barry has one word for you: EMPANADAS!!!!!!!!!

say it with me now: "EMPANADAS!" this is not a food that comes out quiet and demure, waiting to be noticed. this is a party food, ready for a fiesta (or a fight), and ready to take centre stage at your next shindig.

one of my buds, carolina, took the time last weekend to show me how to make this south american treat. as it is with most food items, empanadas vary from region to region, so she showed me a popular choice from her home town of buenos aires. as you can imagine, there was a lot of beef, a lot of spice, and a lot of delicioso argentinian wine (which we thought would be way better to drink on the side then cook into the meat).

your first step is to caramelize an onion in olive oil. your onion to meat ratio should be 2:1, so remember: LOTS of onion.

once it begins to caramelize, add half each of a green and red pepper, finely diced.

keep stirring.....

when it starts to brown, add salt to draw out the moisture.

next add the beef. lean beef is fine, but don't do extra lean - you want the flavour! we did about a 1/2 kilo.

stir it to break up the meat, but then stop stirring - you don't want to toughen the beef.

once browned, it's time to season it. we did this all to taste, but you're going to add oregano, a bit of paprika, a bit more cumin, a lot of pepper and salt, and garlic salt. at this point, you can also add diced black olive and boiled egg, but we didn't.

cool off the meat outside or in the fridge until you can handle it. for exceptional tasting filling, leave it overnight to mellow.

take your empanada shell (we found ours at the italian centre) and wet the outside edges with some water. fill with about 1 tablespoon of filling (not TOO much or they'll explode).

pinch the edges closed starting from the corners, and working towards the middle. REALLY make sure that it's closed.

using two fingers, fold the edges over each other to "braid" them.

brush with an egg yolk (or two).

bake at 350F for ~45 minutes. this made 24 EMPANADAS! with some filling left over.

barry bakes beer bread.

and clearly loves alliteration.

so, i bought another plane ticket. this means three things to you. 1 - for about a month this summer you will not hear from me (i know, you're absolutely devasted). 2 - when you do hear from me again, i will be sharing stories of wild sangria concoctions, pretzels that melt in your mouth and hot chocolate thicker than pudding. pudding! and finally, 3 - currently, i am poor.


it's this third point that led me to my latest recipe trial. see, without money i can't go out to restaurants OR grocery stores, and so must make do with what's in my cupboards.

i'm going to be honest - it's pretty limited.

enter judy schultz and her AMAZING recipe for cheddar beer bread. i had beer (German white beer), i had cheese, and yes, i had flour. the result was a redonkulously easy recipe, and a moist and super tasty bread. highly recommend trying this guys - the hardest part is trying not to drink the beer first.

judy schultz's cheddar beer bread

1 3/4 c. flour

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp sugar

(i added a pinch of chipolte chili powder)

1 medium onion minced and browned in 2 tbsp. butter

1 c. cheddar cheese grated

1. mix above ingredients. make a well in the middle.

355 ml. beer (any kind, but darker has more flavour) at room temperature

2. pour beer into the well, and mix until JUST combined.

3. spoon into a well greased loaf pan. top with an additional 3/4 c. grated cheddar.

4. bake in pre-heated oven at 350f for 45 - 50 minutes.

5. cool 10 minutes on wire rack. serve hot.

barry thinks you should make this dessert. now.

strawberries are on sale, it's +30 degrees out today, and who doesn't love a dash of tequila in their lives?

i made this quick, delightful dessert last weekend for sunday dinner, and had rave reviews for it. it also helped that the hardest thing to do was slice the strawberries (i'm feeling particularly lazy of late if you haven't noticed with the lack of writing). go pick up some strawberries, an angel food cake, whipping cream, a lemon and some white chocolate. slice up the strawberries, splash them with some tequila that i'm assuming you have on hand, and set aside. now whip up the cream with an electric mixer (or whatever) and fold into it some lemon zest and chopped up white chocolate. oh yes, i know. now just pile high all ingredients on each plate and enjoy the decadence.

scrumptulescent.

barry's bud learns a thing or two about salt.

eww.

and now we bring you the another installment of "barry's buds" – a guest column of barry’s many comrades who share a love of all things food-related. this week one of barry’s buds tries out a new recipe and ends up with a salt lick.

do you have a delicious recipe idea? if you do and you’re celebrity chef art smith, you’d preserve it for future generations by burying it in salt. delicious, mouth-watering salt…

i’ve heard of art smith before – his famous 'table 52' restaurant in chicago, and his numerous appearances on oprah (he was her personal chef apparently). i tried one of his dessert recipes a few weeks ago (a nifty thing called hummingbird cake) which turned out well, so i thought i’d attempt to make one of his provocative main courses: crushed pistachio chicken with spicy coconut curry ginger sauce.

this also was the most extravagant recipe (more than just one stop at a grocery store) that i've attempted, which was obtained from oprah’s website: http://www.oprah.com/recipe/food/recipespoultry/food_20071002_chicken.

crushed pistachio chicken with spicy coconut curry ginger sauce – by art smith

chicken ingredients

4 brined (no! i'll explain later...) boneless chicken breasts
1 quart buttermilk
1 pound salted pistachios, shelled and toasted
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh thyme
1/3 cup chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 cups all-purpose flour
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste (again, no!)
grape seed oil to taste

sauce ingredients

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 shallots, minced
2 blades lemon grass, chopped
3 pieces (1/2-inch) fresh ginger, thinly sliced
1 cup sweet white wine
2 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons thai red curry paste
2 tablespoons chinese black bean chili sauce
1 can (8 ounces) coconut milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened and cut into pieces
salt (no! damn-it!) and freshly ground black pepper to taste

brine ingredients (don’t do this!)

1 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup sugar
5 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon black peppercorns

the poison (aka: brine)

place the salt, sugar, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns and 2 cups cold water into a saucepan over medium-high heat. stir constantly until the sugar and salt dissolve. remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.

when brining chicken use a non-reactive pot or plastic container. completely submerge the poultry in cold water and weigh it down with a plate. add the brine and cover. let the chicken sit in the brine for at least two hours, preferably overnight (to prolong your lifespan by 10 years, skip this process entirely).

the chicken

remove the chicken from the brine and cut in half. with a meat mallet, pound until 1/4-inch thick and place in a non-reactive bowl. pour the buttermilk over the chicken, cover, and let sit for at least 1 hour in the refrigerator.

in a food processor, place half of the pistachios, half of the parmesan cheese, and half of the herbs. pulse 5 or 6 times until the mixture is finely chopped. transfer to a bowl. repeat this step with the rest of the pistachios and combine with the other pistachio mixture.

preheat the oven to 250°F.

place the flour in another bowl and season it with salt (no!!) and pepper. remove the chicken from the refrigerator and prepare it for assembly. pre-heat a large nonstick sauté pan over medium-low heat with a thin coating of grape seed oil. remove one breast, shake off any excess buttermilk and dust the breast with flour on each side. dip only one side of the chicken back in the buttermilk and press pistachios onto that side. repeat that step with all the chicken. place the chicken in the sauté pan, pistachio side down, and cook for 2–3 minutes. turn and cook the other side for 2 to 3 minutes. place in the oven to finish cooking for 8 to 10 minutes. remove, let rest for 5 minutes and then slice to serve with the coconut chili ginger sauce.

the sauce

in a saucepan over medium-high heat, add the tablespoon of butter, the shallots, lemon grass, ginger slices and wine. reduce to half. add the broth, red curry paste and chinese black bean chili sauce and reduce to half again. add the coconut milk and reduce to half a third time. remove from the heat and whisk the bits of butter into the sauce until all the butter has been incorporated. season with salt (wtf?!) and pepper.

if you re-heat, do not allow the sauce to boil or the butter will separate.

the review

the starter:

my guest brought a spinach, blackberry, and tear-drop tomato salad with a delicious maple vinaigrette bought from the strathcona farmers market. it was an excellent starter – light and slightly sweet with just the right amount of tartness from the berries.


the entrée:

this was the saltiest meal i have ever tasted (editor's note: that's what she said), and i once ate a big heaping bowl of salt! well, maybe just a tablespoon, and i was six years old... but trust your instincts when trying a new recipe – it would have been saltier, as art smith calls for salt to be added in the battering flour and curry sauce - which i didn’t do thankfully. still, the brined chicken was so salty, my vision started to fade, and i swear i could see through time and space to see art smith laughing menacingly at my hallucinogenic sodium trip.

i later found out that he’s a good ‘ol southern boy, so that might explain the salt fetish. luckily, i had two fresh chicken breasts left in the fridge, so i battered them, pressed them in the pistachio mix, seared, and baked – it was so much better (the salt from the pistachios should be enough to please anyone). the brine-less second try was tender and juicy (and as opposed to the hard fibrous salt slab on the first attempt – chicken flavored), allowing us to appreciate the pleasing texture and taste of the seasoned pistachios, and the deliciously creamy and sophisticated sauce.


you like-a da sauce? the sauce is good? i'll get-a you more sauce...

this is a good 1 - 1½ hour sauce, because after adding each group of ingredients, you need to reduce to half every time. worth the effort. imagine the best butter chicken curry sauce you ever had, then add ginger with some rich coconut goodness, and two small rocks of crack.


the dessert: avocado pie

a complicated main dish calls for a simple dessert. i found this anonymous recipe for avocado pie by accident on the internet. it is the best chilled pie i ever made/tasted.

2 avocados
1/3 cup lime juice
1 regular can of condensed milk
1 pie crust (graham cracker crumb)
1 1/2 lbs. salt (just kidding)

mix avocado pulp, lime juice, and condensed milk in a bowl until it resembles a green and slightly lumpy pancake batter, and pour into a graham cracker crumb pie crust (i bought a pre-made one). chill for half a day or overnight. outstanding!

barry lets you in on a little secret (update).

i’ve heard a lot of shocked gasps from friends after my last post (barry lets you in on a little secret) and even some commentary of bus trips to vegreville (enjoy your trip down ukrainian lane, ruby) mixed in with disbelief of how little my monthly grocery bill is. to prove to you that this isn’t some hunger-induced dream, i’ve photographed my whole bill for you nonbelievers to show you the truth of these ridiculously low prices; it’s not just no-name or president’s choice products covered either, robin hood baking goods, duncan hines, bick’s, dole and beatrice are some of the other brands included in this crazy scheme.

finally, here’s a recipe for you to show you just how cheap cooking at home can be.

lemon-rosemary roasted chicken.

1 fryer chicken (not on my bill because no frills ran out. luckily my uncle bought four of them and i bought one off him (full-price) for $3.78.)
1 lemon (i bought 3 lemons for $1.00)
fresh sprig of rosemary (i had this on hand)
1 onion, quartered (90 cents)
salt, pepper and oil.

1. wash chicken inside and out. pat dry and put in a roasting pan.

2. cut up lemon and stuff into chicken as much as you like. add rosemary sprig and onion as well.

3. rub top skin of chicken with mazola oil, then salt and pepper.

4. roast chicken in oven at 350F until done. juices should run clear, and skin should be crispy.

this dish cost me $5.01. if i had steamed a package of broccoli and seasoned it, and then roasted my yam with seasoning and oil, my dinner would have come to $7.20 and served 4 people. i could have prepared my duncan hines devil’s food cake mix and had dessert for 4 for 99 cents. yes, i’m well aware of how much you hate me right now.

barry’s done with the pink!...well, after this post anyways.

last time you’ll hear from me this week…promise. today i’m posting two more recipes in the note of pink: an easy but super fun entrée and a really inexpensive way to tjuzs up chocolate cake mix.

the first recipe was made for a potato-themed food fest this past summer; from the surreal gourmet, they’re meatloaf cupcakes with pink “frosting”. they were a big hit with my friends who are kids at heart, and with my niece and nephew, who are just plain kids. this recipe is really easy, and great if you want to make an activity of it: have your guest(s) frost their own cupcake.

meatloaf cupcakes.
(from the surreal gourmet)

2 cups stale bread, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (500 ml)

2 cups milk, divided (500 ml)

3 tbsp olive oil, divided (45 ml)

1/2 onion, diced

2 lb. ground chuck (hamburger) (913 grams)

1 egg

1 tbsp fresh thyme, stems removed (15 ml)

1 1/2 cups cups italian parsley, stems removed, diced, divided (375 ml) (i didn’t use this, but substituted a bit more thyme instead.)

1/2 tsp salt (2 ml)

1/4 tsp pepper (1 ml)

1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (1 ml)

1/4 cup ketchup (60 ml)

4 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces (i used butter and herb instant potato mix instead)

1/4 lb. butter (113.5 grams)

1 cup half and half (250 ml)

1 beet, roasted

1 bunch fresh parsley, stemmed and finely minced

1 cup indian fennel candies (the kind you get in a bowl as you exit indian restaurants) (i don’t like these so instead i roasted a head of garlic and used the cloves as the “cherries” on top.

oil spray

1. place bread in a bowl. add 2 cups milk and toss with bread. reserve.

2. in a sauté pan over medium high heat, add 2 tablespoons oil and sauté onions for approximately 4 minutes, or until they become translucent. reserve.

3. in a large bowl, use your hands to mix chuck, eggs, thyme, parsley, salt, pepper, nutmeg, soaked bread, onions and ketchup.

4. set oil-sprayed cupcake liners in a muffin and fill with meatloaf mixture. smooth tops so that they are flat. bake for 3/4 hours, or until fully cooked. reserve.

5. boil potatoes in a large pot of water until tender to the touch of a fork. drain water and mash with butter and half and half. mash until smooth. divide mashed potatoes into 2 separate bowls. add 1 tablespoon grated beet to one batch and all the parsley to the other. blend until you have a batch of pink and a batch of green potatoes. cover and reserve.

6. when meatloaf is done, "ice" half with pink and half with green mashed potatoes. sprinkle with indian fennel candies and serve immediately.

since you're using beets anyways, you might want to consider using them as a side dish too.

continuing on the cupcake theme, a bud of mine had the fantastic idea of making cupcakes by taking a chocolate cake mix and adding frozen cranberries to it, along with chunks of callebaut milk chocolate that they picked up from the bulk section at superstore. at first i was against the cranberries going in thinking that they would be too tart, but they were a fantastic balance with the chocolate chunks and helped moisten the cake. my friend topped each cupcake with peppermint flavoured green icing – instead, try using almond extract and red food colouring to store bought cream cheese icing for a valentine’s feel.

barry has even more reddish recipes.

so, as it’s a special occasion, two or three courses are just not going to cut it. sorry, but your facebook relationship status is on the line here. drastic measures must be taken in the form of a primi course before the main event. sure, these recipes COULD be used as the main event, but why would you do that? this way, you get more food. yay! okay now, we once again have two recipes from last food fest (we really outdid ourselves cleaning out our freezers), so hopefully you’ll also have some of these ingredients on hand (read: on hand = cheaper). the first recipe is from my cookaphobic friend who really can cook, even if she doesn’t know it. yet. the second is something i whipped up to get rid of a package of frozen olivieri brie cheese and roasted garlic ravioli that was taking up valuable space in my freezer. the pasta is creamy but too mellow, so you need some punch in the sauce.

barry’s bud’s cornbread topped with mexican goodness.

cornbread:
(from the back of the purity cornmeal package)

3/4 cup (175mL) cornmeal
1 1/4 cups (3000 mL) milk
1 cup (250 mL) all-purpose flour
1/3 cup (75 mL) granulated sugar (my bud wanted to use brown but it was too hard)
1 tbsp (15 mL) baking powder
1/2 tsp (2mL) salt
1 egg
1/4 cup (60 mL) vegetable oil (canola oil)
my bud added grated aged cheddar & frozen corn - maybe a 1/4 cup of each.

1. combine cornmeal and milk. let stand 10 minutes.

2. combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in large bowl.

3. add egg and oil to cornmeal mixture. (my bud accidentally added this to the flour mixture). mix well.

4. add to dry ingredients, stirring just until combined. (my bud thinks she over stirred. this is also when she added the frozen corn and the grated cheddar.)

5. fill greased muffin pans 2/3 full. (she did not use a muffin tin, nor did she grease the pan).

6. bake at 400F (200C) for 15-20 minutes. (make sure the bread doesn’t jiggle, and it should be cracked on top.)

makes 12 muffins (or the equivalent in non-muffin shape).

okay, step 1 is complete. by the way, you can do this all the day before. now my bud made homemade salsa (diced tomato, finely chopped red onion, minced garlic, 1 jalapeno and fresh lemon juice) and guacamole (mashed avocado, a little garlic and lemon juice). if you make these ahead of time, the flavours will blend very nicely.

let cornbread cool for an hour.

cut cornbread into rectangles about 3.5 cm thick (is that an inch and a half? go metric!)

heat up pan on stove and put a glob of butter on it.

pan-fry each side of the cornbread until it's nicely browned and a tiny bit crusty (make sure to get the edges too).

top with guacamole, salsa, sour cream and some grated jalapeno havarti. serve with enrique playing in the background.

cranberry and lemon ravioli.

1 pkg. olivieri brie cheese and roasted garlic ravioli (i got this from costco in sherwood park.)

1 onion, chopped

butter

white wine (i ended up using 1/3 of a bottle)

pecorino, pienza, asiago or parmesan cheeses (as much as you like. i roughly used ½ cup of a pecorino/pienza blend.)

1 lemon, grated

1/3 cup cream

a pinch nutmeg

approx. ½ cup frozen cranberries

small handful craisins

1. prepare pasta according to package directions.

2. sauté onion in butter. add cranberries, craisins, and half of lemon zest. sauté until craisins start to plump up.

3. add wine and juice of half a lemon, reduce a little bit.

4. add cream and cheese. stir.

5. add nutmeg and remaining lemon zest.

6. toss cooked pasta with sauce and serve immediately.

barry hops on the band wagon and thinks pink.

i feel like a lemming right now. with v-day fast approaching, and everyone dreaming in reddish tones, i’ve decided to do the same and follow the masses over the cliff into a sea of pink froth. ugh. no, i’m normally not the kind of person who enjoys pink in any form, but in anticipation of the season i thought i’d help out anyone planning a menu for the weekend in the theme of red and pink. throughout the week i’ll be posting recipes that incorporate these colours in some form – all of them are easy to make, delicious, and inexpensive.

today i’ll start off with a few appetizers from our latest food fest. they’re great starters for a party or an intimate get-together…just as long as you like leftovers.

watermelon and feta appetizers.

1 small watermelon, peeled and cut into 1 ½ inch cubes

8 oz. feta, cubed

balsamic vinegar

extra virgin olive oil

basil (fresh and chopped up if you got it, dried is fine otherwise)

toothpicks.

1. skewer watermelon and feta on toothpicks (watermelon on the bottom)

2. in a bowl, combine vinegar, oil and basil.

3. drizzle dressing on watermelon; serve.

note: this makes a great salad, just get rid of the toothpicks, add some greens and some crushed chilli flakes and presto:
you’re a gourmand.

surprise spread.
one of my all-time favourite recipes.

combine 8 oz. softened cream cheese, ½ cup sour cream and ¼ cup mayonnaise. mix until smooth. spread cream cheese mixture in a platter. sprinkle on a couple cans of drained cocktail shrimp. top with 250 ml (1 cup) cocktail sauce. shred 2 cups of mozzarella cheese; sprinkle on top then add 3 sliced green onions, 1 diced tomato and 2 diced green peppers.
serve with crackers.

barry’s back on a soup kick.

hello all. after being away for a couple weeks, i’m back … i missed you guys. i realize that i’m being sentimental – soup makes me feel that way. yes, i’m back on the soup kick with a new flavour i tried on the weekend. my buds and i have been having food fests whenever we can: food-themed evenings where we all cook dishes for each other. it’s cheaper than eating out, and you’re always guaranteed leftovers: win-win. this past weekend’s food fest was “clean-out-your-freezer-and-pantry-and-randomly-make-something”. tons of fun with that hint of danger: you never know if what you make will be completely edible. luckily for my buds and i, we all survived and didn’t have a single bad dish. one bud found a recipe for a carrot soup that they changed and made their own. it was a big hit, so i thought i’d share it with you all, with the changes my friend made. enjoy hunting around your pantries, potato bins and freezers for the ingredients to this delicious concoction.

carrot soup.
(originally courtesy of recipezaar; made even better by my friend.)

Ingredients
6 tablespoons butter (my bud generously used more)
1 large onion (minced)
2 garlic cloves (minced)
8 carrots (peeled, grated) (the fridge only produced 4 purple carrots, and a small bag of baby carrots, so that’s what we used)
2 plum tomatoes (chopped) (this was left out for food fest: no tomatoes on hand)
4 cups chicken stock (MUST be homemade!) - (my bud used oxo…recipezaar, what’s your deal?)
salt & fresh ground pepper (to taste)
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup evaporated milk (my friend used 2/3 cup)
2/3 cup sour cream

1. heat butter in a pot. add the onion and garlic. saute 3 minutes.

2. add the carrots and tomatoes. saute 5 minutes.

3. add stock, salt and pepper, nutmeg and ginger. bring to a boil. reduce. simmer 10 minutes.

4. puree. return to pot.

5. add the milk and sour cream. heat through, but DO NOT BOIL.
enjoy!

barry's buds bid farewell to the year of the potato.

and now we bring you the first installment of "barry's buds" – a guest column of barry’s many comrades who share a love of all things food-related. today you get not one, but two of barry’s main associates sharing with you the various potato
(mis)adventures we’ve had with barry over the past year.

it would be a huge understatement to point out that we have a thing for potatoes.

we’re obsessed. this past year was particularly gratifying, as our appreciation of this sacrosanct little spud was made to seem slightly less crazy by the u.n.’s decision to dub 2008 the international year of the potato. yes, really.

as we settle into 2009, we look back quite fondly at the multitude of ways we’ve enjoyed potatoes in ’08 (cue indulgent dream sequence music)....

in the familiar, fluffy pabulum of betty crocker, thinly sliced and meticulously arranged on a pizza at famoso’s, piped atop a moist meatloaf cupcake in a beetroot-tinted pink swirl, shredded in pancakes, roasted with sea salt and dill, diced in hash brown casseroles, cubed in coconut milk curries, mashed with cream cheese and herbs, encased in perogie dough, swimming in dill cream...and that's not even mentioning all the french fries.

as part of our bidding a proper farewell, here are two simple recipes that we each enjoyed this year.

recipe one: mini baked potatoes with blue cheese.

*note from barry’s bud #1: this potato recipe has been extracted from me under great duress. because i cannot bear the threat of the wire whisk any longer, i offer you this to appease barry.

ingredients:

around 20 small baby potatoes (try and pick ones that are the same size - barry likes potato uniformity)

enough olive oil to lightly coat your potatoes

sea salt

around 1/2 cup sour cream (full fat is better)

around one ounce of crumbled blue cheese

chopped fresh chives for garnish

1. preheat your oven to 350F.

2. wash and dry your potatoes.
3. toss you potatoes with just enough oil to coat.
4. lightly coat you potatoes in sea salt.
5. spread your potatoes out on a baking sheet.

6. bake potatoes for 45-50 minutes.

7. while potatoes are baking, combine sour cream and blue cheese in a small bowl - measurements are just a guideline.
8. take potatoes out of oven and let cool for a few minutes.
9. cut an 'x' in the top of each potato - gently squeeze the cross with your fingers to open the potatoes.
10. top each potato with a spoon of the blue/cheese sour scream mixture.
11. garnish with chopped chives.
12. MANGE.

adapted from: forster, felicity, ed. "mini baked potatoes with blue cheese" in soups. (london: hermes house, 2004: p. 240).

recipe two: balsamic caramelized potatoes.

*note from bud #2: i made up this pretty simple recipe after a visit to the old strathcona farmer’s market where i picked up a bottle of maple balsamic vinegar. parboiling the potatoes before roasting is a bit indulgent, but i feel they warrant this attention.

serves 4-5 people.

ingredients:

a 2lb bag of baby potatoes

about 1 tablespoon of olive oil

2-3 tablespoons of maple balsamic vinegar (or substitute with regular balsamic)

1 teaspoon garlic powder

about 4 sprigs of fresh thyme, coarsely chopped

about 1/2 tablespoon butter (optional)

salt and pepper

1. combine olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic power and thyme in a bowl. set aside.

2. wash and dry your potatoes.

3. add potatoes to a pot of rapidly boiling salted water.

4. boil potatoes just until they're soft and you can easily stick a fork through (about 5-7 minutes).

5. remove from water immediately and add to a foil-lined roasting tray. (you can cut some of the not so baby potatoes in half if you wish before roasting.)

6. pour oil and balsamic mixture over potatoes and shake the tray around so that the potatoes are well coated. add the butter if you feel like it (just do it.)

7. bake at 400F for 30min or until potatoes are browned.

8. salt and pepper to taste.

barry’s almost finished with christmas. really.

yes, yes – it’s mid-january and i’m still talking about christmas food, but really, these are dishes that can be enjoyed all year long but only need to amalgamate into one meal once a year, and besides, january is so boring now. no parties, no celebrations of rebirths, no shiny things to distract you from the mundane, and spring is WAY too far away – what’s a person to do? reminisce about the holidays, that’s what. so here i am, offering up the joy of christmas once again for those die-hards who just won’t go down.

as mentioned in my previous bit, i had twelve dishes laid out for christmas, and yes, the bread was the most ridiculous. today i want to talk about the other, equally tasty, but far less ridiculous dishes of the evening. so, because i know you’re curious and that you care, the twelve dishes are as follows: kutia (boiled wheat with honey), borscht, kolach, sweet and sour cabbage rolls, potato-cottage cheese and sauerkraut perogies, beet salad, pidpenky (creamy mushroom sauce), mashed beans, salad (we felt that something remotely healthy was needed), and raisin perogies for dessert. phew! lots of stuff, yes, but it all created a beautiful symphony of smells and flavours. from these classics i want to share a few of my favourite year-round recipes with you. they’re cheap, tasty, and i don’t know what else. just try them.

marinated beet salad.

2 c. chopped beets (you can use fresh or canned)
1 onion, diced
less ¼ c. mazola, or other cooking oil
2 tbsp vinegar to 1 tbsp sugar
salt & pepper to taste
a pinch garlic powder

1. cover beets with water and boil until soft (nobody likes a crunchy beet, people); canned beets will take less time. drain.

2. sauté onions in mazola until translucent. add oil and onions to drained beets.

3. add vinegar and sugar to beets along with salt pepper and garlic powder. mix and refrigerate.**the longer you refrigerate this salad, the better the flavour.

mashed beans.
delicious on their own, or used like a spread in place of hummus.

2 c. dried white navy beans
1 onion, diced
2 – 3 cloves garlic
approx. ¼ c. mazola oil
salt

1. in a bowl, cover beans with water and soak overnight.

2. drain beans and put in pot covered with water. cook on low for approximately 3 hours. beans should be soft, and there should not be much liquid left.

3. sauté onions in oil. as beans can be dry, you want to have oil in the pan, if you don’t think you’ll have enough, feel free to add more. grate garlic into the pan and sauté for the last two minutes of cooking.

4. without draining, mash beans. add oil, onions and salt. feel free to add more salt or oil for taste.

pidpenky or creamy mushrooms.
finally, what the masses have been waiting for…and by masses, i mean one of barry’s buds.

2 ½ - 3 c. cleaned and sliced mushrooms (white, cremini, oyster – throw them all in)
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic
400 ml cream
dash worcestershire sauce
salt to taste
oil
dab of butter (optional)

1. sauté onion in some oil until translucent. at the end of cooking (last 2-3 minutes) grate in the garlic.

2. in a separate pan, cook mushrooms in butter and worcestershire on high. you want to cook out all the liquid from the mushrooms. stir often so the mushrooms don’t burn.

3. add onions, garlic, cream and salt to the mushrooms, mixing the onions and cream separately in a bowl, then adding them so the cream doesn’t separate.

barry makes some bread.

and by some, i mean a lot. yes, last week was ukrainian christmas, so a shindig was in order to celebrate the occasion, and, of course, a proper shindig requires food. deciding to do a traditional ukrainian christmas eve dinner, i set out to think of which twelve dishes to have. i made it to eleven before getting stuck. i thought that i could attempt fish jello or pickled herring, but the jello boat has sailed for the next month or so since new year’s was jello-filled, and i just refused to have pickled herring in my apartment. then it hit me: kolach! yes, traditional christmas bread would be perfect and meaningful in getting my guests in the true meatless/dairy-less spirit of things. i’ve never even thought of attempting such a feat before, so i found a recipe, looked up online how to braid the stuff, and set to work. i started at 6:30 pm after a quick bite to eat, knowing that i’d probably be up until midnight baking, but no worries because one of barry’s buds came by to visit and photograph THE EVENT. so i left the yeast to do it’s thing, then added the first of many, many cups of flour, and then let it continue to do its thing.
9:00 pm.
okay, first step complete (finally). the camembert my bud brought is now gone, and the smell of yeast has begun to overwhelm us. we now mix the rest of the many, many cups of flour with the mixture along with some eggs and oil. my arm began to go numb around 9:30, but it’s okay, this is an art! soon after i throw the spoon away and start going at the mixture with my hands. i make sure everything is mixed and then try to nurse my arm back to health with a drink or two. 11:00 pm.
okay, no problem, it’s time for the inaugural punching down of the dough. i feel that this is payback for my arm during the mixing portion of this misadventure and take great delight in doing a little damage to my dough. we’re feeling a little light-headed from the yeast. part of that might have been from the vino, but really, it was from the yeast. let it rise again.
12:30 am.
okay, so we’re past my midnight deadline. no problem. we take the frustration out on the bread. i feel that our punches are a bit weaker than they once were. we may have finally been overwhelmed. we retreat to the living room to recover from the yeast.

1:30 am.
we’re not waiting any longer. this is go-time. we pull out pieces of dough to roll out and make three braids and layer them one atop another. once again, patience is a virtue as we let it rise. *sigh*
2:00 am.
“the blob” has risen. as i try to make it look less blobby with the help of a steak knife, my cohort brushes the thing with a nice egg wash. into my tiny, apartment-sized oven with it. we now start to work on the rest of the dough and braid breadsticks for each of my dinner guests. while the blob bakes, the breadsticks rise.

2:45 am.
oh god – it’s 2:45 in the morning… the blob emerges, and has been transformed from a beast into a thing of beauty that smells delicious. we tap the bottom, which makes a hollow sound. it’s ready. tray one of breadsticks goes in after being brushed with whisked egg.
3:10 am.
tray one comes out, and tray two goes in. barry’s bud bails. they made a valiant effort, but we have been baking since 6:30 pm.

3:30 am.
tray two is out, and so am i. my eyeballs hurt, and i’m drunk with the smell of fresh bread (and again, possibly wine).

so was this craziness worth it? hell yes. fantastic bread, hilarious conversation, camembert, and a group of admiring dinner guests the next night – it was so worth it. the bread was actually easy to make, just time consuming as you waited for things to rise. this is the perfect thing to make to impress company if you’re hanging around home working on other projects. or maybe i’m just a masochist. either way, fun times with carbs are always something to write about.

kolach recipe courtesy the holy trinity ukrainian catholic parish
1907 – 2007 centennial cookbook

2 pkg. yeast
1 c. water
4 c. water
1 tsp. sugar
4 c. flour
4 eggs
¼ c. sugar
2 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. cooking oil
7 – 8 c. flour
1 egg, beaten

1. dissolve 1 tsp. sugar in 1 c. lukewarm water and sprinkle yeast over it. let stand for 15 minutes.

2. combine yeast with 4 c. lukewarm water. add 4 c. flour and beat hard until smooth. cover and set aside in a warm place for 1 to 1 ½ hours until sponge is light and bubbly.

3. in a separate bowl beat eggs, add sugar and salt and beat slightly. add oil and beaten eggs to sponge mixture.

4. work in flour 1 c. at a time to make a fairly stiff dough. knead well. cover and put in warm place to rise until double in bulk.

5. punch down and let rise again.

6. divide dough in proportion and braid.

7. let braided dough rise then brush with 1 egg beaten.

8. place a rack in the lower third of the oven. preheat the oven to 350 F.

9. put dough in oven for approximately 45 minutes. bread will be done if when the bottom is tapped it makes a hollow sound.

for braiding techniques, visit http://foodgeeks.com/recipes/recipe/20030,ukrainian_christmas_bread_kolach.phtml