Kolaches: Texas in the Springtime

From Dish Amelia:

I was casting about for what I would post this month for my SLD, and the topic ended up finding me in the most natural and planetary of ways. There were so many signs in fact, that I had to list the indicators just to look at because everything seemed so connected and clear. (Cycle, Spring, oval, egg, Easter eggs, Easter…)

I decided to try making the kolache. The kolache are a Czech pastry, but it is so much more. I know what these are because both of my parents are from Texas and we would visit sometimes when I was growing up. There is a solid old Czech community near my dad’s hometown, and he impressed on me the importance and specialness of getting the good kolaches in the tiny town of Snook when passing through. (Mom, Dad, kolaches, fruit, wildflowers, jewel tone colors…) It happened that my mom just went on a little road trip to see the wildflowers, and she sent a few pics. And, I just happened to work a catering job at Lincoln Center for the new play “Ann”, abut Ann Richards, the former governor of Texas. To add to the Texan reminders, large swaths of Brooklyn were just looking towards or went to Austin for the South by Southwest music festival. (Ann Richards gig, SXSW, Texas, New York, Brooklyn, Greenpoint, Poland, Eastern Europe, Czech Republic…)

I figured that the Tall Pole might have some awareness of this pastry, because many eastern European traditions carry a level of crossover, like poppy seeds. (Traditions, poppy seeds…) The Pole was not really sure, but was not opposed to my investigation, sweet-toothed as he is. I turned to the Eastern European Food section of About.com, an excellent resource, and found the related Polish kolaczki, which was interesting. But this was not the type I was going for, which led me to the obvious next stop: awesome food blog Homesick Texan written by Lisa Fain (who also has a great cookbook). Of course she did a post on kolaches. And weirdly enough she had posted in March of 2007, leading me to wonder about kolaches and springtime. (…food blogs, springtime, traditions, New York…) Her post is wonderful, and I can only add a slightly different angle, and also a bit more sugar, as the kolaches I remember are a bit sweeter than her recipe. I also left off the sprinkled topping. (Hers is adapted from Texas Monthly and the Houston Chronicle, mine is adapted from hers.)

1 packet active dry yeast

1 cup warm milk

1.2 cup sugar

3 cups AP flour

2 large eggs

3/4 cups melted butter

1 tsp salt

fillings at your discretion

Photo from mom.

Prepare your starter. Combine sugar, yeast, 1 cup of flour (whisk) and then milk

Cover and let it double in size and get foamy.

Mix together melted butter, salt and eggs

The starter has become foamy! Mix the butter/egg mixture into this.

Then mix in flour, a 1/2 cup at a time.

Knead ten minutes. So fun. Place in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise one hour.

Look at that! I’m always impressed by yeast.

Pull off pieces and roll into egg-sized balls…

Flatten into disks and brush with melted butter. Cover and let rise another half hour.

Prepare your fillings. I chose mine based on tradition and color variety. There are several Polish pastries I’ve seen in Greenpoint that utilize this chocolaty looking (not chocolate) paste. With some investigation and many questions directed at the Tall Pole (who probably never imagined he would field so many) I found that this ingredient in Polish is called masa makowa, or poppy seed butter, and usually contains almonds and sugar. One can make this easily, but to save time, and invest in some authenticity, I braved the crazy Easter line of the Polish deli to grab some. It’s quite good. I also got some crumbly farmer’s cheese

The fillings: strawberry, sour cherry, orange ginger, farmer’s cheese (with maple syrup drizzle, my one liberty), and poppy seed paste. Obviously you could (should?) make these too, but for maximum variety I used high quality, few ingredient jams. In the future I think I would just make my favorite or be more experimental, but I wanted to tap into tradition, not expand on it just yet.

Make a decent indentation with your fingers and spoon in the filling.

Bake at 375 for 13 minutes. Brush them with melted butter (why not?) when they come out. Let them cool a bit and savor this new rite of spring.

Read Full Post »

Baked Quinoa with Spinach and Cheese

From Dish Nicole:

It sometimes works out in the land of Saucy Little Dish that we dishes have the same thing in mind.  Last week Deanna posted her quinoa recipe and simultaneously I had quinoa on the brain when I came across this recipe for a quinoa bake in the New york Times.  Quinoa is classified as a pseudo-cereal rather than a true cereal, or grain so I decided to make it pseudo-healthy and bake it into a gratin.  Who doesn’t love a delicious cheesy gratin anyway??  Plus I was just bringing the side dish; my good friend was making us the healthy main dish of fish and asparagus to accompany my quinoa creation.

1 6-ounce bag baby spinach

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 plump garlic cloves, minced

4 cups cooked quinoa, (1 cup uncooked)

2 large eggs

3 ounces Sharp white cheddar cheese, grated (3/4 cup)

1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage

1 ounce Parmesan, grated (1/4 cup)

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and start out making your quinoa as instructed (1 cup quinoa to 2 cups water).  I added chicken broth instead of water for added flavor.  While the quinoa is cooking, prep your ingredients and wash the spinach.  Leave a little of the moisture on the spinach and heat in batches in a large skillet over medium heat.  Once the spinach is wilted let it cool or rinse with cold water, squeeze out the excess water, chop and set side.

Next you will want to heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add in your onion and cook until soft.  Add in the garlic and cook for approximately 1 minute before adding in the chopped spinach.  Add salt and pepper and set aside.

Next beat the eggs in a large bowl and add in the sage, spinach mixture and the cheddar cheese and mix well.  Pour into your gratin dish (aka baking dish) and smooth out.  Sprinkle the grated parmesan cheese on top, drizzle a little olive oil and bake until golden brown.  Approximately 30 minutes.  I prefer the top a little crunchy so I left it in a little longer.

End result: crunchy, cheesy, yummy.

*The original recipe called for Gruyère, I chose to use sharp white cheddar instead.

Read Full Post »

Mmmhmmmm, Pizza with a cauliflower crust

From Dish Nicole:

While I was home over Thanksgiving my family and I ate too much and then talked about how full we were. Then the next day we ate the leftovers and did the whole cycle all over again. A family tradition. One of the great things about my family is that we have a huge family and tons of close friends that are honorary family members. We get together throughout the holiday season and usually we do a pot-luck style gathering due to the amount of people. You always get to sample the holiday classics as well as a new recipe someone was trying out. Some are healthy, and well you know, some call for a pound of butter, a la Julia Child. At one recent get together my mom’s best friend Cindy came over and she mentioned a recipe her daughter had told her to try. Pizza dough made from cauliflower. I was intrigued. When I got back to NYC I started the old Google search and came across a website called Eating Bird Food and got to work making my dough. I made 2 pizzas and they were excellent. I am not saying that you should replace delicious crusty pizza dough with this permanently but it is a healthy alternative and is gluten free for our gluten intolerant friends!

 
Yields 2 Pizza crusts
1 head cauliflower (about 2 cups riced)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt & Pepper

Start off by preheating your oven to 400 degrees. Grease your cookie sheets or use a pizza stone. I recommend using a pizza stone if you have one. (I do not but you bet I’ll be registering for one!) Remove all the stems and leaves from the cauliflower and chop into small chunks.

Put all the cauliflower in a food processer and pulse until the cauliflower is ground to a coarse rice consistency. Next you want to cook the cauliflower until it’s translucent. You can do this by microwaving it for 8 minutes or heat in a sauce pan over medium heat. If using the sauce pan, you do not need to add oil, just keep stirring and do not leave unattended. Once the cauliflower is ready you can mix all remaining ingredients in a large bowl. If you would like to add salt and pepper you can do so at this time.

Now you are ready to roll out the dough. Unlike regular dough you do not need to knead the dough. You will simply spread out the dough onto your prepped baking sheets or stone. Bake for 25-30 minutes. The center should be cooked through and the edges will be crispy.

Remove from the oven and add your toppings. Here is what I used:

Pizza 1: tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella cheese, onion, pepperoni & fresh chopped basil
Pizza 2: red potatoes thinly sliced, ricotta cheese, fresh mozzarella cheese & fresh chopped basil

Once your pizzas are ready you are going to put them back in the oven and broil for approximately 5-8 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Slice and eat immediately.

You won’t trick any bread lovers but this pizza sure was tasty. Grab a fork and knife, you will need it, and eat away.

Read Full Post »