These Beet Varenyky with Sweet Cheese and Raisins are a tribute to my Baltimore childhood. I woke up recently thinking about Mama’s varenyky, filled Ukrainian dumplings and was flooded with wistful memories. As a little girl, I developed a penchant for varenyky. Those soft half-moons of dough were filled with either savory meat, potatoes and …
The most interesting experiences often arise from serendipity. I recently shared a kitchen and an evening of Ukrainian cooking with 31-year-old Evgeniy (Zhenia) Klopotenko, winner of the 2015 Ukraine’s Masterchef contest, a graduate of Paris’s Le Cordon Bleu culinary school, a Ukrainian TV personality and producer of jams and marmalades. Young Zhenia is a trained …
Revitalizing Ukrainian Cooking with Masterchef Evgeniy Klopotenko Read More »
The old proverb that one man’s trash is another’s treasure applies to kitchen tools and holiday cookies, too. Several years ago, on one of my occasional wanderings through a Kyiv flea market, I spotted an unusual artifact amid a jumble of old kitchen utensils spread out on a blanket on the ground. What attracted my …
I recently discovered an early recipe for Baked Cheese Babka, a Ukrainian Easter dessert, in an out-of-print 19th century cookbook published in western Ukraine. What intrigued me most was the fact that this Baked Cheese Babka is flourless. After researching other baked cheese babka recipes, I realized the uniqueness of this recipe. Other baked cheese babkas …
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 …
Spinach Nalysnyky (Crêpes)* with Veal Stroganoff Read More »