Eating Around the World (From Home....And Gluten Free...): February 2022

Welcome to Ukraine! I'm sure you all can understand why I chose this country this week. My heart is heavy for the people of Ukraine. Please pray for them - for the families, for the soldiers, for their leadership. Pray for peace. But also pray for Russia. Pray for their people and leaders as well. My prayer is that hearts would be softened and that the Lord would use this situation for His glory.

Now that that's off my chest, let's talk about Ukraine! According to Google, Ukraine has a population of 41.51 million people, and the capital is Kyiv. Did you know that Ukraine is one of the top producers of wheat and titanium? Their national dish is...

Borscht!

I always thought this was a Russian dish, but it makes sense that it was the national dish of Ukraine too. I didn't think Borscht was enough for dinner, but I also think I may have gone overboard with all the foods I made! Along with Borscht, I made Chicken Kiev Cutlets, Deruny (basically potato pancakes), and Old-Fashioned Honey Babka. This was a busy afternoon/evening, let me tell you! Here's what I did:

BORSCHT

1 C diced celery

1 small onion, diced

1 C chopped red cabbage

4 cloves garlic, pressed

2 tbsp butter

8 C beef broth (I actually used lamb broth, and I couldn't tell the difference)

1 can diced tomatoes

3 red beets, peeled, half grated, half chopped

3 carrots, grated

1 potato, diced

1/2 C fresh dill, chopped

1/3 lb green beans, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces

Salt and pepper, to taste

Sour cream, for garnish

Saute the onions, celery, and cabbage with the butter until soft and translucent.
Add the can of diced tomatoes and the garlic.
Stir to mix, and then add the broth.
Bring to a boil over medium high heat, then reduce heat to medium, and let simmer for about 10 minutes.
Add grated and diced beets, carrots, potato and green beans, and stir to combine.
Let this simmer for 15 minutes, until beets and potatoes are tender.
Remove from heat.
Add the dill, salt, and pepper.
Serve hot with sour cream.

(Source: Borscht)

DERUNY

4 potatoes

1 onion

1 egg

3 tbsp gluten free flour

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

3 tbsp avocado oil, for frying

Sour cream, for serving

Line a bowl with a fine mesh sieve. You will be grating into this mesh sieve.
Peel the potatoes and use the star-shaped hole on the grater to grate the potatoes into the sieve over the bowl.
Peel the onion, and use the same grater and grate the onion into the sieve over the bowl as well.
Dispose of the juice at the bottom of the bowl, but keep the potato starch, and add the grated potato and onions to the bowl with the starch.
Add the flour, salt, egg, and baking soda to the potato mixture. The mixture should be thick, but liquid enough to spoon into the frying pan.
Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat
Spoon mixture to make a small pancake.
Fry until golden brown (4ish minutes on each side).
Serve hot with sour cream on top.

(Source: Deruny)

CHICKEN KIEV CUTLETS

2 chicken breasts

Herb butter (dill and garlic is what I used)

3 eggs

1/3 C heavy cream plus 2 tbsp water

2 C bread crumbs

Salt and pepper to taste

Oil, for frying

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
To prepare the batter:

Combine eggs, cream, water, salt, and pepper in a bowl.
Whisk until homogeneous.
On a separate plate, combine bread crumbs, salt, and pepper.

To prepare the chicken breasts:

Cut off the tenderloin part of the chicken breast (the inner part which is barely attached to the rest of the breast).
Butterfly the remaining part of the chicken breast.
Cover all the pieces with saran wrap, and use a meat tenderizer to flatten the chicken.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
Place about an ounce of the herb butter in the middle of the big piece of chicken.
Cover the herb butter with the smaller piece of chicken.
Fold one side of the big piece over, and then repeat on the other side, so that the butter is completely enveloped in chicken.
Put the folded chicken in the freezer for about 30 minutes - it makes the next part MUCH easier.
Dip the chicken into the egg mixture, then roll in breadcrumbs. You can do this as many times as needed for a full seal on the cutlet. I did this process twice per chicken.
Heat a deep pan with oil over medium high heat.
Place the cutlets in the hot oil, and cook until brown on both sides (you may need to flip them. I did.)
Move the cutlets to a lined baking pan and bake them for 15 minutes, until they are cooked through.
Serve warm.

(Source: Chicken Kiev Cutlets)

OLD-FASHIONED HONEY BABKA

2 1/2 C gluten free flour

8 eggs, room temp

1 C sugar

1 C honey

16 oz sour cream, room temp

2 tbsp baking soda

2 tbsp white distilled vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

Frosting:

8 oz cream cheese, room temp

8 oz cool whip, frozen

1/2 C powder sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Line two cake pans with parchment paper. Make sure the parchment paper lines the entire pan, to prevent the cake from running out.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, and salt until light and fluffy (about 10 minutes) on high.
In a small bowl, combine the baking soda and vinegar.
Warm the honey in the microwave for about 30 seconds.
Add the baking soda and vinegar mixture, honey, and sour cream to the egg mixture.
Beat on low for 30 seconds until combined - do not over beat!
Add the flour to the batter with the mixture on low, just until combined.
Pour the batter into the cake pans.
Bake for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. (NOTE: the cake will be dark - it's OK!)
Flip the cake onto a cutting board, remove the parchment paper, and let cool.
Once it is cool, cut the cake into little squares.

For the Frosting:

In a medium bowl, combine and beat cream cheese and powder sugar on medium low speed for one minute.
Add the cool whip and beat on high until the mixture is thick - about five minutes.
Transfer the frosting to a piping bag and pipe onto individual cakes.

(Source: Old-Fashioned Honey Babka)

The verdict? We like the food from Ukraine! The Borscht was delicious. I've always wanted to try it, but for some reason have never made it. It's very good! The possibilities are endless of what you could add. The Deruny, or potato pancakes, were exactly that: potato pancakes. Let me tell you, though, the grating of the potatoes and onions was NOT a fun process. I understand why it was necessary, but it was not fun. I enlisted Handsome Husband to help! But they tasted like pancakes. The texture was a little more gummy than traditional pancakes, but I thought they were delicious. I was not a fan of the chicken at all, but Handsome Husband enjoyed it. It just tasted like plain chicken to me - there was nothing special about it, and after all the work that went into making it, it was disappointing. The Honey Babka, or honey cake, was very interesting. It was a fluffy cake (the beating of the eggs!) and had a chewy texture. It had a strong honey flavor that worked well with the frosting. The frosting was not overly sweet at all.

Taste of Borscht (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 7