Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Farfel, Farfalle, Egg Barley, Egg Drop Barley






For about six months now I have been trying to find traditional farfel, egg barley, the kind that is toasted or one toasts slightly in a sautee pan before adding onion, mushrooms, some liquid, and baking it in the oven.

This was much harder than I imagined. The product I was looking for is called EGG DROP BARLEY, not just EGG BARLEY. I went to every grocery store I could think of and found it close to home (in Highland Heights, Ohio) in the Kosher food section.

I purchased every farfel type product. They are all made with duram flour and egg. The only exception is what is called bow-tie pasta, used in Kasha with bow-ties, for example. The dried Italian Farfalla, bow-tie pasta, includes no eggs, just duram flour and water. I have been to several events where the word "farfel" caused much confusion, some expecting what I call "traditonal farfel" and others expecting and Italian pasta.

I wanted to try every product marked Egg Barley (there is no barley in the product, the "barley" describes the look of the product.) The product I wanted reminds me of the German Spaeztle, which is a 15 minute pasta so easy to make it is not worth buying the dried Spaeztle in a grocery store.

Tonight I made a side dish of Egg Barley, not the product I wanted, but I had to try it. I added peas, onion, herbs, as the pasta product is tasty but plain. The photo shows left over egg barley made as directed on the package (boiled in 4 cups water). Some bits of salmon are in the photo of leftovers, as I served the egg barley as a side dish with Alaskan, freshly caught salmon as we do not eat beef, and very little poultry.

The Egg Barley from Gelfen, tastes delicious, but it is not the traditional farfel that I remember, often eaten with beef. It looks machine made, while what I term the "traditional" looks more hand made, irregular in shape, and has the word, "Drop" in it. Such as how one "drops" Spaetzle dough into boiling water using a knife to move tiny amounts of dough from the cutting board to the boiling water. My best friend in Cincinnati, Marion, taught me the traditional way to make "spaetzle' which I later saw my aunt in Germany prepare for us. My mother would use a spaetzle maker (looks like a ricer through which she dropped the dough into the boiling water, I never saw my Mom make spaetzle the traditional way.) Spaetzle taste best made the traditional way (sorry, Mommy, I know how busy you were working and cooking for us all.)

You may have guessed my German, Jewish background by now. I grew up with "Spaetzle" as a beloved staple, farfel was a special treat!

I hope these products do not confuse the reader. My advice is, do not send anyone to the grocery store to buy traditional Egg Drop Farfel, as they will most probably come home with the Italian Farfalle, Egg Barley (the tiny machine-made pasta), Bow-tie pasta, or as one friend recently mentioned ---- "Kasha," which is another product made from buckwheat and often made to include the bow-tie pasta.

The farfel I love is made from a traditional Ashkenazi noodle dough. My sisters and I recently discovered we are much more Ashkenazi than we possibly imagined and could this be why we have been craving Egg Drop Barley? Now, where can I find my cousin's incredibly delicious "wild rice stuffing recipe?"

Monday, July 9, 2018

Easy Turkey Spinach Burgers





If you are not positive that your pan is completely nonstick, spray it with some Pam cooking spray.

I read a recipe about adding frozen spinach to ground white turkey meat to make turkey spinach burgers. The recipe sounded like a good way to use up extra fresh spinach before it has to be thrown out or another way to use chopped frozen spinach. Here is the recipe:

1 pound of ground white turkey breast (ground without the skin)
1 pkg frozen spinach thawed and squeezed to remove the juice or fresh spinach which has been lightly sauteed in water and chopped. In both cases, remove as much liquid from the spinach as possible.
6-9 leaves of fresh basil or your favorite fresh herb cut up (in winter I use my fresh frozen basil or sage)
2 Tablespoons of panko bread crumbs if the mixture seems too thin.
Black pepper (optional)

Mix ground turkey with the chopped cooled sauteed spinach or thawed frozen spinach, basil, pepper and panko bread crumbs.

Notice, mixture may be thinner than for a regular turkey burger.

Use the mixture to make the burgers, I made them thick as wanted them to fit into the pan. I made 6 thick burgers and will reheat leftovers for tomorrow night's dinner when I plan to serve them with microwaved fresh sweet potatoes.

Cook high at first (#9) on my electric cook top and lower the heat (#5) and cover the pan. After about 15 minutes check the underside of a burger, if it is crusty, turn all the burgers to the other side. If you turn them too early, they will stick to the pan rather than have the crust stick to the burger. Continue cooking for another 15 minutes if the burgers are thick (#4). Cut into a thick burger to be certain it is completely cooked.

My husband loves anything roasted or cooked to the max. Just seeing this crust enticed him to want to try one!

Tuesday, July 3, 2018

Easy Strawberry Salad Dressing


I found a recipe on the internet for an easy strawberry salad dressing and will take photos as soon as I serve it.
The photograph below is double the recipe.



The dressing tastes delicious. It has more oil in it than I would normally use and I will eventually find a nondairy substitute for some of the oil, but for now, I will use it sparingly.

Here are the ingredients

4 large fresh strawberries cut up
2 T white vinegar
2 T honey
1/3 cup canola or other mild tasting oil

Mix the above in a blender until it is a smooth pink. I immediately doubled the recipe once I tasted it.

Enjoy!