Sasha's Kitchen: Four and Twenty Blackbirds & A Guest Recipe from Europe

There's a new pie place in town. Recently I had the pleasure of visiting Four and Twenty Blackbirds, on the border of the South Park Slope and Gowanus.  It was fabulously delicious and I can't wait to go back. This pie in the sky, pie spot, has different pies for every season (I can't wait to try some of their fruity pies when I go back in the summer!), as well as a daily changing array of pies to choose from. When we went, we tried the Salted Caramel Apple Pie (pictured above) and the Black Bottom Oatmeal Pie (pictured below). Other winter pies include Buttermilk Chess, Salted Honey and Chili Chocolate pies. And a whole array of lovely fruit flavors await us in Spring and Summer. These pies are delicious and this is a spot worth venturing to the edge of Park Slope to try.

In addition, I am sharing a recipe from a reader of A Kitchen In Brooklyn - Anna, and old friend of mine now living in Strasburg, France. Here's the recipe below, as well as a description of its family origins.


This recipe originated in my mom’s kitchen (or maybe my grandma’s, don’t remember). It is not
something you are likely to find in a cookbook or a TV cooking show. It is something that I make when I am nostalgic for my mom’s cooking.

It is definitely not fancy French cuisine, but I did add some ingredients to make it more…interesting, if
you wish. But it remains a dish from the kitchen of a poor family (in former USSR everybody were either poor or in the government :-) whose motto was “tasty and cheap.”

Now to the recipe!

Anna's Chicken Gizzard Stew
1 kg chicken gizzards (buy already cleaned, if possible) you can also use hearts or a mixture
2 large onions
2-3 medium carrots, grated (you can add more if you like your stew more on the sweet side)
3-4 small celery stalks
1 cube of chicken or beef soup (I use from “Rapunzel” and it gives fantastic results)
¼ cup dry white wine (Riesling or similar)
3-4 bay leaves
5-6 whole English peppers
Salt and ground pepper to taste

Preparation:

If you have a pressure cooker – use it! You will save a lot of time. If not, I like to use my “Staub” cocotte, which keeps the juices in even after a long cooking time. In fact, the trick is to use gizzards from young chickens to shorten the cooking time, otherwise it may take a while.

Warm a bit of olive oil, add chopped onions and fry until golden but not browned. Add carrots and
chopped celery and cook until softened, mixing from time to time. Add a bit of hot water to cover and a
soup cube of your choice, mix until dissolved. Add wine, whole English peppers and bay leaves. Then add the gizzards and cover with cold (!) water. If you’d like more sauce, add more water (not more than the maximum allowed for your pressure cooker). Be careful not to overdo it, otherwise you will have a soup and not a stew! Follow the manufacturer’s guidelines for operating the pressure cooker. Start your timer AFTER the pressure has been built. Cook between 25-35 minutes, depending on the gizzards (whether from old or young chickens).

Adjust spicing to your taste after opening. We usually eat it with buckwheat kasha and some pickled
gherkins on a side!

Bon appetite!

Sasha's Kitchen: Four and Twenty Blackbirds & A Guest Recipe from Europe

Sasha's Kitchen: Raspberry Linzer Cookies

Linzer cookies have long been my favorite European cookies. The have their origin in the Austrian Linzer Torte, which is traditionally made with flour ground nuts and spices into a tore filled with currant jam and topped with a lattice. I've always loved the American-style linzer cookie variation, using a similar pastry, often cut into heart shapes, filled with raspberry jam.

My blog is going to be featured on the upcoming ShopRite blog panel, and I received an introductory basket of goodies from ShopRite that got my creative cooking juices flowing. One of the items in the shipment was a jar of ShopRite raspberry preserves, made with fresh raspberries. I decided to sample the jam by making my own linzer cookies, using a set of heart shaped cookie cutters that I borrowed from a coworker.

The recipe for these cookies is adapted from a recipe that I found online from Joy of Baking. The main modification that I made to this recipe is that I used Bob's Red Mill blanched almond meal rather than grinding my own almonds. In addition, I didn't remember to dust the cookies with confectioner's sugar, but you can go ahead and do that if you like.

Cookies were delicious and lived up to expectations. Seconds after the last cookie was complete, my husband game running into the kitchen, eager to try one! The quality of the jam from ShopRite was also great - fresh and delicious!

Linzer Cookies (adapted from Joy of Baking)
1 cup almond meal
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large egg yolks
zest of one lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup Shop-Rite raspberry preserves
confectioner's sugar for dusting (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350. Whisk together the almond meal, flour, cinnamon and salt. In the basin of your stand mixer, beat the butter and granulated sugar for about three minutes, until smooth and combined. Beat in the vanilla extract, egg yolks and lemon zest. Add the flour mixture and beat until just incorporated into a dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 1/2 hours (and up to three days). If you don't refrigerate first, the dough will stick to the surface when you roll it out.

Roll out the dough. Cut into cookies using a medium sized heart shape cookie cutter. In half of the hearts, cut out a smaller heart using one of the smaller sized heart shaped cookie cutters. Bake each tray (bake one at a time) for 12 minutes until just lightly browned.  Allow the cookies to cool completely.

Dust with confectioner's sugar. Place a heaping teaspoon of raspberry jam on the solid hearts (without the smaller hearts cut out in the middle). Top with the cut out heart cookie to form a sandwich. If you use the confectioner's sugar, sandwich carefully so not the disturb the sugar.

Sasha's Kitchen: Raspberry Linzer Cookies

Sasha's Kitchen On The Road: Culinary Adventures in Prague

The last portion of our European trip this August took us to Prague, in the heart of the Czech Republic, one of Europe's most beautiful cities which has undergone a post-Cold War renaissance.  Like Belgium, Prague is famous for its beer - specifically, its Czech style pilsner, which is brewed at numerous microbreweries all over the city of Prague, and elsewhere in the Czech republic. My favorite thing that we ate during our time in Prague was the Czech style goulash (pictured above), made with local pilsner. It was delicious. I plan on preparing my own adaptation of this classic Czech beef goulash this week and sharing the recipe here on a Kitchen In Brooklyn! So stay tuned. My favorite Czech goulash was the one that we had our first night in Prague at Pivovorsky Dum, a Czech gastropub where they brew their own pilsner. This was also the best beer hall in Prague in my opinion - they make their own pilsner which is incredible and also a banana flavored pilsner which was just amazing.  My husband had the chicken schnitzel, which was also delicious.

Prague also has some amazing Czech-Western fusion restaurants. One of those is V Zatisi, where we dined on one of our nights in Prague. They had some great truffle appetizers - a truffle risotto that Brad enjoyed as well as my truffle ravioli (pictured below).  These dishes inspired me to do some more cooking with truffle oil and we plan to make truffle risotto tonight to go with my classic asian-marinated chilean sea bass with papaya salsa.  The lamb was also amazing.  For dessert, I enjoyed another Czech classic - apple strudel.

Going back to beer, the dark pilsner at U Mediviku was also quite good as well, again brewed on site.  We had a great lunch at the Strahov Monastery brewery as well.  The beers here were wonderful and so was the authentic Czech food. I had goose with apples (delicious and quite traditional Czech game), and Brad enjoyed the Czech sausages. My favorite here was the St Norbert wheat beer.

Sasha's Kitchen On The Road: Culinary Adventures in Prague

Sasha's Kitchen on the Road: Paris Foodie Adventures

My husband Brad and I recently returned from a 12 day trip to Europe. On this particular trip, we visited three cities - Paris, Brussels and Prague.  Each of these cities has its own unique culinary traditions, and we made an effort to taste some of the best and most authentic foods in each place that we visited.  I will be doing separate posts on our gastronomical adventures in Prague and Brussels but I figured I'd start with Paris and some of our favorite foods that we ate while visiting that beautiful city for six days.

Crepes are one of Paris' specialties.  We had several crepes while in Paris. On our first night, we visited Le Petit Josselin in Montparnasse to sample some wonderful Parisian crepes. Josselin is one of Paris' best creperies and did not dissapoint, just like my husband had enjoyed the sister creperie down the block some 10 years prior on his last visit to Paris. We both had excellent savory and dessert crepes at Josselin. Below are photos of Brad's savory salmon crepe and my caramel crepe.

Street crepes are also wonderful. I had an amazing crepe with just sugar made hot while I waited (not pictured) at the Crepe Stand at Comptoir de Relais, a delicious Paris restaurant in the trendy rive gauche neighborhood of St. Germain that we enjoyed later in our trip.

Macarons when made correctly are just about the loveliest, pretties Paris dessert in the world. I've made macarons in the past but never ever like these. We went for the very best Paris macarons we could find at the wold famous macaron-maker, Pierre Herme.  We couldn't decide among all of the beautiful, colorful and delicious flavor combinations so my husband and I narrowed it down to seven (pictured at the top) and relished every bite.  These were a highlight and a trip to Paris is not complete without a visit to Pierre Herme.

Lamb and veal dinners are delicious in Paris.  I had a great veal with gnocchi and my husband had the delicious lamb dish pictured below at Restaurant Christine in St. Germain. For dessert at Christine, we had a Paris classic - one of the best souffles that I have ever had - a vanilla souffle with a strawberry sauce.

Now back to our full meal at Comptoir de Relais.  First we had some great French wines and appetizers at the wine bar portion of the restaurant while we waited for our table. Then, at dinner, we had a delicious beef dish (a bit stew like) with noodles pictured below. Yum! On the bottom is a picture of one of the appetizers, basically a mini beef sandwich with a creme fraiche based sauce. The apple tart we had for dessert was scrumptious as well.

We had another great meal in Paris at Allard Bistro - first a delicious salad with frisee and lardons, followed by a French classic made famous by Julia Child - boeuf bourguignon. This was another amazing meal, which ended with our desserts - a raspberry tarte and another French classic - profiteroles.

Sasha's Kitchen on the Road: Paris Foodie Adventures

Sasha's Kitchen: Belgian Waffles With Strawberries

Belgian waffles are one of my all-time favorite decadent brunch entrees, and with either powdered sugar or chocolate, can also be a perfect dessert.  I love using my waffle maker to make fresh waffles and I have tried a number of varieties over the last few years, some with greater success than others (not such a fan of buckwheat waffles, I must admit).  A few weeks ago, I decided to make Belgian waffles as the main course for our weekend brunch guests.  These waffles were a huge hit - our guests absolutely loved them and everyone finished the entire large waffle (in addition to a salad and cupcakes).   The leftover waffles tasted just perfect later that evening for dinner as well!  Thus, unlike politicians, this type of waffle is consistently a great brunch entree, but also a terrific dessert.

I love the way the waffle iron gives the waffles their distinctive pattern and shape.  Belgian Waffles are generally prepared with yeast leavened butter.  They are usually lighter, thicker and crispier than other waffle varieties.  My Belgian waffles were made with fluffy egg whites, using the same technique used to prepare a souffle.  Thus, they are especially light and fluffy.  Most traditional Belgian waffles have rectangular sides. (Mine don't since I just used my conventional waffle maker for the recipe).  Belgian waffles can be topped with confectioner's sugar (the traditional Belgian way), or with whipped cream, fruit and maple syrup.

Making these waffles made me crave Belgian food in a big way - everything from steak frites to Belgian fries to Belgian mussels is making my mouth water at the moment.  I definitely need a foodie trip to Europe this summer - that's a hint to my husband that we have a lot of work to do on our trip planning for that summer vacation I've been waiting patiently for!

Belgian Waffles With Strawberries (recipe adapted from this recipe from the Food Network)
2 cups cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 egg whites
4 egg yolks (you will need to separate the eggs)
2 T sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4 T unsalted butter, melted
2 cups milk (I used lowfat organic milk from Stonyfield Farms)
1/4 tsp cream or tartar
PAM
pint of fresh strawberries
whipped cream
fresh Vermont or Quebec maple syrup

Preheat the waffle iron according to the manufacturer's instructions.  This recipe makes 8 large waffles in a conventionally sized waffle iron, but the leftovers actually hold up decently for a day or two.  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt.  In a second bowl, beat together the egg yolks and the sugar until the mixture is pale yellow in color.  Don't forget to save the egg whites in a bowl for later in the recipe.  Add the vanilla, melted butter and milk, and whisk to combine.

Add the flour and mix until just combined - don't overbeat!  Next, use your KitchenAid Stand Mixer (or a handheld mixer, if you do not have a stand mixer) to beat the egg whites until fluffy and they form stiff peaks.  You should add about 1/4 tsp of cream of tartar to beat the egg whites and beat for at least 3 minutes on the highest speed.  They egg whites are done when they are fluffy and foamy, just like as if you were making a souffle.

Using a spatula, gently fold in the egg whites into the batter, again, just like with a souffle.  Be gentle and just fold in the whites, rather than stirring.  Prepare the waffles in your iron following the manufacturer's instructions.  I served them with fresh strawberries and a bit of whipped cream.  They also taste great with high quality maple syrup, but this is less traditional.

To make Eric's Belgian-inspired Mussels Risotto, click here.

Sasha's Kitchen: Belgian Waffles With Strawberries