The Voice of Business and Community In Central New York

The Cooking Corner                                         by .... Vera Neroni

          Today I would like to introduce one of my favorite recipes pumpkin porridge that is made with pumpkins. It is made out of millet and has a very creamy texture, mellow taste, and looks very cheerful with orange pumpkin pieces in it compared to other porridges. This kasha (porridge in Russian) makes a great breakfast or dinner dish my sister loves it in the morning as a break from cereal and millet, like other whole grains, is also very nutritious. This dish is especially good warm with a glass of cold milk. You can also make it without the pumpkin (pumpkin just adds a nice seasonal touch) slowly simmering 1 ˝ cups of washed millet in 3 ˝ cups milk (I usually mix the milk with water so that the porridge does not burn on the bottom, 1 part water to 2 parts milk), stirring from time to time, until all the liquid is absorbed. You could use another type of grain, like rice or buckwheat to make this type of kasha using the same concept. If you sue less liquid and only water in the recipe, the kasha makes a great side dish.
          The second dish is natively Georgian and usually is made with grape leaves instead of cabbage leaves, like I wrote in the recipe below. Cabbage leaves are the usual substitution they use in Russia and the flavor is still great. Golubtsy (pronounced guh-lub-TZE), the name I used for the recipe, is what they call the dish in Russian. Golubtsy make a very satisfying and unique-looking meal and you can make it as spicy as you like by adding pepper or other spices of choice. Golubtsy can surely be served by themselves or with a side dish of choice.
          And finally the last recipe is a great way to utilize vegetables that are left over so there are too few to use each separately. It is very delicious, very colorful if you use lots of different vegetables, and adds freshness to your meal.

Pumpkin millet kasha

• 2 cups kasha
• 4 cups milk
• ˝ cups water
• 300 g pumpkin, carved, peeled and cut up into cubes
• 4 tbsp butter
• salt, sugar to taste

          Wash out the millet seed with cold water to do so put the millet into a large saucepan and fill with water repeatedly until the cloudiness is gone. Pour hot slightly salted water into the millet, add the milk and the pumpkin. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook for 2-3 minutes. Then close tightly with a lid and let the porridge simmer for about 15-20 minutes. It tastes better when served warm, and you could pour melted butter over it before serving.

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Golubtsy (a Georgian dish)

• Cabbage, about 1 lb
• About 500 g sauce (sour cream with tomato paste or pasta sauce)
• Salt

For the Stuffing

• 1/2 Lb Meat, minced
• a cup of minute rice
• salt & pepper to taste

          From the cabbage, remove damaged or wilted leaves and the cabbage-stump, then cook the remaining cabbage in slightly salted boiling water for twenty minutes. boiling the leaves will make them more manageable. Drain the leaves and cut the top part of the veins off careful not to damage the leaf. For the filling, prepare the minute rice according to the instructions on the box. Boil the meat in salty water until cooked all the way through, then mince in a food processor. As a substitute you could use fried hamburger, too. Mix meat, rice and add a little salt and pepper. Then take each cabbage leaf, put a small ball of stuffing in the middle and wrap the leaf up as you would a rectangular package. Place the golubtsy into a deep wide dish seams down, pour the sour cream and pasta/tomato sauce over the golubtsy and in the oven at 375 degrees for about half and hour. I like golubtsy soft, but if you would like them a little crispier you could before cooking golubtsy in the oven you could fry each one in a small amount of vegetable oil on both sides.

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Solianka (vegetable medley)

          Slice the vegetables you have prepared (you can use cabbage, carrots, potatoes, sweet peppers, tomatoes, squash as well as spices and herbs like oregano, basil black pepper, etc.). Fill a deep skillet with vegetable oil so it is a finger-width deep, and sauté the vegetables just until cooked through and soft but not brown or crusty. This dish tastes much better when it is cold and is a great side dish with any kind of meat.

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