Kasha Varnishkes

Another one of those old country recipes that really should not be forgotten is what my mother called Kasha Varnishkes or translated is Buckwheat Groats with Bowties. Generally served as a side dish, I have this no rules approach and eat it with just a salad or even on its own.

1 1/2 cups buckwheat groats (kasha)
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 tsp salt
3 cups boiling water
1 onion, diced
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup uncooked bow-tie pasta

Combine groats, egg and salt in a large saucepan on medium low heat. Stir constantly to incorporate egg and buckwheat until all the grains are dry and separated. Add boiling water, cove and cook over low heat until all water is absorbed - about 20 minutes.

In a fry pan, brown onion in hot oil. Set aside. Cook pasta according to package instructions, drain. Add pasta and fried onion to buckwheat. Salt and pepper to taste.

Delicious served warm.

Spinach, Pear and Blue Cheese Salad

It's been a while since I've been here. I've been on leave taking care of a minor surgery but am getting back in the groove again.

First off, Happy Passover and Happy Easter. I'm sure all kitchens are revved up in anticipation of family and friends visiting over the festive season. This year we're operating at bare minimums - Psychgrad and "R" took off for a fabulous vacation to New Zealand and Australia and Actor Boy is busy performing so we're not seeing the whole family together.

If you're looking for an impressive salad to accompany your Easter mains, this one is sure to impress.



3 cups fresh baby spinach, washed and trimmed
2 tomatoes
4-5 large mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 pear, thinly sliced
1 English cucumber, thinly sliced
1/4 red onion
2-3 oz. good quality blue cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup candied pecans

Combine all ingredients and dress with a combination of:

1/4 cup blue cheese dressing
1/4 cup ranch dressing
1 clove minced garlic

and top with Candied Pecans:



1 cup pecan halves
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar

Heat brown sugar, olive oil and balsamic vinegar in a small pot until it comes to a boil, stirring often. Add pecan halves to coat.
Put coated pecans on a parchment lined cookie sheet to cool and separate with two forks so they don't stick together. Add to salad.

Burnt Soup

First off, let me apologize for my computer that seems to have a mind of its own and creates wonky type order sequences. I guess the title of this post could be construed as a dish gone really wrong. I was never quite able to wrap my head around something being burnt and good at the same time. My mother tells the story of growing up in a very small town in Poland where nobody had much and at home, making something out of nothing was the norm. The ongoing challenge for me is to keep alive these recipes all of which have been shared by my mother together with a story that inevitably accompanies the recipe. Val of More Than Burnt Toast" has an ongoing event called "Invite a Blogger to Your Table" What better way to keep old recipes alive than to share with a blogger friend across the ocean, I invited our first Adopt a Blogger - Hope from Hopie's Kitchen to share the Equal Opportunity Kitchen table... even if it's virtual. Maybe one day, we'll all get together and make this peasant soup in person. Here are the rulea: 1) Choose a dish to prepare and invite 1(one) blogger to create that dish with you. You can source your recipe from a cookbook, magazine, blog or any other source. Your dish can be sweet or savoury; easy or complicated. 2) Decide upon a date that you can both mutually post your recipe within a 4 week time frame. 3) Link back to More Than Burnt Toast http://morethanburnttoast.blogspot.com/ somewhere in your post as the caretaker of this event. 4) Please feel free to use the Avatar/Badge above "Invite a Blogger to Your Table" 5) Once you have made your dish with your blogging friend or friends and posted it, you can choose to STOP or CONTINUE on and "invite another blogger to your table" to make something DIFFERENT on a mutually agreeable date within the next 4 week time frame. 6) If you would like to please e-mail Val at bloggerstable(AT)gmail(DOT)com for no other reason than to let her know you have participated. She would love to see what you have accomplished. 7) Cut and paste these instructions into your post and contact a friend. Let magic happen and let's get cooking!!!

2 Tbsp olive oil or butter 1 med-large onion, diced 3 Tbsp flour 6-7 cups boiled water 4-5 potatoes, diced salt and pepper to taste Fry diced onion in soup pot until just before the burn stage - really brown Add flour and make a rue (if it's too dry, add a little more oil or butter) Add boiled water and diced potatoes; cook until potatoes are done salt and pepper Add a piece of crusty bread or good pumpernickle - the best