Memories for My Cookbook
I knew what it was the second I saw the photograph in this weeks food section in the New York Times this week. It was a food of my youth and I honestly have not thought about it for maybe 30 years. Mark Bittman featured kasha varnishkes, a buckwheat and noodle dish in this weeks article. The noodles usually are little bow ties or called farfalle. I think my mother used to make it to serve with our chicken dinners on Friday night.
Bittman stated the, “is an amazing dish, one I used to beg my grandmother and mother to make for me.” He continued to say, “ One could argue that you could replace the kasha with tenderize gravel an the dish would taste just fine, in fact the very qualities that is unappealing else where -its grassiness, its too soft texture-are the same ones that vault kasha varnishkes to highest of European cooking.”
I guess I like the grassiness in my food. I love wild rice, a local delicacy. I love Red River cereal that is used instead of oatmeal. It too has a crunch that really makes it far superior to oatmeal mooch that I kinda like too. Maybe it is that I ate this grassy flavor growing up that this all appeals to me.
The recipe seemed pretty easy except the render chicken fat. I did buy some chicken fat a few years ago for my matzoh ball soup and it stayed in the freezer for an entire year. My mother of course used to render her chicken fat and the crispy part or gribannas were the best part. If it had been pork it would have been called chitins or pork rinds. Never in my mothers home!!!
But here is a family secret my mother often bought kasha from Tilley’s the kosher caterer. Friday Mom always delivered dinner rolls there and she would pick up some kasha and then serve it that night with her fresh baked chicken. What memories that flood to my mind just thinking about the kasha and varnishkes.
Here is the link to the story and the photo that grabbed my attention. The recipe is attached if you would like to try it. I am sure that buckwheat has some really good nutritional benefits too.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/22/dining/22mini.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Kasha%20Shows%20off&st=cse&oref=slogin
Bittman stated the, “is an amazing dish, one I used to beg my grandmother and mother to make for me.” He continued to say, “ One could argue that you could replace the kasha with tenderize gravel an the dish would taste just fine, in fact the very qualities that is unappealing else where -its grassiness, its too soft texture-are the same ones that vault kasha varnishkes to highest of European cooking.”
I guess I like the grassiness in my food. I love wild rice, a local delicacy. I love Red River cereal that is used instead of oatmeal. It too has a crunch that really makes it far superior to oatmeal mooch that I kinda like too. Maybe it is that I ate this grassy flavor growing up that this all appeals to me.
The recipe seemed pretty easy except the render chicken fat. I did buy some chicken fat a few years ago for my matzoh ball soup and it stayed in the freezer for an entire year. My mother of course used to render her chicken fat and the crispy part or gribannas were the best part. If it had been pork it would have been called chitins or pork rinds. Never in my mothers home!!!
But here is a family secret my mother often bought kasha from Tilley’s the kosher caterer. Friday Mom always delivered dinner rolls there and she would pick up some kasha and then serve it that night with her fresh baked chicken. What memories that flood to my mind just thinking about the kasha and varnishkes.
Here is the link to the story and the photo that grabbed my attention. The recipe is attached if you would like to try it. I am sure that buckwheat has some really good nutritional benefits too.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/22/dining/22mini.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Kasha%20Shows%20off&st=cse&oref=slogin
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