Kitchen Epiphanies

KITCHEN epiphanies

Exploring diverse foodways...

Author name: Slava

Spinach Nalysnyky (Crêpes)* with Veal Stroganoff

I was thinking recently about making crèpes when I stumbled on this Spinach Nalysnyky (Crêpes) recipe from a Ukrainian food blogger at panistefa.com. The Ukrainian language recipe, written with a chatty narrative, and its accompanying photos inspired me to try it. So I translated the text and made a batch.  The nalysnyky turned out great …

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Gazpacho

When the dog days of summer bring temperatures in the high 90s and turn the air thick and sultry,  my enthusiasm for the kitchen diminishes: it’s too hot and sticky to cook a dinner, with or without  an outside grill. What is needed now is an easy to prepare meal that cools us down, and a visit …

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Mile-high Strawberry Pie

Several weeks ago the fruit stands at the local farmer’s market were filled with strawberries, both locally cultivated and wild.  Seeing these bright red berries, large and small, reminded me of a strawberry pie I had years ago in Baltimore’s legendary restaurant, Haussner’s , which closed in 1999.   The strawberry pie was its signature dessert.  …

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Jeweled Buckwheat Salad For Everyone

This buckwheat vegetable salad was an accidental creation, as are many of my culinary efforts.  I recently decided to reduce our intake of meats and dairy, incorporating additional vegetables into our meals, even planning some meatless dinners.  So I bought an assortment of fresh vegetables at a farmer’s market, intending to use these ingredients in …

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Asparagus Soup á la Cozinha Velha

It’s asparagus season.  The appearance of bunches of vividly green or ghostly white asparagus at the local market is a harbinger of spring, calling for a seasonal celebration of this often unappreciated vegetable with special recipes for soups, omelets, soufflées, tarts and even asparagus desserts. And now is the time to savor the difference in …

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Grilled vegetable and hummus black pepper olive oil tart

The crust is the flavorful base for this assembled Grilled Vegetable and Hummus Black Pepper Olive Oil Tart and is star of this post. Using olive oil in baking was new to me until I started traveling to countries along the Mediterranean littoral where I encountered breads, pizzas, cookies, pastries, tarts and cakes made with …

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Fish Veracruzan style — Pescado a la veracruzana

Finally, it’s spring and I’m abandoning winter stews, chilis and soups for lighter fare and fish is my preferred choice.  The advent of spring always reminds me of fish and Lent. My family took Lent seriously when I was growing up.  My maternal grandfather Didunio, a Ukrainian Orthodox priest, fasted as required by Orthodox theology, …

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Swiss Dried Pear Bread — Bündner Birnbrot

Tiny multi-lingual Switzerland is a country of culinary contrasts. In her Cooking in Switzerland, Marianne Kaltenbach writes, “Switzerland’s cuisine is as varied as its landscape.” Ingredients vary from canton to canton depending on whether in a mountainous area, the shores of a lake, or a fertile valley. In cantons where cows and sheep graze on alpine …

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