Sunday, January 29, 2023

Oatmeal & Veggies Make a Juicy Meatloaf? Why Yes Indeed!

This meatloaf is a bit of a labor of love with all the fine chopping, but so worth the results. Breadcrumbs are replaced by quick-cook oats, which absorb and plump with finer texture than whole oats. A mix of vegetables contributes flavor and moisture. And the secret sauce -- just BBQ sauce plus ketchup -- makes everything come together marvelously. Serve with homemade mashed potatoes and steamed green beans tossed in garlic butter.

This recipe makes 6 hearty or 8 medium servings.

  • INGREDIENTS

  • 1 pound lean ground beef (for leaner, lighter meatloaf) or pork (for a more luxurious, juicier meatloaf)
  • 3/4 pound ground turkey
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
    1 Tablespoon mustard
  • 1/2 cup Baby Ray's BBQ sauce (which has high fructose corn syrup, so I'm going to try and make from scratch -- stay tuned for that post!)
    1/2 cup ketchup
    1/4 cup finely chopped celery
    1/4 cup finely diced carrot
    1/2 cup seeded and finely diced zucchini
    1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
    1/2 cup finely chopped onion
    2 garlic cloves, minced 
    3/4 cup quick-cook (NOT instant) oats
    1/2 cup skim milk or unsweetened, unflavored plant milk (I used almond milk with great results)
  • 1 egg

METHOD

Preheat oven to 325F.
Mix BBQ sauce and ketchup. Pour half of this mixture (1/2 cup) into a bowl and mix in mustard, salt, and pepper. Place meats at bottom of bowl, then add veggies, then oats, then amended BBQ-ketchup sauce, then oats, then milk and finally egg on top. Mix gently but thoroughly with your hands. Add mixture to a 5"x9" loaf pan, gently pressing down to ensure the pan is filled completely.

Cook for 60 minutes, then top loaf with remaining 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce + ketchup, making sure it does not touch the sides of the pan (if it does, the heat of the pan will burn the sauce). Bake for 30 minutes more. Test with a thermometer that meatloaf is 160F. If top is not caramelized to your preference, broil on low or at a lower rack level for five minutes.

Vegan Cashew and Roast Cauliflower Winter Soup for Omnivores


Need a good creamy winter soup...with no cream? This will fit the bill. I like topping it with strips of cooked ham and either scallions or parsley. I tried both the stovetop and instant pot methods and they're the same except for convenience. Blending results with a Vitamix are, of course, superior.

SERVES: 4-6 people. Four people can make a satisfying lunch of this soup in addition to a salad and some nice sourdough bread, toasted.

INGREDIENTS

3 cups (about 24 oz) frozen cauliflower florets*
1 large sweet onion, chopped
2 large stalks celery, chopped
1 Tbsp Miyokos butter
3 cloves garlic, medium size
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
1.5 Tbsp Olive oil
1 cup raw cashews
1 quart chicken broth, low salt
1 Yukon Gold potato, medium size, peeled and sliced 1/4" for stovetop method, or left whole for instant pot/microwave method.

Salt to taste
**White pepper to taste

METHOD: Roasting frozen cauliflower (do this while prepping the rest of the soup)
Preheat oven to 425F.
Do NOT thaw cauliflower. Toss straight from package in a bowl with half a tablespoon olive oil, and a 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Spread out in one layer on a cookie sheet and put on middle shelf of oven. Cook for 15 minutes and then check: if there's any dark brown/black spots, you're done. (A little sprinkling of burnt bits is fine.) If it is still mostly pale, toss to flip pieces upside down and cook for another 10 minutes. Once cooked, toss cauliflower into a soup pot.

METHOD: STOVETOP

Put chicken broth, cashews, and potato slices in heavy medium pot (a large or shallow pot will allow too much broth to condensate), cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook 20 mins. Pour into soup pot.

Meanwhile, heat butter and olive oil in a large saute pan on medium heat until butter melts. Add onion and saute for one minute. Add celery and saute for two more minutes, or until both onion and celery have just barely softened. Strip thyme leaves off stems into pan and saute for 30 seconds. Add minced garlic and saute for 30 more seconds. Remove from heat and add to soup pot.

Simmer broth, cashews, onions, celery, thyme, and garlic in soup pot for 10 mins.

Blend until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.

METHOD: INSTANT POT

On manual setting, cook 3 cups broth and cashews at 16 minutes at full pressure. 
While this is cooking and releasing, cook everything else except potato in saute pan. Boil whole peeled potato in remaining cup of broth about 10 mins in microwave (or until fork-tender). Add to rest of soup and blend.


NOTES

*Frozen cauliflower florets come in a strange variety of package sizes: 10, 12, and 16 oz for the small sizes, and 24 oz or 2lbs for the big. 
**Sure, you can use regular black pepper. But white pepper is a much better match for this soup. And it's worth it to get a small container, since you can use it in all sorts of recipes -- broiled fish, summery chicken salads, vegetable soups and pasta dishes -- for a smoother, subtler pepper flavor.

Tuesday, November 29, 2022

Christmas in New York 2022: A Classical Concert Cornucopia

I love Western Christmas, as I (a baptized Ukrainian Orthodox) call it. Anglo-germanic traditions of pine trees and lights, and traditional foods and songs, fill me with joy and peace. Tea of the moment: Harney & Sons White Christmas.

New York City does a good job festooning itself with sights and events for the season. One great example is the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Neapolitan Christmas tree, pictured here with a concert going on in front of it. Many New Yorkers make a pilgrimage to this tree every year to enjoy their favorite ornaments from the Baroque era. Sadly, there is no tree lighting ceremony this year.

So when looking to inject a little classical/medieval choral experience into my holiday this year, I was astounded to find THIRTEEN options for the second/third weeks of December. Here's the list. I wonder which one I'll choose from this bounty? (Dollar signs: $ = under $30, $$ = $30-50, $$$ = over $50. Nota bene: some of these events stream online, for a reduced price or free.)

FRIDAY DECEMBER 2, 2022

The Choral Society of Grace Church Christmas Concert, 8 pm, $$
Palestrina: Hodie Christus natus est à 8; W.A. Mozart: Great Mass in C minor, KV 427 (excerpt); Cecilia McDowall: O Oriens; Benjamin Britten: Hymn to the Virgin; Ola Gjeilo: Ubi caritas; Handel: Hallelujah (from Messiah); Audience carol sing

 
SATURDAY DECEMBER 3, 2022

Repeat:  
The Choral Society of Grace Church Christmas Concert, 3 pm, $$


THURSDAY DECEMBER 8, 2022
 
A Bach Christmas, St. Luke in the Fields, 7:30 pm (lecture at 6:30 pm), $$
Choir and period instruments.


FRIDAY DECEMBER 9, 2022

Christmas Candlelight Concert
, Church of the Transfiguration ("The Little Church Around the Corner"), 7:30 pm, $$
Handel's Messiah (The Christmas Portion) & Organ Concerto


SUNDAY DECEMBER 11, 2022
 
Trio Medieval in the Fuentidueña Chapel at The Cloisters, 2 pm, $$$
Holiday music from Britain and Scandinavia weaving strands of sacred music, folk, jazz, and improvisation from six centuries.
 
Early Music New York Baroque Christmas: Carols, Noëls, Villancicos, Chorales, voices and instruments, Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 2 pm, $$
 
Britten: A Ceremony of Carols and sing along carols, Girls' Choir and alumns, 4 pm, Grace Church, free

The Splendors of Dresden: Juilliard 415, Music Before 1800, Corpus Christi Church, 4 pm, $-$$$
In the 18th century, the court orchestra of Dresden was one of the glories of Europe. Some of the greatest composers and performers gathered at the glittering Saxon capital, from the virtuoso concertmaster Johann Georg Pisendel to the quirky and ingenious bass player Jan Dismas Zelenka. Directed by the distinguished Laurence Cummings of England, the students of Juilliard415 bring this rich music to life in concertos and suites by Heinichen, Fasch, Pisendel, Zelenka, and others.

 
TUESDAY DECEMBER 13, 2022 and THURSDAY DECEMBER 15, 2022

Voices of Ascension Candlelight Christmas Concert
, 7:30 pm, $-$$$


SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2022

Angelica Women's Chamber Choir - Nowel: Out of your sleep arise, Christ & St. Stephen's Church, 3 pm, $ suggested donation
Medieval carols and chants of the season; John Taverner’s “Audivi vocem de caelo” and Francisco Guerrero’s “A un niño llorando al yelo”; as well as modern composer Sir John Tavener’s “The Lamb” and Michael Engelhardt’s arrangement of Hildegard von Bingen’s “O antiqui sancti.”

Online: The Splendors of Dresden: Juilliard 415, Music Before 1800, Corpus Christi Church, 4 pm, $

A Jazz Concert for the Holidays, Church of the Transfiguration ("The Little Church Around the Corner"), 7:30 pm, $$

Dominic Carioti, saxophone; Sam Weber, bass; Julia Chen, piano; Evan Hyde, drums

Original compositions as well as arrangements of music from composers such as John Cotrane.

Special Compline by Candlelight
: Ceremony of Carols, Benjamin Britten, Trinity Church/St. Paul's Chapel, 8 pm, free, no reservations required.
Trinity Youth Chorus; Melissa Attlebury, conductor; Jacqueline Kerrod, harpist
 

 
______________
 
And if that's not enough, here's the Vocal Area Network list, which includes all sorts of small choirs.
 
 





Tuesday, April 19, 2022

Soup for a Cold April Day

April is when you want to open your windows. But more often than not, it's too cold to do so! Here is a soup I contrived for such days, when the sunlight says Spring, but the weather is not there yet.

Serves four. You'll need a good blender. Sublime in a Vitamix.

1 Tablespoon olive oil

2 English (seedless) cucumbers, sliced lengthwise and "seedless" middle part scooped out, then cut diagonally into 1/4" slices

1 yellow onion, chopped medium-fine

1 garlic clove, minced

1 quart chicken broth

1 medium-sized Yukon Gold potato, peeled and cut into 1/4" slices

Salt, pepper (white pepper is best for a delicate soup like this)

5 leaves fresh mint

Yogurt or sour cream (optional)


Heat a pan over high heat and add olive oil. When oil smells fragrant and a drop of water sizzles in it, turn heat to medium-low. Add onion and cook, stirring every now and then, until golden. Add garlic, stir for 30 seconds. Add chicken broth and potato, bring to the boil, then turn down heat so soup simmers. Let simmer 10 minutes. Add cucumber, and simmer 5 minutes more.

Add everything in pot to a blender and puree. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add mint and puree a little bit longer. Soup should be thick enough to be just pourable. 

Serve cool, as first course for a nice warm dinner; have yogurt or sour cream available for those who want to dollop some atop their soup. 

I served this as a starter for the following salmon recipe. Followed with a Horlicks and a lavender melatonin epsom salt bath, I slept like a baby.

https://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/250469/seared-salmon-with-braised-broccoli/


 




Friday, April 23, 2021

How to: Провідна Неділя (Providna Nedilya)

 
Providna Nedilya (loosely translated: Departing Week; pronunciation "proh-VEED-nah neh-DEEL-yah") is a holiday in the Ukrainian Orthodox calendar. It is held the weekend after Easter, with a all activities in or near the graveyard: planting, picnics, and parades, culminating with church services on St. Thomas Sunday. All weekend long, clergy also hold outdoor services at the gravesites, singing the Paschal Troparion (at the end of this page), as their black cassocks and long, gold-embroidered stoles flutter in the spring breezes. In a tradition that surely predates Christianity, people leave baskets or plates at their family's graves, with Easter foods, flowers, and decorated eggs, to share the spirit of the holiday with their departed loved ones. 

I love celebrating this holiday with family and friends. It's about honoring our ancestors (we tidy their gravesites and surround them with living plants, and then picnic together) and rejoicing in the renewed life of Springtime. With pagan roots and Christian tradition, this holiday brings loving care and good tidings to our dead, and gives those of us still living occasion to celebrate that fact.

This is how I celebrate Providna Nedilya here on the East Coast of the United States. First: plan ahead. I have a checkoff list (below) I share with two other families so we can potluck food and supplies. Second: leave for cemetery an hour before you think you need to. Trust me, you'll appreciate having the wiggle room. Third: set up tables, chairs, and food (there is always one person who is happy to just sit and guard the spread) so it's ready when we've finished tending the gravesites and have worked up an appetite. Extra credit: bring a Kelly kettle or some other means of boiling water outdoors, to make coffee and/or tea.
 
My late lunch menu has dishes ranging from Very Ukrainian to just Ukrainian-inflected. The central dishes are those that maximize ingredients forbidden (meat, eggs, dairy) and restricted (fish, alcohol) during the Great Lent. Are we strict about fasting? We'll keep that to ourselves. But no matter how you've conducted yourself, the taste of a fresh kolbasa eaten outside on a beautiful Spring day will inspire a religious level of gratitude.

PROVIDNA NEDILYA MENU (items marked with an asterisk* have recipes below)

Zakusky (appetizers)
Smoked fish (herring, salmon, and if you're splurging, sable) 
 
Fresh and/or pickled mixed vegetables (for pickled, ok to get the mixed mushrooms, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes in a jar available in Slavic food stores)

Fresh dill, chopped, to sprinkle on things
 
Cream cheese

Hard-boiled eggs or herbed deviled eggs such as these

Drink
Mineral water, Zoubrovka (get the real stuff, not the artificially-flavored neon green abomination), Kompot (homemade or bottled)

Soup
*French-Ukrainian Sorrel Soup


Julian Baczynsky (1923-2021),
at his East Village Meat Market
Mains
Variety of kolbasy (I like regular, double-smoked, and kabanosy --"hunter's sausage") and butcher-carved ham, with mustard, horseradish, and fresh rye bread.


 
 
 
Spring Salad with Sunflower Seeds (click for a recommended recipe)




Dessert
*Cheese Paska
Easter Babka
Poppy seed roll
Fresh fruit (I like blueberries and raspberries)



RECIPES

French-Ukrainian Sorrel Soup
Serves 8
 
Ingredients:
  • White and pale green parts of four large leeks, washed well, drained, halved, and thinly sliced
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" pieces
  • 2 parsnips, peeled and sliced into 1/2" pieces
  • 4 cups homemade chicken broth
  • 1 cup shelled fresh or thawed frozen peas
  • 2 cups lightly packed sorrel leaves, washed & spun dry
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste
Cooking Instructions
  1. In a large heavy pot such as a dutch oven, cook leeks in oil with salt and pepper to taste over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened. Meanwhile, prep potato and parsnip; add to broth and simmer, covered, about 10 minutes or until potato and parsnip are both tender. Stir in peas and simmer, uncovered, about 5 minutes, or until peas are just cooked through; do not overcook, or peas will become mushy and lose flavor.
  2. In a blender purée potato mixture with sorrel in batches until very smooth, transferring to a bowl. Whisk in sour cream. Add salt and pepper to taste. Chill soup, covered, at least 2 hours, and up to 24.
  3. Serve in bowls, and sprinkle lemon juice on top.


Cheese (Syrna) Paska for a 4.5" diameter flowerpot

Ingredients:

  • 1⁄2 lb. Farmer's Cheese, aka Tvorog, at room temperature
  • 3 large egg yolks
  • 1⁄2 cups confectioners’ sugar
  • 1⁄2 c. heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1⁄4 lb. whipped unsalted butter
  • Grated rind of one lemon 
  • 1⁄4 c. golden raisins
  • 1⁄4 c. brandy
  • 2 Tablespoons water

Cooking Instructions:

1. Warm a sieve or food mill with boiling water, then pass the farmers' cheese through and set aside somewhere warm.

2. In the top of a double boiler, mix egg yolks with sugar. Add cream and heat over barely simmering water, stirring constantly until bubbles form around the edge of pan. Don’t overheat or the eggs will curdle.

3. Remove from heat and add cheese and vanilla, mixing well.

4. Add butter and continue stirring until mixture cools. 

5. Stir in lemon rind.

6. Place in Vitamix or other high-powered blender and blend on High Speed for two minutes until mixture is almost as smooth as pudding.

7. Put brandy, water, and golden raisins in a small pot. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low; cook, covered, for 10 minutes. Pour while still hot into a jar. If liquid does not cover raisins, add more hot water until it does. Seal and allow to rest while paska drains in fridge. Raisins will plump up over 24 hours.

8. Line clay flower pot with a quadruple thickness of dampened cheesecloth. Pour the mixture inside and cover with cheesecloth.

9. Place the flowerpot in a large mug or bowl that leaves room for drainage underneath pot. Place a small plate or flat-bottomed receptacle on top of the paska surface and weigh down with a weight of at least 1 lb. Keep in refrigerator until serving time.

10. Refrigerate at least 24 hours. Flavor and texture improve with more time. Check weights: if they've pressed down the paska and are resting on the pot edges, replace with a smaller plate/receptacle and keep weighing it down with same or even a little additional weight. 

11. Unmold carefully and turn upside down on a plate. Decorate with drained brandied raisins.

12. Slice thinly. Best served with a bread babka as a spread/topping. Also lovely in a small dish with fresh berries.


POTLUCK CHECKOFF LIST
 
To make a nice outdoor picnic, these are the supplies needed. Split this list up between three or four families/individuals, and it'll be manageable!

Equipment
__Folding tables
__Folding chairs
__Tablecloth
__Tablecloth clips (some fun ones here: https://www.etsy.com/market/tablecloth_clips)
__Glasses
__Plates (if paper, bring three times the amount you think you'll need)
__Napkins (ditto above)
__Silverware
__Two garbage bags
__Box of quart-size ziplock bags (use for ice on the way in, and leftovers on the way back)
__Plastic bin (If using real china, glass, and silver, then also bring a plastic bin big enough to accommodate all used items so you can bring them back home in a sanitary fashion and wash them there)
 
 
Food, blessed on Easter if possible (include serving utensils)
 __Zakusky - fish and vegetables
 
__Kolbasy and ham, assorted
 
__Mustard and horseradish
 __Rye and/or other bread, sliced
 __Cream cheese and butter
 
__Hard-boiled eggs, deviled and/or plain
 
__Soup
 
__Green Salad
 
__Traditional Salad
 __Homemade Babka
 __Homemade cheese Paska
 __Poppyseed roll
 
__Fruit
 
__Nonalcoholic drink
 
__Alcohol
 
__Tea, coffee, milk, sugar
 
 

 
PASCHAL TROPARION