Food and Wine Blog by Azat Aslanyan

 Today I wanted to wish my dad and all the fathers out there a very happy fathers day.

We made Russian Piroshki this morning and here is the recipe

dough
1 package active dry yeast (.25 ounce package)
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup milk
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups all-purpose flour

Dissolve the yeast in the 1/4 cup of warm water and place in a warm location until frothy, about 10 to 15 minutes. In a medium saucepan over low heat, warm the milk and gently whisk in the eggs, oil, sugar and salt. Remove from heat.

Place half the flour in a large mixing bowl and gradually stir in the milk mixture. Then add the yeast solution alternately with the remaining flour, stirring after each addition. Mix well. Knead until the dough forms a ball and does not stick to the bowl. (Note: Start with the 4 cups of flour. You may need to add more, a little at a time, as you knead the dough). Cover the bowl with a clean cloth. Set in a warm location and allow to rise until doubled in volume.

Remove dough from bowl and place on a lightly floured surface. Pinch off pieces approximately the size of golf balls. Roll the pieces into disks about 3 1/2 to 4 inches in diameter.

But to be honest I have only made it from scratch maybe 5-10 times in my life…

I just go and buy the pizza dough from Trader Joes or the frozen bread dough from super market

For the filling I use the following today I used
1 lb potatoes, peeled and mashed
2 table spoons of butter
1 med onion, chopped – fried
1/2 -3/4 lb sauerkraut, drained
2 tbsp caraway seeds
1 table spoon of paprika
salt and pepper to taste.(i like to add some Aleppo peppers as I love spicy food)

I also make a filling with cheese often
1 lb cheese half feta/half farmers cheese(tvorog)
small bunch of dill, parsley and tarragon chopped(do it to taste)
pinch of black pepper
I sometimes add a small amount of mozzarella as well but thats optional

My mom would also make it with ground meat but i have never done one.

I like them deep fried but its popular the the health conscious crowd to make the piroshki, put a coating of egg and cook it in the oven.

Second recipe for the day.  Another very healthy salad that very easy to make.  Lentil Salad

This is one of my favorite salad. It’s simple, fast and delicious.  There are man variations of this salad from country to country but I have two variations and the only difference is if you add tomatoes or not

Ingredients
2 cups cooked lentils
1/8 cup olive oil
1 big bunch of fresh cilantro
3-4 strings of green onion
1 medium size garlic clove
1/4 tsp red crushed chili pepper
1 tsp cumin
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
1 large tomato seeded and diced(Optional)

Directions
Place lentils in a mixing bowl. Chop the cilantro, green onions and the garlic(easier to just press the garlic), mix all ingredients well, adjust seasoning and enjoy.  If you like the taste of good tomatoes you can chop a large tomato into 1/8 cubes after seeding it.

Its been a really rough week and I feel like walking away from all things but I know its not an option…  So I will blog couple of recipes and a wine I had with a couple of friends at Palate Wine Bar.

These recipes are super duper easy… and I LOVE both of the and that are really good for your health.

First recipe for the day is Jajik, Tsatsiki, Akroshka

Armenians call is Jajik, Greeks know it as Tsatsiki, and Russians call it Aksoshka.  Its eaten all over the middle east and eastern Europe.

The jajik is a typical Greek recipe that can be a cream but in Armenia you will find half the time it to be a drink.  We mix it with cold water and drink it on a hot summer day.  You can use it as a creamy sauce for dipping veggies or chips(especially Pita chips) but you can also use it as a sauce for a sandwich.  Its very versatile and very simple.

INGREDIENTS:
8oz yogurt type “Greek”(I highly recommend Fage that you can buy from Trader Joes and Whole Food)
1 cucumber(Persian cucumbers are the best but you can use any
Half clove garlic
pinch of Salt to taste
2 TB chopped baby dill
2 TB chopped green onion
1 TB Olive oil

Peel the cucumber and cut into very fine strips.  Now dice the cucumber. Take a bowl and pour in the yogurt blended with a tablespoon of olive oil, a teaspoon of salt, medium clove garlic crushed and the finely chopped herbs. Mix all ingredients by hand until everything is well coated with yogurt.  Store it in the fridge for an hour and serve…

Interesting trivia for all.  It was an Armenian family who introduced yogurt to the Americas…

Im so embarrassed I have not writing anything here for a while.   Shame on me.

I promise to try to do much more but to tell you the truth it has been a crazy few months.  First I lost my job given a 2 month time to turn over thing to others. then I got another job at Fox where I work now and have to build a brand new team from scratch.  Went on a great vacation a week after starting(I’ll upload some pictures later) and just been meeting people.

One quick story on how small the world is then I want to write about a great recipe we and my cousin Lusi made today.
Last Thursday I was going to San Francisco for a day because I have a small team up there that I work with.  While at the security line at the Burbank airport I noticed that Dion(former Spot Runner colleague) was in line as well.  After the check we spoke for about 10 minutes and I had to run to my plain.  On the way back from Oakland we were delayed for few hours and who do I see in Line trying to get info on the flight its Benson(another colleague from Spot Runner).  We sat on the flight together and chatted about the great times at SR.  What a small world…

Couple of nights back exchanging some URLs with my cousin from my friends blog(Nanciful) we landed on another blog by Pam Aghababian called Cave Cibum on specifically a recipe for an old Armenian(some say Turkish) recipe called Sou Boreg.  We decided to make the layered pasta dish today from scratch.  LOTS and LOTS of work but great fun.  Its very simple but lots of work.

Here are the pics.

And this is the ingredients and recipe
Filling
1lb Feta
1/2lb Mozzarella

Dough
5 Eggs
2oz cup water
Pinch of salt
2 1/2 cups of flour

2 sticks of butter melted

Mix the dough ingredients and let the dough rest for 30 minutes

chop the cheese coarsely(1/8 inch cubes or smaller)

Separate the dough into 8 equal size balls.  Roll the dough into a paper thin sheets.  In boiling water cook each sheet for 1 minute and put it in cold water to stop the cooking.  Place it in a pan, brush good amount of butter on each sheet.  After doing this with four sheets, spread the cheese evenly.  Top it with 4 more sheets of dough and butter each including the top.

Once done put it in a preheated oven(350 degrees) for 45 minutes.

Simple huh?  It took us 2.5 hours but it was GREAT fun.

Thanks Pam for the inspiration…  I love your blog and have to find more things to try out

Today I will be making Choreg.  Its the traditional Armenian Easter bread very similar to the Greek Tsoureki as well as the Italian Panettone except we dont put dried fruit in the bread. I have seen it be called Guluria as well. For Easter Armenians and Greeks will also put cooked and colored egg in the pastry and knit it but I like to do the easy way.  the traditional bread shape.

The recipe comes from my mom and she use to make it for us every single Easter.  My sister and I get together and make it now since she passed away 5 years back. I went shopping for the ingredients this AM and every time I do that I keep thinking this cannot be health or taste good but it really is Very tasty. Im sure not too good for you as its so rich

Here is her recipe. I will take pics tonight and add them later but for now I’m including couple of pics from another site…

Choreg
Preparation of the yeast
1 Liter warm milk
2 Packages of yeast
2 Table spoons of sugar
Add flour such that the mixture has the consistency more watery of biscuit dough

Leave it in a warm place for 40 minutes

Dough
1 Kilo sugar
Pinch of salt
Tea spoon of vanilla extract
16 Eggs
Mix all together and add on top of the sugar
1.1to 1.2 Kilo of Butter(take majority out) add to the egg mixture
Add yeast mixture
3 Kilograms of flour add slowly to the mixture while mixing.
Add the extra butter fistful at a time for the next 40-60 minutes
Leave it overnight

Prior to cooking the balls should allow to rise for 2-3 hours.

This recipe is for my friend Nancy.  Sorry its a bit late but been a bit distracted because of work. I have also seen Pork Loin cooked like this. In fact at the Little Door its one of their specialties that everyone loves unfortunately I have never tried it before because I dont eat meat or chicken. Here is the recipe. the pictures are form a Spanish website I found

Ingredients for 2 servings
- 1 line-caught Sea Bass or Trout.  Not too large
- 6 lb.coarse Salt
- 3 1/2 oz. lemongrass leaves or bay leaves depending which flavor you prefer
- 4 tbsp. black Peppercorns
- 2 tbsp. coriander seed
- Dried fennel, tied in a small piece of cheesecloth
- 3 1/2 oz. parsley stems
- 2 Egg whites and 1/4 cup of water

Method
-Clean the fish, remove the gills and cut off the fins with scissors. Do not scale the fish.(important as we are not going to eat the skin in this recipe
-Finely chop 1 3/4 oz. lemongrass.
-Stuff the sea bass with the dried fennel, parsley stems and the remaining lemon grass.
(if using the bay leaf stuff 4-5 leaves in the belly and the rest on the bottom and top of the fish)
-Combine the salt with the peppercorns and coriander seed, chopped lemongrass and egg whites and water to form a workable mixture.
-Heat the oven to 450° F. Have ready a baking sheet and a piece of parchment paper twice as large as the fish.
-Place the parchment paper on the baking sheet and with some of the salt mixture form a base on which to place the fish. Make sure to place the fish on top of the salt base and close the top part of the cut belly on top of the bottom so salt does not get into the belly.
-Enclose the fish in the remaining salt mixture, molding the salt into a shape identical to that of the fish.  Leave only the head and tail open(an inch on each side)
-With a knife, trim the parchment paper all around the fish. Check that the mixture is smooth and adhering well to the fish. Gently place in the oven. After 15-20 minutes(depending how well you like the fish cooked), remove from the oven and let rest 5 minutes longer in the salt.

Presentation
-Present the fish to your guests on a platter, then cut off the salt using a serrated knife. Cut up the fish and serve.  Use the knife to remove the skin as well as it will be salty and the flakes are on it to remove it much easier

Today Im going to write 2 blog entries.  First one is a salad that I just made and second is a great bottle of wine…

Stetson Chopped salad  is a salad that I kind of stole the idea from a restaurant in Scottsdale Arizona called Cowboy Ciao.  I first tried the salad few years back when I was there with a bunch of friends.  We went to see the Packers play the Cardinals(This is many years back when the Pac was great and Cardinals sucked, yet they beat the Pac that game).  Anyways our first night we when to Cowboy Ciao and I had the salad.  I loved it so much that I went back the second night just for the salad.  And I have been back one other time when we were visiting family is the Phoenix area.  I have made the salad a few time.  Initially it was not as good nut nowadays it comes out perfect.

here is the recipe I used today.  serves 8, adjust the recipe based on how many you are cooking for

Ingredients:
4 cups cooked Israeli couscous
2 cups shopped smoked salmon
2 cups roasted corn kernels
1 cup grated asiago cheese
1 cup pepitas (salted roasted pumpkin seeds)
1 cup dried currant
1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes
2 cups chopped arugula

Pesto Dressing :
1/2 cup basil pesto
1 cup aioli
1 shallot, roughly chopped
1 cup buttermilk
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 teaspoon coarse black pepper
Salt to taste
Step #1 Layer salad ingredients in large bowl.

Step #2 To make dressing, add first 3 ingredients of the Dressing to food processor/blender & mix thoroughly.
Step #3 With motor running pour in buttermilk and lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste

Step #4 Dress salad as desired, tossing to mix in front of guests.