Lithuania's Heritage kitchen Recipe book
saltibarsciai.wmvŠaltibarščiai
Very simple to prepare, it's a cold beetroot soup).
INGREDIENTS
8 cups cold buttermilk,
1medium cucumber, sliced into thick matchsticks
3 medium beets, boiled, peeled, and cut into thick matchsticks
2 eggs, hardboiled, sliced into matchstick shapes
¼ cups scallions, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped some salt and pepper.
PREPARATION
Whisk the buttermilk in a large bowl, then add the rest of the ingredients. You may add cold water or ice cubes if the soup is too rich or thick for your tastes.
Kastinys
INGREDIENTS
4 cups sour cream ,
1 tablespoon butter,
½ cups caraway seed some salt to taste
PREPARATION
Float an earthenware bowl in a hot water bath, add butter and 1 tablespoon of sour cream at a time. Blend with wooden spoon until sour cream has been added and a white, solid mass is formed. Then add caraway seed and a pinch of salt. Blend the last 2 ingredients well. Place kastinys into small bowls and refrigerate 2-3 hours.
Kastinys is somewhat salty, with a delicate sourness. Its taste depends on the seasonings used (mint, allspice, garlic, poppy seed and onion greens).
Sour cream butter is served with hot boiled potatoes, black bread and cake.
KUGELIS
INGREDIENTS
200g. bacon
1 big onion
1 kg potatoes
500 ml milk
1 eggs
2 tbsp. salt, some pepper
PREPARATION
Cut bacon up fine and cook in large skillet. Chop onion and cook in same skillet, moving bacon to one side. Cook onion until yellow, do not brown. Set aside. Shred potatoes in food processor. (Hint: To keep potatoes from getting brown or dark, drain off liquid as you shred 2 or 3 potatoes and immediately soak the drained potatoes in the hot milk.) Beat the eggs and stir into the potato mixture. Add salt, pepper. Add bacon, onion, together with drippings. Stir well. Pour mixture into large casserole dish and bake for 1 hour at 200°C.
Drippings will rise to top, but will form a crust on top and all around. After 1 hour, remove from oven. Serve with sour cream. Leftovers may be sliced and fried in butter. To make less, cut recipe in half.
Gira
INGREDIENTS (for 1l bottle)
Water 800ml
Yeast 1 teaspoon
40g sugar
50g black bread
PREPARATION
Pour boiling water over bread in enamel pan, cover and let it stand for 3 hours. Filter the infusion, add sugar and yeast. Dilute yeast with warm water, add meal and let stand for 1 hour. Than kvass stand in a warm place for 4-5 hours and cool. The kvass is ready. This is simple way of making kvass from bread.
Cepelinai
INGREDIENTS
Dumpling Mixture:
8 large Idaho potatoes, peeled and finely grated
2 large Idaho potatoes, peeled, boiled and riced
1 medium onion, peeled and finely grated
1 teaspoon salt, more or less to taste
Meat Mixture:
1 pound ground pork or 1/3 pound pork, 1/3 pound beef, 1/3 pound veal
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 large beaten egg
Gravy:
1/2 pound bacon, diced
1 large chopped onion
1 cup sour cream
Black pepper to taste
PREPARATION
In a large bowl, mix all the meat ingredients thoroughly. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Add a drop or two of lemon juice to the grated potatoes so they don't turn brown. Place them in a fine-mesh cheesecloth or cotton dish towel and twist over a large bowl to get rid of the excess water. Pour off the water, reserving the potato starch at the bottom of the bowl. Unwrap the cheesecloth and place potatoes in bowl with the potato starch you reserved from the bottom of the bowl. Add the riced boiled potatoes, grated onion and salt. Mix well. Put a large stockpot of water on to boil. To form the zeppelins, take about 1 cup of dumpling mixture and pat it flat in the palm of the hand. Place 1/4 cup or more of meat mixture in the center and, using slightly dampened hands, fold the potato mixture around the meat into a football shape, sealing well. Continue until both mixtures are gone.
Carefully lower dumplings into salted, boiling water to which 1 tablespoon of cornstarch has been added (to prevent dumplings from falling apart). Make sure water returns to the boil and continue boiling for 25 minutes. Remove dumplings, drain briefly on a clean dish towel and place on a heated platter. While dumplings are boiling, make the gravy. Fry the bacon and onion until tender. Drain and combine with sour cream and black pepper. Thin with 1-2 tablespoons milk if necessary. Drench dumplings with gravy or pass it in a gravy boat at the table.