Dear TEAM: Would you please send me a recipe for Ukrainian Easter bread? My mother made one with saffron, lemon rind and lemon juice. The ones I’ve found on the internet use too much butter and eggs. Perhaps you have one that is more like the one my mother used to make in Saskatchewan? – L.H., Norquay, Sask.
Dear L.H: I hope this adapted Easter bread recipe is like the one your mother used to bake. The Ukrainian country babka is not as rich as some. Some babkas may have as many as 30 eggs; this has only six. Still, it does have a cup of butter.
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Ukrainian country babka
2 teaspoons white 10 mL
sugar
1/2 cup lukewarm water 125 mL
2 envelopes active dry yeast 1 cup milk, scalded 250 mL
and cooled
1 cup all-purpose flour 250 mL
6 eggs
1 teaspoon salt 5 mL
1 cup white sugar 250 mL
1 cup butter, melted 250 mL
2 tablespoons lemon 30 mL
zest
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice 2 mL
trace saffron
51/2 cups flour 1.3 L
1 cup raisins 250 mL
In a small bowl, combine two teaspoons (10 mL) sugar, water, yeast, milk and one cup (250 mL) flour. Mix until well blended, cover and allow to rise in a warm place until light and bubbly, about 30 minutes.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs, salt and white sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the melted butter, lemon, zest and juice and saffron. Add the yeast mixture. Stir, then gradually mix in the flour. Knead in the bowl for about 10 minutes, then knead in the raisins. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume.
Punch down the dough and knead for two turns, then let it rise again. Grease four smaller coffee cans with soft butter or use a bundt pan. Fill the prepared pans about a third full and let rise until the dough is even with the rim. Preheat the oven to 400 F (200 C).
Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, then turn down the temperature to 350 F (180 C). Continue baking the bread for another 40 minutes. Avoid letting the top get too brown. If it begins to brown too quickly, cover the top with aluminum foil. Remove baked loaves from the pans and cool on a wire rack.
Source: Adapted from the recipe in www.allrecipescom.
Homemade soup
I like to make homemade lentil soups. The soup varies each time, depending on the vegetables I have in the fridge, whether I decide to use ground venison or beef and the kind of lentils I choose to cook. Today I started with carrot juice because I did not feel like drinking the bottled carrot juice I had purchased. This recipe will also be a great way to use up excess carrots in the fall. Quantities are approximate, but close to what I used. Sometimes I precook lentils, preslice or chop vegetables, precook ground meat and put it in freezer bags for quick additions to soups, stews and casseroles. I like to experiment with the spices, and as I said, the soup never tastes the same way twice.
Barb’s lentil vegetable soup
4 cups carrot juice 1 L
4 cups water 1 L
1 can (26 oz.) diced 750 mL
tomatoes
1 cup cooked red 250 mL
lentils
2 cups chopped 500 mL
onions
2 cups cooked ground 500 mL
beef
2 medium potatoes, chopped 1 cup frozen or fresh 250 mL
spinach, chopped
1 tablespoon chives 15 mL
1/2 teaspoon bay leaf 2 mL
1/2 teaspoon thyme 2 mL
1/2 teaspoon basil 2 mL
1/2 teaspoon oregano 2 mL
1/2 teaspoon cayenne 2 mL
1/2 teaspoon salt 2 mL
1/4 teaspoon ground 1 mL
pepper
First, fry the chopped onions and ground beef. Into a large slow cooker, put the carrot juice, water, diced tomatoes, cooked lentils, onions and ground beef. Chop the potatoes and spinach and add to the soup. Add the spices experimenting to get the flavour you like. Cook for eight hours or longer. Pour into bowls, and top with shredded cheddar cheese.
I like to collect favourite recipes from friends. Such is the case with the following.
Mom’s scones
Makes about 29 scones.
We were visiting friends in Edmonton recently and tasted these delicious scones that our friend, Lorraine, makes on a regular basis. Her mother made them for years, and her daughter has continued the tradition.
3 cups flour 750 mL
1 cup white sugar 250 mL
1 tablespoon baking 15 mL
powder
1 cup butter 250 mL
1 cup raisins or 250 mL
craisins
1/2 cup milk 125 mL
2 egg whites
2 egg yolks
Blend together flour, sugar, baking powder and butter. Add raisins, milk and stiffly beaten egg whites. Roll to about a half inch (one cm) thick. Glaze with egg yolk. Cut and bake at 425 F (220 C) for 10 minutes.
Source: Mrs. E.J. Scissons, Cathedral Cookbook, St. Paul’s CWL, Saskatoon, Sask.
Barbara Sanderson is a home economist from Rosetown, Sask., and one of four columnists comprising Team Resources. Send correspondence in care of this newspaper, Box 2500, Saskatoon, Sask., S7K 2C4 or contact them at team@producer.com.
