June 29th, 2014
Squash blossoms have always epitomized the magic of summer to me. Like fireflies, they are quiet and fleeting – look away for a second and they disappear. That’s why, if I happen upon squash blossoms at the market, I rarely resist the urge to take them home – summer comes but once a year. Most recently, I found these beautiful pâtisson blossoms tucked away in a corner of a farmer’s stall, with their small squashes still attached, and had the idea to put them on a pizza.
I find that ricotta cheese combines very well with the subtle, flowery and pumpkin-like flavor of squash blossoms. In my cookbook, I have a recipe for Squash Blossom Ricotta Quiche, which happens to be one of my favorite dishes and photos in the whole book. I make my own goat milk ricotta cheese, which is a simple, satisfying process that everyone should try.
I generally prefer white pizza, as most pizza sauces are too salty for my taste. I thought the blossoms needed to be paired with some red, though, so I made my own pizza sauce, which was well worth the effort. The pizza crust is gluten free and vegan with the added bonus of shredded zucchini.
It has been an amazing two weeks since the release of The Vibrant Table, filled with wonderful news. First, PBS included the book in their list of this month’s best cookbooks. Then, we made it on Amazon’s list of Best Cookbooks of the Year, So Far, among nineteen outstanding authors. But most importantly, these past weeks have been filled with the kindest reader feedback that I could never even dream about. The best reward for all of the hard work and sleepless nights is to hear about you trying out and enjoying the recipes. If you are in fact one of those people, I would be forever grateful if you would leave a book review in order to help others make their choice.
Squash Blossom Pizza
for the tomato sauce
(makes about 2 cups)
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1-2 garlic cloves – minced
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
about 1 lb diced plum tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon coconut sugar
pinch red pepper flakes
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
to make the sauce
1. Warm olive oil in a deep pan over medium low heat. Add in garlic and oregano and let sweat for about a minute.
2. Increase the heat to medium. Add tomatoes, sugar, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
3 Reduce the heat to bring sauce to a simmer. Simmer for 90 minutes. Let cool.
for the crust (gluten free and vegan)
(makes one large pizza crust)
1/3 cup plus 4 tablespoon almond milk – divided
1/2 teaspoon coconut sugar
1/2 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 1/2 tablespoon ground chia or flax seeds
3/4 cup (105 g) buckwheat flour (I used sprouted homemade flour)
1/2 cup (60g) tapioca starch
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for brushing the blossoms
1 small zucchini – finely shredded (optional)
for the topping
tomato sauce from above
8-10 or more squash or zucchini blossoms
sliced baby squashes/zucchini – if attached to the blossoms
about 3/4 cup goat milk ricotta
to make the pizza
1. Warm 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon of almond milk to 110 F (43C). Add in sugar and yeast, whisk together and leave for 10 minutes. The mixture should be very foamy.
2. Mix the remaining 3 tablespoons of almond milk with the ground chia seeds. Let sit for 10 minutes.
3. In a stand up mixer with a paddle attachment or a food processor, combine the yeasty mixture, chia gel and the rest of the ingredients. Mix until well combined into a runny dough.
4. If using shredded zucchini, transfer the dough into a mixing bowl. Squeeze the extra liquid out of the zucchini with your hands. Mix it into the pizza dough.
5. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and oil it lightly. With a wet spoon, spread and shape your crust into an even thickness. Let rise for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C).
6. Bake for 20 minutes (15 if without zucchini). Increase temperature to 400 F (200 C). Spread on the sauce (you don’t have to use all of it), arrange the blossoms, sliced squash (if using) and ricotta on top. Lightly brush the blossoms with olive oil. Bake for 20 minutes or a little longer until the edges are slightly golden.
7. Let cool slightly. Top with your favorite greens or sprouts/microgreens, slice and serve immediately.
Tags: mains, pizza, tomato, zucchini, zucchini blossom
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May 13th, 2014
If you think about it, pretty much every culture has some kind of dumplings in its food repertoire. Russians are not an exception and our pelmeni and vareniki are some of the most characteristic dishes of Russian cuisine. Russian dumplings are not just any food, as they often involve a family ritual.
Historically, kitchen duties in Russian households have been women’s almost exclusively. Our culture has been such where a woman cooks, raises children, keeps the house, while often working just as many hours as the man. Thankfully, all that has been changing. In many traditional families, however, when it was time to make dumplings, men would make and exception and participate in the crafting of them. Every family member was usually delegated a specific job – making the filling and the dough, cutting the dough and preparing it for rolling, rolling itself, distributing of the filling and, finally, shaping the dumplings. This way, the entire family could make a couple of hundreds of dumplings in just couple a of hours, freeze them and have them handy for several weeks to come.
In cold winters, back when refrigeration wasn’t an option, dumplings were stored in pillow cases hanging out of windows. They are also a very economical dish, as you can feed a lot of people using less ingredients as a stuffing – meat, potatoes, farmers cheese, etc. Originally, that was one of the reasons for dumplings becoming so popular, when food was in deficit.
The only traditionally Russian thing left in the vareniki that I share with you today is the way I crafted them with the pinches around the edges. I made the dough vegan and with spelt flour instead of wheat. And the filling is very green and light to celebrate spring.
We are in Russia and having a great time catching up with friends and family. Enjoy and until next time.
Spring Vareniki
makes about 60-65 dumplings
for the dough
1 cup whole spelt flour or sprouted spelt flour (I use this amazing sprouted spelt)
2 cups light spelt flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoons coconut or olive oil
1 1/4 cups boiling water
for the filling
1 tablespoon olive oil
1-2 shallots or 1 small yellow onion – diced
1-inch piece fresh ginger root – peeled and minced
1-2 garlic clove – minced
about 10 asparagus spears – diced
2 handfuls snow peas
1 cup green peas – fresh or frozen and thawed
sea salt to taste
1/2 lemon – juice
handful of fresh basil – torn, optional
to make the dough
1. Combine flours with the salt in a large mixing bowl. Add oil and work it in with your hands.
2. Slowly pour boiling water in, stirring. Knead into a soft dough, cover and let rest while making the filling.
to make the filling
1. Warm the oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add shallots, ginger and garlic, sauté for 4 minutes.
2. Add in asparagus, snow peas and green peas, sauté until vegetables are bright green, for about 4-5 minutes. Add salt and lemon juice, remove from heat. Let cool.
to make the vareniki
1. Flour your working surface with the light spelt flour. Cut one medium-sized piece from the dough at a time and roll between your hands into a rope of an even thickness.
2. Cut the rope into small pieces. Roll each piece in the flour and press into a round disk with the palm of your hand.
3. Roll each disc into a 1/8-inch thick dumpling skin. Add the basil into the filling if using.
4. Fill each skin with a small amount of filling. Pinch both edges together to enclose the filling (make sure that they sticks together securely – that’s why we use the pinched-out seal pictured in photos). Lay the finished dumplings on a parchment paper covered tray.
5. Repeat with the rest of the dough and filling. Cook the vareniki immediately or freeze. Transfer into large ziplock bags once hard and keep frozen until ready to use, within one month.
6. To cook the vareniki, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add in the vareniki and gently stir to make sure that they’re not sticking to the bottom of the pot. Boil for 3-4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon. Add ghee or any mild tasting oil. Serve with your favorite pesto, chimichurri or the traditional Russian way – with sour cream (good plain yogurt will work as well).
Note: Alternatively, you can divide all the dough into two portions and roll one portion at a time to be 1/8 inch thick. Then cut out uniform skins using a glass or cookie cutter. Re-shape, re-roll and re-cut the scraps until all the dough is used up. Keep the skins covered.
Tags: asparagus, basil, mains, peas, spelt
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February 9th, 2014
All politics aside, I love the winter Olympics. As the daughter and granddaughter of athletes, I grew up in a household that payed very much attention to all important sporting events. Winter Olympics was always our ultimate favourite, when all other things in life came to a sort of standstill and the whole family would be glued to the television, biting our nails and cheering (it got very loud at times!). This year’s Olympic games are even more special to me than usual. Sochi, the summer getaway town of my youth, where I stayed with my aunt in her ancient house with an outdoor shower and palm and fig trees in the backyard, holds an incredibly special place in my heart. I still dream about the cool, deep blue waters of the Black Sea and its pebbled beaches. The fact that the Games are taking place right there fills me with so much excitement, nostalgia, and pride. My cousins still live in Sochi and I get many daily, detailed, first-hand reports. I’ve always thought that Olympics should be about the olympians who invest their entire lives into this one time opportunity, and it saddens me when politics get in the way.
Now to the recipes. To me, this Russian-inspired comfort dish is the most appropriate one to make during the winter Olympics in Russia. If I absolutely had to choose my most beloved Russian dish, potato pancakes (draniki as we call them) would be the one. Traditionally fried, they don’t often appear on our table for obvious health reasons. This time I tried baking the latkes and was amazed by the little to no difference in taste. Great news for those of you who, like me, have an aversion to frying – goodbye to the greasy mess, smoke and achy stomach. And I can still indulge in my most beloved dish, once in a while.
Beet salad is also a very common Russian side dish, usually made with mayonnaise and sometimes cheese. I replaced traditional mayo with an avocado ‘mayonnaise’ and eliminated the cheese. Another pleasant surprise, the taste is very similar, and even better!
My two favourite sports to watch are Ice Skating and Biathlon, back to that!
Baked Potato Latkes
Note: The amount of pancakes you end up with somewhat depends on the type of shredder that you use. I use a very sharp mandolin, with a shredding attachment that produces more volume than a regular box grater. For me, this recipe yields 30 small pancakes.
I make my baked latkes in a muffin pan, if you don’t have one, see #6 for alternate baking directions.
2 lb Yukon gold potatoes (or you can mix it up, I used Yukon and purple potatoes)
1 small yellow onion
1 egg
1/3 cup oat flour (grind rolled oats in a blender or food processor)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper – to taste
olive oil for brushing
1. Peel and shred the potatoes. Place them into a colander and thoroughly rinse with cold water. Leave to drain in the colander, while peeling and shredding the onion.
2. Shake the water excess off the potatoes as much as possible and transfer them into a large bowl. Add in shredded onion, egg, flour, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly.
3. Squeeze the mixture between your fingers, one small portion at a time, and try to make it as dry as possible. Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C).
4. Thoroughly grease a muffin pan(s) with olive oil. Distribute the potato mixture between muffin holes, pressing it into the bottom to achieve a regular pancake thickness. Brush with olive oil and bake for 40 minutes. Let cool slightly before removing pancakes from the holes.
5. Serve with sour cream/Greek yogurt and Beet-Avocado salad.
6. If you don’t have a muffin pan, preheat oven to 425 F (220 C). Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly grease it with olive oil. Form 12 pancakes with your hands, placing them on the sheet as you go. Press with a spoon to flatten them and brush with olive oil. Bake for 12 minutes, flip and brush the other side with oil as well. Bake for another 8 minutes, flipping one more time and bake for additional 5 minutes.
Beet Salad with Avocado Mayonnaise
4 small to medium beet roots
2 ripe but firm avocados
juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper – to taste
1 garlic clove – minced
about 1/3 cup minced parsley and dill
handful walnuts – chopped
1. Bake, boil or steam the beets until fully cooked. Cool, peel and shred them, placing into a large mixing bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, mash flesh of 1 avocado with a fork. Squeeze the juice of 1/2 lemon over it. Add olive oil, mustard, salt and pepper and mix thoroughly.
3. Add the avocado ‘mayo’ into the shredded beets, along with the garlic, herbs and walnuts. Mix well to incorporate. Adjust salt and pepper.
4. Right before serving, cut another avocado into cubes, squeeze the juice of the remaining 1/2 lemon over it and add to the salad.
Tags: avocado, beets, latkes, mains, potato, recipe
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