Russian Farmer's Cheese (Tvorog)

My fondness for Russian food started about 15 years ago when my co-worker Oleg took me out to lunch at a nearby Russian restaurant. Like an old fashion gentleman of 70 (but he was only 27) he ordered our meals without consulting me--strange but quaint. I didn't mind since afterall the cuisine was from his home country not mine. Oleg told me stories of his childhood in Russia and the story of how he migrated to America by himself at the age of 17. That's one of the things I love about food, it brings us stories from all over the world and conjures up old memories while making new ones. We enjoyed a surprisingly delicious bowl of borscht -my first. Onto some piroshki served with a side of creamy mushrooms. It was all very fabulous.  My virgin Eastern European tastebuds were well pleased! Since that time my other co-worker Donna; who is a bit of a foodie even back before there was such a term, brought these lovely soft Russian pancakes called Sirinki to the office and wouldn't you know it, that awesome mushroom sauce too! 

I had begged Oleg for a very long time to get that mushroom sauce recipe from his mom. He did, but it wasn't quite the same. I went to bookstores and thumbed through Russian cookbooks and scoured online for recipes for years. It took alot of trial and error and borrowing from this recipe and that one, but I did finally settle on a concoction that I'm happy with. Let's start with the homemade farmer's cheese (Tvorog). I've tried various methods and recipes over the years and I like Yelena's from Yelenasweets.com the most. This is her mother's recipe and I always like hand me downs. It's very much like making ricotta but the method is a bit different. I like mine to be alittle more flavorful so I borrowed from the Italians and put in a dash of salt and a bit of lemon. Beware that this method takes at least 16 hours and up to 18. I start mine on a Friday or Saturday night and finish up the next afternoon.

Ingredients (adapted from yelenasweets.com) 

1 gallon of whole milk

1 cup of buttermilk

dash of salt

1 tsp. of lemon juice

cheesecloth 

Directions:

First figure out if you want to make a whole batch or half.  I went for the half batch this time and decreased my ingredients accordingly. Keep in mind it breaks down quite a bit during processing.

In a large pot pour in the milk and heat on medium heat. Miss Yelena writes to heat up until lukewarm and not hot. 

Add in the buttermilk, salt and lemon juice and stir.

Once it's lukewarm, turn off the heat and put a lid on the pot.

16 hours later, check to see if the mixture is a bit like separated yogurt. If not, let it sit for up to another hour.

Now heat your stove up to medium low and once again heat the milk mixture back up to lukewarm and stir every 20 minutes for 2 hours.  The mixture will curdle and bits will rise to the top.

Prepare your cheesecloth by folding it into 4 layers, large enough to cover a pasta strainer. Place strainer and cheesecloth in sink.

Pour the mixture into the strainer. Let it sit for a few hours. For dry farmer's cheese I let mine sit for 3 hours. But if you're going to use this for a creamed dessert or cheese spread recipe let it sit for about 2.

Squeeze out excess water. A gentle squeeze for creamy and a tight squeeze for dry cheese. Note how much this process broke down the milk? My little over 1/2 gallon turned into about 2 cups of cheese.

Your lovely cheese is ready to use. Or store in the fridge in a ziplock or airtight container for up to a week.

Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot Pieeeeeeeeeee!

If you were a Just Shoot Me television show fan you'll understand why I titled this post as such. I published my Gluten Free Pie Crust recipe and thought I'd follow it up with my chicken pot pie filling recipe--I'm on a bit of a posting roll. But can I take a moment to admire the crust? Just look at it, it makes me happy. 

In the PNW the leaves are changing crimson reds and burnt orange with tinges of mellow yellow, yep, it's casserole, soups and pot pie season for sure. I remember being little and anticipating chicken pot pie night, oh not the homemade kind but those tiny little banquet frozen ones. Remember those? For a kid of less then 7 those were awesome and reminds me of cold school days and warm wood burning fires. I've grown up and so has my taste buds, without further adieu here is my recipe (yes friends it's gluten free).

Ingredients:

3 cups chicken or turkey, cooked and cubed or shredded (I used prepackaged rotisserie)

2 celery stalks, diced

1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 carrots, peeled and diced

1 large Yukon yellow potato, chopped

1 large red potato, chopped

2 tablespoons of butter or olive oil

2 1/2 cups chicken stock or 2 1/2 cups water and 2 chicken bouillion cubes.

1/2 cup of milk or half and half

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/4 cup cornstarch or tapioca starch

Cracked black pepper and sea salt to taste

1 teaspoon fresh minced rosemary

1 teaspoon parsley

1/2 teaspoon of thyme

2 gf pie crusts

Directions:

In large skillet heat up the butter or oil on medium high and sweat the the onions, celery, carrots, garlic, potatoes. Add the rosemary and parsley. Cook for about 10 minutes. 

While the veggies are cooking, tear up or cube up your cooked chicken. 

I stumbled upon this new find at Costco and plan on buying these for quick dishes. I love their rotisserie chicken and this is convenient to have handy in the fridge. For this recipe I used 4 thigh portions and 2 drumsticks (de-skinned).

Add in the chicken, broth and milk or half and half. Stir in the thyme, salt, pepper and cornstarch. Let simmer on medium heat for 15 minutes. Do a little taste test and add additional salt and/or pepper.

Prepare your pie crust and ladle the filling until it reaches almost the top of pie pan. 

Add your other crust layer, crimp, using your fork or paring knife, poke 3 to 4 holes into the top crust. Plop into the preheated oven at 375 for 30 minutes or until the crusts are deeply golden brown. Let cool for 15-20 minutes before serving.

Asian Lettuce Cups

I was craving lettuce cups the other day and remembered to take the needed photos in order to post. Hooray! I didn't forget! I'm just calling these Asian Lettuce Cups because each Asian culture has their own version and this recipe isn't traditional to any of them (I don't think so anyways). This is alittle bit Thai, alittle bit Vietnamese and even Chinese. Perhaps I should call these Fusion Asian Lettuce Cups. I know these have alot of ingredients but they're mainly spices so don't be deterred.

Ingredients:

1 head iceberg or 2 heads of butter leaf lettuce
1 large shallot, peeled and sliced thin
1 small yellow onion (minced)
2 1/2 pounds of ground pork, chicken or turkey
4 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoons thick soy sauce (you can find gf thick soy at the Asian grocers)
1/2 teaspoon of sugar or honey
2 teaspoons cornstarch or tapioca starch
2 teaspoons chili oil (optional)
2 teaspoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 teaspoons finely minced ginger
4 red chilies (can used dried)
1/2 cup carrots (shredded or thinly chopped)
1 Tablespoon fresh basil (chopped)
2 limes sliced into wedges
3 scallions, sliced thin
black or white pepper
Cooked rice (optional for serving)

Directions:

Add oil into a skillet and fry up the sliced shallots until golden brown. Remove shallots from skillet and set aside.
Add more oil to skillet and set to a high temperature, add the meat and onions to the skillet and cook for about 15 minutes. 

Once the meat is cooked, reduce the temperature to medium and add the hoisin sauce, thick soy sauce, sugar/honey, pepper, cornstarch and chili oil, red chilies, garlic and ginger into the pork and onion pan and mix. 

Add the carrots, basil and scallions, stir and continue cooking on medium for an additional 10-15 minutes. Taste and add more spices if needed.

Wash pat dry your lettuce. Separate the leaves and arrange on a platter. Cut your lime wedges and add to platters. Scoop some filling into the center of each leaf. Place your your hoisin and Sriracha sauces in easy access to eaters. Enjoy.