what am i, chopped liver?

Well, preparations for the Polish/Russian birthday feast are well underway. I made this vegetarian chopped liver and it's pretty tasty. For anyone who doesn't know - chopped liver is a traditional Sabbath dish for Eastern European jews. It's thought that Pate might have originated in this dish, also made by Jews in France long ago. And of course it's become a classic NY deli sandwich - chopped liver on rye, with lettuce, tomato and sliced onion.

I first tried vegie chopped liver at B & H Dairy, an awesome little Kosher diner in the East Village. There's no meat at B & H, just amazing Challah french toast, greasy blintzes and a changing roster of wonderful soups - Borscht, Matzoh Dumpling.... And I love the flirtatious old guys there.

Anyway, the chopped liver recipe above is well worth a try even if you don't have a nostalgic longing for B & H. Think of it as a walnut and lentil pate if that makes it seem more appetising. Sarah was a little disappointed because she'd always thought chopped liver referred to little jelly-ish cubes of liver... somehow "what am I, cubed liver?" doesn't have quite the same ring to it.

We also spent Saturday night cooking - making and freezing a big batch of Pierogi. I love Pierogi, which are kind of Polish ravioli - little half-moon dumplings that can be served fried or boiled. We had three fillings: sauerkraut; potato and dill; and apricot and cottage cheese. We used this recipe and it wasn't nearly as tricky as I thought - it just takes a little while. We tripled the dough quantities, which is why we were still boiling them at midnight. Sarah was much better than me at rolling the dough out thinly so we have a variety of dumplings. I guess that's what home cooking is about though - they don't look like they came out of a packet.

Ooh yeah honey, we're gonna be a feasting.

a polish russian feast

Oh, I gotta stop stealing these tacky internet images I know... but what's a girl to do?

So the birthday plan is this: I'm going to break out all the infused vodkas I've been making. The cherry one is going to be a winner I know. And there'll be a big long table spread with zakuski, the little appetisers that go so well with vodka. Being vegetarian I'll be skipping the most popular options - caviar and herring, but my love of pickles will overcome that. So far the spread looks like this:

* pickles (cucumber and maybe tomato)
* beetroot salad
* russian potato salad
* carrot salad
* blini - mini pancakes with dill and sour cream
* spicy georgian red beans
* walnut spread
* egg salad
* vegetarian chopped liver
* pickled mushrooms
* cucumber salad
* radishes and other crunchy vegies
* bulgarian fetta

There'll also be chlodnik courtesy of Marion, which is a wonderful cold yoghurty soup with cucumber and beetroot. I'm also considering a few more substantial dishes like cabbage rolls and pierogi, which I'm a bit nervous about - I'm terrible with pastry, but I gotta have dumplings yeah? I'll be doing a trial run this weekend. Wish me luck.

on latkes and donuts

I love my mum. Not just for everything she taught me about eating (and cooking), but for the cute clippings and links she sends me. Today, in the spirit of Channukah - we have the thrilling article Latke vs Hamentash: A Materialist-Feminist Analysis. [Latke are the grated potato pancakes eaten at Channukah, Hamentashen are small pastries eaten at the festival of Purim]

Check this choice quote:

The material conditions of latke production are stressed in the best-known analysis of the latke as a factor in the oppression of women, Emma Goldman's famous "blood of our foremothers" speech (with which I assume many of you are familiar). In it, she asked, "How much of the very blood of our foremothers' knuckles have we battened and fattened on every Chanukah, for surely their lifeblood is invariably an ingredient in our latkes? Could oceans of applesauce or mountains of sour cream ever fully mask the salty tasteof the tears of our "onion-grating sisters?"

Of course, I was a little upset about the discussion of Purim (the festival of Esther) in which I'm described as a "male-identified scab." That's what you get for being a beautiful virgin bride - jeaulous feminists!

Anyway.. how can you not love Channukah - a festival devoted to oil! Last year, due to a disaster with ordering the ponchke (traditional Polish donuts), we hit upon a new tradition - Marion ran down to the Italian pasticceria on Smith St and they whipped up 20 fresh Italian donuts (I think they're called bombolini). So we got to wash down our latkes with ricotta donuts as well as the more traditional jam ones. Now if only I could find a place that made my Roman favourites - donuts filled with Nutella!

I'm still finalising the menu for my Russian/Polish vodka feast so all suggestions welcome.

viva polenta

Photo nicked from silvasonic. Thanks. Sorry.

So I've been on a wheat and sugar free week. The lollie jar at work was getting to be too much my friend. The weekend was hard - it was so hot that all I could think was "gelati, gelati...". But a gorgeous bbq breakfast at Jessie's helped - haloumi wrapped in fresh vine leaves was my big contribution and we all agreed it will have to become a regular on the summer barbie circuit.

Now I'm starting to feel heaps more energetic and enjoying living without the constant sugar craving. Plus there's the whole self-control kick... oh dear.

Going wheat free, my biggest friend this week has been polenta. I had a great dish at Sonia's house on Monday night: Polenta with Haloumi, vegies and caramelised onion. And even better - on Tuesday she brought me lunch at work: polenta with eggplant parmigiana. I forgot how much I love eggplant parmigiana - I thought my Mum had cooked it so much I'd never eat it again, but I was wrong. But back to Polenta: this stuff is the bomb! Eating corn based food always makes me feel really good. And if you have a slab of set Polenta in the fridge you never go short of a meal. Sometimes I grill a piece up and have it with spreads for breakfast. Last night we had it grilled with a leek, mushroom and cream sauce. Or you could make Eggplant Parmigiana and have a real feast.

Polenta

All you really need for this is polenta (cornmeal), salt and pepper and water. It's even better with lots of cheese - parmesan or fetta - but that depends how much of a health kick you're on.

You could use instant polenta but I haven't tried it yet. All the recipe books say that you need to break your arm stirring the polenta constantly, but if you have a good heavy pot it doesn't seem to stick that much.

1. Put 8 cups of water in your big heavy pot and heat it up.
2. When it's hot, but not boiling, add 3 cups of polenta. Add it really slowly, stirring with a whisk to avoid any lumps. Add salt and pepper here as well. You can even cook it in stock like my housemate if you want.
   
3. Cook the polenta on a medium heat for 30 - 40 minutes on a low heat. Stir it as often as you can. If it gets too solid you could add a bit more water.
   
4. When the polenta stops tasting like raw maize it's ready.

You can serve the polenta sloppy - which is like a delicious Italian mashed potato - just add heaps of cheese and butter. Gorgonzola is ridiculously good in this. Generally though, I serve it firm. Pour the polenta into a lightly greased baking dish and leave it to set in the fridge. Once set it can be sliced up - into slabs or triangles or whatever - and grilled or fried. I prefer grilled. Then serve it with something saucy, or turn it into a vegetable stack, or spread some avocado on it and call it breakfast. Sonia also recommends adding fetta and olives before you pour it out to set - haven't tried it yet but I can imagine it's great.

Yum.