let the dough rest.
 

Fill a large 6 -8 quart pot with water, add a tsp. of salt, and bring the water to rolling boil.
 

The process of the making the pyrohis is easy but it is a long one. Extra hands wouldn’t hurt to help in the pinching process.
 

On one side of your table, place a clean sheet folded to fit your space and flour the sheet very well. It will be the place you will set your pyrohis  until you boil them. If your surface is not floured, they will stick and fall apart in the boiling process. 

Cut off about 1/3 of the dough and roll with a rolling pin until thin (not too thin). Cut circles with a round biscuit cutter or a glass. Keep hands floured so the dough doesn't stick.   Stretch each little round of dough a little at a  time until there is enough space to put the potato mixture in. With a  heaping teaspoon, fill the center of the dough with the potato mixture and fold the dough over and pinch the edges tight with floured fingers to form a crescent. 

Put the completed pyrohi on your well-floured sheet and continue the process until all your pyrohi are done. If the water is boiling too much, turn down until you are ready to boil them.
 

Now the actual cooking starts. Put about a dozen of the pyrohi in the boiling water and stir once easily to loosen them. Now let them boil until they float to the top of the pot and let them boil for another minute or so. 

Remove them one at a time with a large slotted spoon and put them into a colander to drain. Use a large cake pan or a roaster pan and drizzle the bottom with the extra onion margarine. 

Place the drained pyrohi in the pan and cover them with a little margarine and onion mixture and shake the pan back and forth to keep the pyrohis from sticking to each other. Repeat the process until all the pyrohi are done. Keep the large pan or roaster in the oven only on warm and cover them with foil or lid to keep them from drying out until they are served.

 

If there’s any dough remaining, roll  it out thin on the floured surface and cut into strips, boil, drain and use for buttered noodles or holushki  (Sautéed cabbage and noodles.)

 HERE'S THE FINISHED PRODUCT.  ABOUT 100 PIROHIS READY TO BE DEVOURED.

They taste great with sour cream or French onion dip on top.   You may also save leftovers  (if you have any) and fry them crispy on both sides.   Dobree (good)!