Brainy Polish Easter Brunch with White Borscht Soup...

 

Polish White Borscht (Bialy Barszcz)

Whether or not you are Polish doesn't matter in order to enjoy the special taste of this soup... 

 Ingredients

• 2 lb. smoked kielbasa and other smoked meats 'ham/bacon' i.e.
  
• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 1 large white onion sliced
• 2 marjoram, sprigs
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 1/4 flour flour
• 1/4 cup horseradish fresh grated
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup dill roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp. parsley chopped
• 4 hard boiled eggs cut into wedges

Instructions

1- Boil kielbasa with other meats in 8 cups water in a large stock pot. 

2- Reduce heat to medium-low; cook about 45 minutes.

3- Remove kielbasa/meats into a bowl; reserve.

4- Return the flavor filled stock to the stove on medium heat. To that stock, add marjoram, bay leaf, butter, garlic, leeks, and onion; cook until soft, about 25 minutes.

5- Discard marjoram and bay leaf; purée soup with an immersion blender. Continue to simmer.

6- Meanwhile, whisk sour cream and flour in a bowl, add 1⁄2 cup soup, and whisk until smooth. Pour mixture into soup; cook, stirring, until thickened, about 5 minutes.

7 - Cut kielbasa/meats into 1⁄2″-thick slices; add to soup along with horseradish, salt, and pepper.

8 - Simmer until ready to serve. Garnish with dill, parsley, and eggs. 

 

*Note, this soup can be served in hollowed out bread rounds.  

The Polish tradition for Easter is to take traditional foods you eat - eggs, butter, cheese, salt, kielbasa, ham, bread, horseradish etc. - to church on Saturday morning to have them blessed. They are eaten the next day on Easter Sunday.

Pierogi ~ Polish 'Brainy' Dumplings...

 

The best Polish food is simple and filling...which means it can be no other than pieorgi... some with potato and cheese, or just cheese, or meat and even fruit. Yum!

Polish pierogi are a kind of filled dumpling. They are usually boiled in salted water. Some are fried, sauteed, baked or even deep fried. There exists tons of recipes both for the filling and for the dumpling dough. 

During decades of communist regime, Poles usually could only enjoy the more simple rural versions with basic toppings. Perhaps this is why nowadays a lot of eateries and homes are tempted to experiment with extravagant fillings and fancy toppings to turn this simple dish into a gourmet delicacy. 

Make no mistake! Ruskie pierogi arrived from a prewar region of Poland which is now part of the Ukraine. Indeed, before 1945 Ukrainians used to call this particular variety of pierogi ‘Polish pierogi’. It is likely that “pierogi ruskie” were created by Poles living in Ukraine at the time.

We like them boiled or boiled then fried in butter or in lard with bacon bits to crisp up the edges... a pinch of paprika adds extra zest. Always served with sour cream, what a brainy fast and frugal meal!

 

~ Tutti a Tavola!

* Source ~ 'Polish Food 101' [http://culture.pl/en/article/polish-food-101-pierogi]

The Brainy Gourmet's Louisiana Jambalaya...

Its not just any 'ole' night in Louisiana... when they serve up Jambalaya!

You will need:1 pound of Andouille sausage, or sweet Italian Sausage or even beer Brats. To that, you will need about one pound (depending on number of guests) of jumbo shrimp (thawed/tail removed prior to cooking), onion, cayenne pepper, paprika, wild or brown rice and hot sauce.

To begin, chop one onion and saute in olive oil until browned. Push aside in the skillet and drop the sausage (casing removed) as small bit sizes into the skillet to brown. Next, bring the onion back in over onto the sausage and add your spices: cayenne pepper, garlic powder, paprika, coriander, red pepper flakes, black pepper and salt. Add about 1/4 cup of beef stock, stir and cover to let simmer on low.

 

Prepare to cook the rice. Boil water about 2 and 1/2 cup with a pinch of salt, pour in 1 and 1/2 cup of long grain rice. If you are having more than 4 guests, double this.

When the rice is done, drain and pour out onto a serving plate. Then pour out the sausage and shrimp in sauce (any remaining juices) from the skillet on top of the rice.

Get out your favorite hot sauces and beverage...

~ Tutti a Tavola!

Brainy Liver and Onions ~ "Foie de Veau a la Lyonnaise"...

 

Ah... bon appetit!

Who doesn't like liver and onions? If you don't, its probably because you are not using quality calves liver but rather pork. Yes, it matter. Calves liver is from veal or very young beef. And, the French make it the best ~ "Foie de Veau a la Lyonnaise".

In France, Lyon and the surrounding Lyonnais district have competed for centuries with Paris to be first in food. Paris is chic, sophisticated, refined; Lyon goes for hearty, accessible country cooking that is easy to love. That is why liver and onions comes out of this district.

To begin, saute one large onion and grape or cherry tomatoes in olive oil until browned on edges. Then push aside and add your calves liver. Brown uncovered and then cover (tossing in dried herbs) for the last 6-8 min to achieve a delicious rich au jus. 

  ~ Tutti a Tavola!

   

  

Brainy Veal Scaloppini with Capers and Capellini...

For this absolutely delicious dish, you will need either a tender veal or pork loin, a jar of roasted red peppers and capers. The angel hair pasta should already be in your pantry. To begin, cut the loin in medallion size chunks/medals and pound them with a meat hammer. Lay them in a glass dish and sprinkle each one with meat tenderizer and garlic powder. Let the pounded meat medallions rest like this for 30 min.

Once you are ready to cook, take a skillet and lightly drizzle in olive oil covering the skillet bottom. Turn on the heat to med. and add one dollop of fresh creamy butter. As the meat rests, top each piece with bread crumbs and dried herbs... both sides. Once the butter and oil begin to bubble, lay in your veal/pork.

Brown on both sides. Next, take two roasted red peppers from the jar and slice, laying the pieces in the skillet with the breaded meat. Add to that 1/4 cup of capers. If you think you need a bit of liquid, pour in a bit from the jarred red peppers. 

Cover and let simmer on low heat while you prepare the angel hair pasta which is often known as Italian Capellini. This pasta is a very thin variety of Italian pasta in the form of long strands.

 Serve with Parmesan cheese....

~ Tutti a Tavola!

 

Brainy Fettuccine Alfredo with Tuna... from Rome with Love!

 

Fettuccine Alfredo with tuna if you please. Roman style...or from Rome with love!

You will need two cans of tuna in oil (if you prefer, use fresh tuna steaks, broken apart). One onion, heavy cream, sour cream, fettuccine pasta, and Parmesan cheese. Begin by sauteing one whole chopped onion in olive oil on med. heat until you see brown edges. To that add the two cans of tuna, undrained. Stir while it bubbles along.

In the meantime, prepare a stock pot of salted water to boil the pasta. Returning to the tuna Alfredo sauce, add 1/4 cup of heavy cream and the same of sour cream. Stir until well blended. Finally, add dried herbs: rosemary, mint and oregano. Let the sauce simmer covered on low heat until the pasta is ready to serve.

When the pasta is tender, drain, rinse and pour onto serving platter. Ladle the sauce over the top, sprinkle with Parmesan and serve.

* alternative version is to omit tuna and add roasted shaved parsnips providing a nutty flavor....

~ Tutti a Tavola!

Brainy Farfalle with Sausage in Red Sauce...

This Italian dish is one of those simple pasta meals that takes no time to cook yet tastes like you spent all day in the kitchen preparing to serve the most elegant of pasta dishes. 

If you do an online search, you will find out that farfalle is a type of pasta commonly known as bow-tie pasta or butterfly pasta. The name is derived from the Italian word farfalle. In the Italian city of Modena, arfalle are known as strichetti.

For this dish you will need: 1 lb. MILD breakfast sausage (pork or turkey), one box or package of farfalle pasta, 1 med. can/far of diced tomatoes, 1/2 cup of beef stock, one white onion, a clove of crushed garlic and dried herbs.  To begin, chop the onion and mash the clove of garlic, brown in a skillet with a drizzle of olive oil. To that, add the 1 pound of sausage and 2 tsp of Italian dried herbs... for a bit of zing, you can add a shake of red pepper flakes. 

After the sausage has cooked (crumbled and brown) add the 1/2 cup of stock and 1 can/jar of tomatoes and a another dash or two of Italian dried herbs. Let this simmer while you prepare the pasta. Once, the pasta is tender, drain and ladle onto a low lipped serving plate/dish and top with sauce. Toss some grated Parmesan over the top and serve with an arugula and spinach salad.

 

 

~ Tutti a Tavola!

 

Brainy Thai Pork in Peanut Butter Sauce with Wild Rice...

For this dish you will need: pork tenderloin, half a white onion, 1/3 cup peanut butter, 1/4 cup chicken or beef stock, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 limes or lemons, 1 ​tablespoon minced ginger, 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar or a tbs of Apricot jam, 1 clove garlic, minced, 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or to taste) and salt (to taste). Also, 1 cup of Minnesota wild rice.  

To begin, saute half a silvered onion in olive oil, and a pat of butter. Add to that, the garlic and ginger. Next, lay in medallion size cut pork tenderloin pieces to brown. Once browned, add the stock, the soy sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, red pepper flakes and salt. 

After those flavors coalesce in the skillet, add the peanut butter (use un-stirred organic peanut butter for best creamy results); let simmer on low while you boil the rice in stock (one cup rice to 4 cups water/stock blend) until tender. 

Squeeze some lime or lemon over the top juice and serve...

*just happened to have a few left over roasted potatoes to add to my plate...

 

~ Tutti a Tavola!