Buckwheat Pancakes recipe, My grandmother’s staple food

My maternal grandmother always like buckwheat , in the form of pancakes.  My mother recalls that my grandfather made the pancakes on the weekends, adding sliced apples to it.  I am like a sponge wanting to know more details.  My mother added that there was a lady who had a store that sold the kids pieces of fudge for 2 cents a piece.  We have come a long way from those days.  Maybe 70 years ago, buckwheat was the predominant staple.  My mom said that there wasn’t much money for meat when she was growing up. Buckwheat  is high in protein, B vitamins, Folacin, Niacin, calcium.  I’m learning that it is much more nutritious than the boxes of “pancake mix ” that is commonly sold in grocery stores today.  Although , you can find Buckwheat pancake mix  in specialty stores like Stonewall kitchen ( in Vermont), a blueberry pancake mix with both whole wheat and corn flours in it or at Whole Foods in Princeton, NJ. 

Buckwheat pancakes Recipe:

Buckwheat flour,  Grind your own from buckwheat bran.

Use 1 cup white flour for every 2 cups buckwheat flour.

Into large bowl, Sift the flours together, than add 1 cup of water .

In small bowl, beat 2 eggs, then add to the flours.  Whisk by hand the flours, water and beaten eggs. You can add 4-5 TBSP of olive oil.

Ratio: 3 cups flour ( combo of buckwheat and white), 3 cups water , 2 -3 eggs.

Cover and let the mix rest in the frig for several hours or at least one hour.

Cook the crepes or pancakes on a cast iron pan that was very lightly oiled; it should not be visibly full of oil or butter.

Using a ladle, pour the buckwheat batter all at once onto the hot cast iron pan.

Wait for the pancake to cook on top until it looks dry and the edges start to curl.  Do not lift up the edges of the pancake to check, it will tear/rip the pancake.!!

The fillings can be sweet or savory.   Roll up the crepes with :

Savory: Cooked chicken, ham, Gruyère cheese.

sweet: jam or Serve with chives and a spoonful of sour cream.

Buckwheat Pancakes:

1 cup buckwheat flour

1/2 cup white flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 TBSP brown sugar

1 tsp salt

1 oz vegetable oil

1 egg

1 1/2 cups milk

Mix well.   Pour onto hot griddle.  Yield 6 to 8  ( 6 inch cakes ). 

Another recipe using BUCKWHEAT GROATS:

Good to prepare during the Lenten season.

Source:  Whole Foods website

Kasha Varnishkes

Serves 4 to 6

Kasha Varnishkes, a delightful mixture of sautéed onions, buckwheat groats and bowtie pasta, graces many Jewish holiday tables. This version features caramelized onions and hearty mushrooms.

Ingredients

1 cup whole buckwheat groats
3 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil, divided
1/3 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt to taste
4 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
1/2 pound cremini mushrooms
2 cups dried bowtie pasta
Black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons toasted pumpkin seeds (optional)

Method

Bring 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons water to a boil in a medium pot over high heat. Stir in buckwheat groats, 1/2 teaspoon of the oil, cumin, and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 18 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Warm 2 tablespoons of the remaining oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6 to 8 minutes. Add mushrooms, raise the heat to high, and cook for 4 to 6 more minutes, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat to low, and cook for 10 to 15 more minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions and mushrooms begin to caramelize.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to directions on package. Drain pasta and toss with mushroom mixture.
Lightly fluff the groats with a fork and then stir them into the pasta and mushroom mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with remaining 1 tablespoon oil, parsley, and pumpkin seeds, if using.

Nutrition

Per serving: 310 calories (80 from fat), 9g total fat, 1.5g saturated fat, 9g protein, 52g total carbohydrate (6g dietary fiber, 7g sugar), 0mg cholesterol, 110mg sodium

Tags: Family Friendly, American, Vegetarian, Vegan, Low Sodium, High Fiber, Dairy Free

Recipe-Lithuanian Koshie

Koshie is a potato dish that my mother speaks of fondly that my grandmother used to cook.  Growing up in a small  coal-mining  town,  Koshie was baked in a coal stove.

In Lithuanian :    H”Koshie” yra bulvių patiekalas, kad mano motina kalba apie meile, kad mano močiutė naudojamas ruošti maistą. Augo mažame angliakasybos mieste, Koshie buvo kepami anglies viryklė.

My Aunt Margaret sent me this recipe via the world wide web.

 

“ LITHUANIAN  KOSHI “

   £ 5 bulvės

1 vidutinis svogūnas                                                             2 kiaušiniai
petražolės dribsnių
druskos ir pipirų
1 puodelis augalinio aliejaus

 

 

 

 

 5 pounds potatoes ( Idaho )

1 medium onion

2 Eggs

 

Parsley Flakes

Salt and Pepper, to taste.

 

1 Cup Vegetable Oil

 

 

Peel potatoes and onion.  Rinse and soak in water.  Grate by hand using coarse grater into a pottery bowl.  After grating, remove excess water which accumulates to maintain a smooth batter.  Stir in beaten eggs, parsley flakes, salt and pepper.  Lastly, stir in vegetable oil mixing uniformly.  Pour into large baking pan.  Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for about two hours until crispy on top and sides.  Cool for a few minutes before serving.  Spatula out in squares.

Thanks for  visiting!  Please add your comments. Share your version  of  Lithuanian Koshie or potato kugelis.

From time to time, I see visitors to my blog from Lithuania, please feel free to add your comment about the recipe.

In Lithuanian:

Laikas nuo laiko, matau lankytojai mano dienoraštyje, Lietuva, nedvejodami pridėti savo komentarą apie receptą.

What is the difference between Koshi and Kugelis?

There is another dish called potato pudding (kugelis or kugel).  It is baked in a square pan and has Eastern -European origins.  One source, Wikipedia, states it has both German and Jewish origins.

Here is another way to prepare the potatoes for Kugelis, reposted from http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/109621

Grating the potatoes is time consuming and doesn’t remove enough of the water from the potatoes. My grandmother was born and raised in Lithuania, as well as my mother who didn’t arrive in the U.S. ’till long after the war.
They didn’t grate the potatoes..that doesn’t remove enough water, plus you have to rush to avoid brown discoloration…Instead, they used a powerful juicer..which removes nearly all the liquid neatly and leaves you with a fabulous, finely grated, non-watery potato filling…In addition, they always used 3 lbs. red and 5 or so lbs. of Idaho white potatoes…
It was/is always cooked in a speckled roasting pan…greased with butter…heavily..the richness it provides is unbeatable…of course you have to add the remaining ingredients..lol…but Some people add farina ..ACK!!!Don’t do that!!! Great kugelis isn’t easy to slice… If you make it correctly, …It should be a heavy-thick-pudding texture that is soft, but far from mushy…slightly firm…If you can slice it hot and have it retain a perfect square shape while transferring to the plate with the spatula..you haven’t done it correctly..Don’t knock the juicer till you try it… Removing moisture, grating in 1/2 the time..not too shabby…
Yes, in Lithuania they grated the potatoes..but any good cook can appreciate a new twist..as long as you don’t sacrifice the authenticity of the taste…
Sincerely, Roz

Permalink | Reply

 By Roz on May 16, 2001 04:02 PM

 

Hello everyone, below you will find a link to my  post on Lithuanian heritage and the area that my mother grew up in, in the hills of Pennsylvánia during ” the Great Depression”  titled ” Táles of Wildcat”, . Wildcat was a name of one of the villages near the coal mines.

 

Recipe-Carrot-Potato latkes(pancakes)

https://luvsclassics.wordpress.com/2009/01/20/tales-of-wildcat-pa/

This is a delicious recipe for potato-carrot pancakes.  Since I do not have a food processor, I used a hand grater.  It was so worth the effort of the grating and I burned some calories in the process using my muscles instead of the easy way.  

 RECIPE –Carrot-Potato Latkes                                         Serves 4

For best results, cook the pancakes right after forming them.

Ingredients:

3/4 pound (about 3 medium white potatoes, peeled

8 ounces (about 3 medium carrots, peeled

1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions (about 3 scallions)

coarse salt

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/4 cup matzo meal ( I substituted crushed saltine crackers)

1/4 cup vegetable oil, for frying

1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream, for serving (optional).

Directions:

1.  In a food processor fitted with a fine-hole grating attachment (or on the small holes of a box grater), grate potatoes and carrots.  Transfer to a large 1/1/2 teaspoonsbowl; add scallions and  salt.  Using your hands, mix thoroughly.  Mix in egg and matzo meal until combined

 ded into 8 mounds of equal size.  ( I used a soup-spoon size to dollop out the mounds= appetizer size pancakes.

2.  In a large non-stick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat, swirling to coat bottom of pan.  Add half the potato mounds; flatten each to a 1/2 inch thickness.  Cook until golden brown, 2 to 4 minutes per side.

 

3. Transfer to paper towels or to parchment paper to drain.  Repeat with remaining mounds (reduce temperature to medium if browning too quickly).  Sprinkle with salt, and serve with sour cream, if desired.

I used an Iron skillet and I found the pancakes to brown better that with the non-stick pan, mine is a wok style.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Cookbook source:

Everyday Food    December 2004.

Lithuanian Recipe, Koshie

5 lbs. Potatoes

1 Medium Onion

2  Eggs

 Parsley Flakes

 Salt and Pepper

 1 Cup Vegetable Oil

Peel potatoes and onion.  Rinse and soak in water.  Grate by hand using coarse grater into a pottery bowl.  After grating, remove excess water which accumulates to maintain a smooth batter.  Stir in beaten eggs, parsley flakes, salt and pepper.  Lastly, stir in vegetable oil mixing uniformly.  Pour into large baking pan.  Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for about two hours until crispy on top and sides.  Cool for a few minutes before serving.  Spatula out in squares.

 

To make a smaller amount, cut recipe in half and use a smaller pan.  Cooking time could also be reduced.  You will know when it is done by the brown crust.

Also for making potato pancakes you may use the same recipe but you must add about 1/4 cup of flour to the batter.  Reduce the 1/4 cup when reducing the recipe.  (You may have to adjust the flour if the batter in making potato pancakes if the batter is too loose.)

My aunt says to “Let me know when you are cooking and I will come for dinner.  These are my two favorite foods.

Comments:  

 Hello and welcome ,dear readers.  Your comments are always appreciated.  I’m curious if you have a similar recipe to share of the foods from Pennsylvania.   

Please post in the comments one  of your recipes, thank-you. 

A recent visitor stopped by  from Scranton, Pa. thanks for visiting.

SEASONED POTATO SAUCE 
Èiolakas

4 potatoes, peeled
2 onions, finely chopped
1 cup potato water
powdered bay leaf
fresh dill, several sprigs finely chopped
scallion greens, finely chopped
pepper and salt to taste

Cook potatoes in salted water. Save some cooking water. Mash cooked potatoes, add onions crushed with salt, mix well. Add pepper, bay leaf and 1 cup potato cooking water. Blend well.
This is traditionally served with hot potatoes as a late afternoon snack, in Dzškija, the south eastern region of Lithuania.

Here is another Lithuanian Recipe found on the internet;  I have a love of mushrooms which  comes from my mother;

MUSHROOM SAUCE 
Grybainis

1/2 l (2 cups) salted or fresh mushrooms
2 cups milk
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cooked potato
salt and pepper to taste

Cook salted or fresh mushrooms in milk. Saute onion in oil until golden brown. In a food processor, process cooked mushrooms and potato, add fried onion, process again. Add salt and pepper to taste.

GRATED POTATO CAKE  
Kugelis

1 k (2 lbs) potatoes, peeled
1 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
2 onions, finely chopped
salt to taste
butter or oil for frying onion

Grate potatoes, remove some of the potato juice, tilt the bowl and spoon off the collected juice. Bring milk to a boil and pour over the grated potatoes. This is done to disperse potato starch through the grated potatoes. Fry onion and mix into potatoes, add eggs and salt and mix well. Pour the mixture into a medium depth, greased baking dish and bake in a preheated oven at 350F/180C, until the top is well browned.
Cut into squares and serve with bacon fried with onions and sour cream.

Lithuanian Recipe- Kugelis

This recipe can be described as a giant baked  hashbrown.

Recipe:

4 large potatoes, grated

1/2 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 onion, minced

3 eggs, beaten slightly

3 teaspoons salt

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup half and half

Directions:

Grate potatoes.     Mix with the remaining ingredients.   Bake in a 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan in a 400 degree F. oven  for 20 minutes.   Reduce heat to 350 degrees F.  and bake 50 minutes more   or until  potatoes are browned;  a nice crust on top. 

Serves 4  

Note:

Recipe from :  The Cobblestone Inn  located in Carmel-By-the Sea, California.   The chef’s Sharon Miller’s great-great grandmother’s recipe.

  My mother’s family gmother and great grandmother of Lithuanian heritage also made a baked dish similar to this called “Co-shee”.

Baking Cookies

Everybody loves home-baked cookies. I brought some of these to work on the dayshift on Christmas Eve. ” Ohh, a x-mas present shaped cookie”, ” a santa face”. “Share a cookie with me.”

Cookie cuters and x-mas cookies

Self-Portrait, cookies in background

I love to wear that light blue apron when I bake. Can you find aprons such as these where you live? This one I bought a long time ago. I have a collection of aprons; one is gingham pink and white checks with the “x” cross stitches, I learned that when I was in 4-H sewing club as a child. That grey grid small basket in the pic is filled with many cookie cutter shapes such as a house, umbrella, cow, unicorn, maple leaf, music note. Some of these are on top of my kitchen cabinets in a collection of round tins. There is a blue round tin labeled just for gingerbread cutters.

LITHUANIAN Recipe, Kapusta

Lithuanian Recipe, Kapusta:  Pork and Cabbage soup

This soup recipe comes from maternal grandmother, Anna and her mother Margaret Puscavage of Pennsylvania. My mother recorded this recipe for her friends at work( International Recipes-1993). My mother was raised during The Great Depression in the 1930’s in rural coal mining towns. They baked breads from scratch as well as soups.
Good recipe to keep in mind for the soon to be approaching fall weather.
A part of my heritage is Lithuanian.

Kapoosta
Pork and Cabbage Soup

2 lbs of spare ribs cut in several pieces
1 1/2 quarts of water
salt & pepper to taste
1 large onion chopped
1 bay leaf (optional)
1 1/2 cups shredded cabbage
1/4 cup wine vinegar
1 28 ounce can tomatoes
1 medium onion minced

Directions:
Put the spare ribs in a large soup pot and cover the spareribs with water.
Add to the pot the salt, pepper, chopped onion and bay leaf.
Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and let simmer for 1 and 1/2 hours until the meat is tender and falling off the bones.
Remove the meat from the bones, chop it, and set aside.
Add the shredded cabbage to the broth and boil 5 minutes. Add the vinegar, tomatoes, and minced onion and Simmer for 20 minutes or until cabbage is tender.
Then add the chopped pork back to the pot. Season to taste and let the pork heat through.

Addendum:    May 18,2009

Hello visitors  from around the world.  Welcome!!!!!

Perhaps you have a recipe similar to mine.     Please add your version of the recipe under comments, thank-you.

Please sign my guest book and post a photo.

www.pencilsandbooks.wordpress.com

February 26, 2011

Wishing a wonderful Welcome to all who stop by to view this recipe.  Please ask my permission before reposting this recipe or any other.!!!!!  ♥    ♥

   I like to hear about other versions of this family recipe and if you prepared  this recipe.   

My maternal great grandmother and grandmother