Eastern European cooking class — pierogi, stuffed cabbage rolls, beet tart

Last night we hosted a cooking class at our house taught by Renee and Nick of Fire and Earth Kitchen. All we had to do was clean the house and clear the kitchen counter of a few appliances, then sit back and enjoy the teaching and the food. While we were out and about earlier in the afternoon before the class started, we picked up some flowers so the table would be more welcoming and not look quite so bare. Flowers make any occasion a little more special, though I'm not sure how having two people come to your house and prepare pierogi, a beet tart and stuffed cabbage rolls — and then clean everything up — could be any more special.

The class was very informative as Renee shared so many tips and tricks for cooking more efficiently — not just concerning food, but about tools and equipment, as well. For example, she demonstrated how to keep a knife in good working order, and talked about what to look for when purchasing a food processor. She also interjected nutritional information for the ingredients she used.

Of the three dishes prepared in the class, the easiest and quickest was the beet tart. Renee made a gluten-free crust flavored with rosemary that went together perfectly, and looked just like a traditional wheat-flour pie dough. She pressed it into the pie plate, layered it with thinly sliced beets, and beet greens, and baked it in the oven. While it baked, filling the house with fragrant, hunger-inducing smells, she prepared a sunflower seed cream to serve on top. None of my photos of the gorgeous, uncut tart turned out — too dark — but I think you can get an idea from the slice, how pretty it was. I'm not a big beet fan, but I loved the tart and would definitely make it again. The crust was light and flakey, and the filling sweet and earthy.

The pierogi filling, mashed and cooling.

There were multiple steps to creating the peirogi, and they were all going on simultaniously! Potatoes were set to boiling, and as they boiled, onions were caramelized in a pan. Once the filling ingredients were mashed together, they were set aside to cool while more onions were sliced and placed in the pan to caramelize.

Pierogi, shaped and waiting to be boiled.

A dough was made, and I really enjoyed seeing how Renee rolled, cut out circles, then rolled the circles again to create the dumpling wrappers. She made it look so easy, though I suspect it takes a lot of practice to become so skillful that you can whip up vegan, gluten-free pierogi without a lot of cursing. Once the wrappers were filled and closed, they were boiled in a large pot of water, a few at a time, until they rose to the surface, and were removed to drain. Can you imagine how hard it was to concentrate on the class when the whole house smelled like caramelized onions?

After the pierogi were boiled and drained, they were pan fried to get them a little crisp, then served with a generous heap of caramelized onions, and we ate them all up. I want more.

The final dish of the night was lentil-and rice-stuffed cabbage rolls. The rice and lentils had been cooking all through the class so they were ready to get stuffed into cabbage leaves as we were finishing up our pierogi. Renee demonstrated how to prepare a cabbage for making cabbage rolls, then cooked the cabbage, made tomato sauce, and assembled a bunch of rolls. But in reality, it would have taken too long to cook them in the class, so she had prepared some in her slow cooker and brought them with her. The cabbage rolls were delicious, though different from the ones I learned to make from my mother. I've always made sweet and sour stuffed cabbage rolls, which is what my great grandmother from Russia, made. Either way, although the dish is time consuming, it's one that can be assembled ahead of time, and cooked in a slow cooker, or baked for three hours in the oven.

Renee and Nick are putting together a cookbook, and the recipes from the class are some that will be included, so I can't share them. But, on the Fire and Earth Kitchen blog (link here) there are lots of mouthwatering recipes available. Also, you can sign up to receive a new recipe each week. Most of the recipes are fast and easy to prepare, and I think you'll like what you find. You can read about my experience with some of the recipes, here.

If you live in the Seattle area and are interested in hosting a class, contact Renee (through her blog) about the possibilities.

Buckwheat waffles (gluten-free)

I was scanning facebook very early in the morning the other day when the word "BUCKWHEAT" screamed across my field of vision. I didn't read the message, nor did I know what kind of buckwheat item was being referred to, I just became immediately obsessed with the thought of eating buckwheat waffles. Waffles had been on my mind for a couple of days, and suddenly I was rushing to the kitchen to retrieve my little $4 estate sale Belgium waffle maker from the shelf, mixing ingredients in my head as I hurried to the counter.

I don't know if I've ever made buckwheat waffles before — certainly I haven't attempted GF buckwheat waffles, so I kind of wondered what would happen — buckwheat flour can make baked goods heavy. I combined Bob's Red Mill GF flour mix with buckwheat flour, and the waffles were light and delicious with an excellent texture and taste — just like wheat waffles. I also added chia seeds because I've been adding it to stuff left and right ever since I got the chia book (reviewed here). Lately, I've been adding two tablespoons of flaxseed meal to baked goods instead of just one. At first I was afraid it would make the texture gummy or heavy, but it seems to have the opposite effect. I made a bunch of waffles to put in the freezer so I can enjoy buckwheat waffles for the next few days — or as long as they last.

Buckwheat waffles 
about 10 Belgian waffles

• 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds in 1/3 cup cold water for at least 5 minutes, plus enough almond milk to make 1-1/2 cups
• 1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill GF flour mix (or 1/2 cup wheat flour)
• 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)*
• 1 tablespoon chia seed
• 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon sweetener of choice (I used bee-free honey)
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1. I use a 2-cup glass measuring cup to soak the flax meal and water. It makes clean-up easier since there is one less bowl to wash. In any case, mix the flax and water together and let it sit while you assemble the dry ingredients.
2. In a medium bowl, place the Bob's Red Mill flour mix, buckwheat flour, baking powder, salt (if using), chia seeds. Whisk together to get the lumps out.
3. Whip the flax-and-water-mixture with a fork for a minute or two until viscous. Add the almond milk, sweetener, and oil, and mix together.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix. 
5. Cook on a lightly oiled, hot waffle iron following the manufacturer's directions. Depending on the size of your waffle maker, 1/4 to 1/3 cup of batter should be about right.
6. Serve with maple syrup or your favorite waffle topping. Blueberries would be nice.

* I thought the waffles tasted a bit salty, though I believe most people might think I was wrong about that. Next time I whip up a batch I'll be using just a pinch of salt — or none at all. Maybe the baking powder added enough salt to the batter.

A winner of a cookbook and a cookbook winner

Marinated balsamic, maple & garlic tempeh.

Here are a couple more things we've cooked from from The Oh She Glows Cookbook. Actually, my husband cooked them so I don't know if he followed the recipe or improvised. I found the marinated balsamic maple and garlic tempeh tasty, but a little too vinegary for me.

Empowered noodle bowl with Thai peanut sauce.

The empowered noodle bowl comes with a choice of two dressings — Thai peanut or orange-maple miso. I can only vouch for the Thai peanut — so far.

There are still so many interesting recipes to try, I'm sure you'll be seeing more as I make my way through the book.                                              



When I reviewed Angela Liddon's new cookbook, The Oh She Glows Cookbook, I offered a giveaway copy of the book to one lucky reader. I used the random number generator to pick a winner, and the the comment selected belonged to Rebecca F. The book is on its way to Becca, and I hope she enjoys it as much as I do. Doing a giveaway like this always makes me a little sad because I wish I could send a book to each person who left a comment. Thanks to everyone who read the post and entered. If you still haven't made the recipes provided or linked to in my review (available here), I recommend them as a great introduction to the cookbook.