Potato Perogies

I have not been back to the multi-cultural community kitchen for a long while. This is because Minoo is having new groups of people, mostly new immigrants and she’s demonstrating very basic recipes which I had mostly covered in the blog already.

Out of the blue, Minoo asked me if I would like to come to the Gilmore Park Church Community Kitchen because one of the member is going to demonstrate a couple of Ukrainian recipes. Of course I’m more than happy to attend. It’s always nice to learn from another culture.

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For this kitchen, Joe (the gentleman in the above photo) demonstrated how to make Potato Perogies and Borcht soup. Thank you, Joe for sharing with us.

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Minoo served the Potato Perogies with a simple greens salad.

Ingredients

Dough

  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 egg, beaten

Filing

  • 3 large potatoes
  • 1 small sweet onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 400g cheddar cheese, grated
  • 2 tablespoons butter

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P/S:

  • missing from the photo are the potatoes. onion and garlic;
  • ingredients not for this recipe are the lemon juice, ground pepper, half & half

Source: Joe

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Vegetarian Bean and Apple Cassoulet

Michelle prepared a Vegetarian Bean and Apple Cassoulet for the main course for the South Arm Older Adults Cooking Club.

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Original cassoulet is loaded with meat. This is a vegetarian version where protein is substituted with white beans. This dish can be made in less than half an hour if you use canned beans, but Michelle prefers the texture of the cooked, dried beans with some planing ahead as the dried beans will cook faster after soaking in boiling water for overnight.

Serve with crostini or slices of baguette alongside.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups dried beans (Zuni or other white beans) or 3 canned white beans, drained
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 onion, peeled and diced
  • 2 carrots peeled and diced
  • 2 celery stalks, diced
  • 2 medium Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed and diced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 apple, peeled and diced
  • 4 sprigs thyme, stripped from stem or 1 teaspoon dried one
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 cups vegetable stock
  • 1 cup apple cider or unsweetened apple juice
  • optional: cooked bacon (veggie or pork for the carnivores!)

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Source: mintgreenapron.blogspot.com

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Potato Garlic Soup

You would not believe that the next superfood featured in the South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors is garlic.

The benefits of garlic extracted from webmd include:

  • boosting immune system
  • anti-viral, antibacterial, antifungal
  • high level of Vitamin C
  • cancer prevention: for example, National Cancer Institute study found that 2 teaspoons of garlic, onions or chives a day was associated with lower risk of prostate cancer

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This Potato Garlic Soup does have a strong garlic flavour. It is a creamy and thick soup.

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth or more
  • 2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
  • 6 large garlic cloves, peeled
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped chives for garnishing
  • 2 teaspoons fresh thyme or 3/4 teaspoon dried
  • salt and pepper to taste

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Source: adapted from epicurious.com

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Creamy Dill Potato Salad

The South Arm Seniors’ Kitchen prepared another salad for the last session. We had more food than usual because we had all the participants to attend this last session. There were 11 participants for this kitchen.

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This potato salad is creamy and the dill adds a good flavour to it.

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds new potatoes
  • 1 small red onion, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
  • 1/4 cup tightly packed chopped fresh dillweed
  • 2 teaspoons chopped parsley
  • 4 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 tub (8 oz) container sour cream
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

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Source: via Colleen

Tip: to make this a more quilt free spud salad, you can substitute the mayonnaise with Greek yogurt.

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Potato Salmon Patties

Colleen prepared a seafood dish for the South Arm Seniors Kitchen. It was brought up in the previous kitchen that we seldom cook seafood in the kitchen. One of the main reason is the cost. So, for this kitchen, Colleen picked a recipe which uses can salmon which is low in cost.

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This is a great recipe to use leftover food like mashed potatoes and salmon.

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Pastel de Papa (Argentinean Potato Pie)

In the South Arm Community Kitchen, Minoo demonstrated this Pastel de Papa dish, especially for Emily. Emily had requested recipes for potatoes as her son loves potatoes. Unfortunately, on the day of the demonstration, Emily called in sick at the last minute. So, Emily, you can check in here for the recipe.

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I like the name Pastel de Papa. Sounds like Papa’s Pie. Actually it means just Potato Pie in Spanish. This is really similar to Shepherd’s Pie in that it is covered with mashed potatoes.

Pastel de Papa is a popular Argentina food. It is also known as Chilean potato pie which is a staple in that country. It’s a hearty country food and simple to make. This is a great dish for potluck party.

Ingredients

  • 10 to 12 potatoes, peel and cut into chunks
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1 1/2 medium onions, dice
  • 2 tablespoons oils
  • 2 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
  • a large can of diced tomatoes
  • 3 or four eggs
  • 1/2 cup green pitted olives
  • 1/3 cup raisins
  • paprika, salt and pepper to taste
  • chili flakes to taste, optional
  • freshly chopped cilantro, optional
  • few pinches of ground nutmeg

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Source: Minoo

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Cauliflower Potato Soup

The Community Kitchens resumed activities in September.  The first kitchen to kick start is the Senior Cooking Club at South Arm Community Center.

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Minoo and Marian led the first kitchen. Marian will be in-charged of the Senior Cooking Club for the next 4 weeks as I was told. The recipes for this kitchen were sourced by Marian. The first recipe was Cauliflower Potato Soup.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 tablespoon butter
  • 1/4 cup chopped onion
  • 4 cups cubed potatoes, about 5 medium potatoes
  • 1/2 cup chopped celery
  • 1/2 cauliflower, cut into flowerets
  • 6 cups of water or chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup cream or soy milk, optional
  • pinch of nutmeg
  • salt and pepper to taste

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P/S: the garlic is not supposed to be in the above photo

Source: unknown via Marian

Yields: 4 to 6 servings

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Potato and Greens with Roasted Garlic Salad

Besides the bok choy dishes, Minoo also prepared a hearty salad for the South Arm Community Kitchen. The highlight of this salad is in the use of roasted garlic. Garlic is used in almost every culture as a home remedy to treat parasites, infections and even high blood pressure.

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This Potato and Greens with Roasted Garlic Salad has all the necessary food groups in it. It can be served a brunch item.

Ingredients

  • 2 or 3 whole garlic bulb
  • 8 large free-range eggs, hard boiled
  • 2 pounds red potatoes
  • 1 bag of mix greens, wash and dry
  • 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • pinch of dry thyme

Dressing:

  • 2 cups kefir (a bubbly fermented milk product)
  • 8 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • Herbamare to taste
  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

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Herbamare is blend of organic celery, leek, watercress, onions, chives, parsley, lovage, garlic, basil, marjoram, rosemary, thyme, and kelp.

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Source: Minoo

Prep time: 40 minutes;  Serves 8

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Herbed Potato Soup

This Herbed Potato Soup is Minoo’s favourite. It’s quick and easy and freezes well. Minoo always has homemade frozen food in her freezer. She said she does not know how to make small batches of food. She always has left over which she freezes them for busy day. Soup is one food that freezes well.

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This Herbed Potato Soup is definitely great for cold winter days. This recipe is adapted from www.allrecipes.com.

Prep time: 10 mins; Cook time: 20 mins; Serves 6.

Ingredients

  • 2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 2 cups water or chicken broth
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt, or taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 1/2 cups milk

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Green Beans and Potatoes in Chunky Tomato Sauce

For the side dish, Paul and Frances made Green Beans and Potatoes in Chunky Tomato Sauce. For this recipe, we used canned whole tomatoes. If you prefer fresh tomatoes, this is how to peel the skin easily. Make a small X on the bottom side of the tomato with a sharp knife. Place tomato in boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove tomato using a slotted spoon; immediately submerge in a bowl of icy cold water. Let stand for one minute. Skin should pull off easily with a sharp knife.

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The green beans are cooked perfectly and they are tender and yet still crisp.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 1/2 cups diced red potato
  • 1/2 cup chopped celery
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/4 pounds green beans, trimmed
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro or 1/4 cup chopped basil
  • 3/4 pound plum tomatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped (or drain and chop 1 1/2 cups canned whole tomatoes)
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

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This Green Beans and Potatoes in Chunky Tomato Sauce is adapted from Cooking Light, and it serves 8.

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