Desserts

Manti (Armenian Dumpling)

Ingredients:

Meat:

• 2 ½ lb ground round • 1 finely chopped onion or dried onion flakes • Fresh garlic or dried garlic powder to taste • Dried parsley flakes • Salt and pepper • Ketchup • Paprika

Dough:

• 6 ½ cups flour • 2 eggs, beaten • 2 cups warm water • 4 tbsp butter, melted

Directions:

• Prepare meat the night before. Season meat to taste.

Mix all meat ingredients together well, then cover and refrigerate overnight. • In a large pot, melt butter. Add eggs, warm water and flour and mix well. Make sure bowl wipes clean. May have to add a little extra flour. Make into separate balls.

Cover and let sit for 1 hour. • Roll dough very thin. Use pizza cutter to cut into squares. Put a little meat in the center and pinch both ends of dough to close ends, resembling a little boat. Lay out on wax paper. • When done, melt ½ stick of butter and brush on baking sheet. Line up Manti on baking sheet. Bake at 350°F until golden brown and crispy. After it cools you can bag and freeze Manti for later use. • You can serve as a soup with chicken broth and garlic and can serve with plain yogurt.

Armenian Green Beans

Ingredients:

• 4 generous tbsp extra virgin olive oil • ½ small onion, chopped • ½ clove garlic, minced • 1 cup diced tomatoes • 1 lb green beans • 2 tbsp tomato paste • Salt and pepper to taste • 1 cup water

Directions:

• Sauté onions in olive oil 5-10 minutes. • Add tomato, garlic, salt and pepper. • Add tomato paste and water. Bring to a boil. • Add green beans and cook until done (about 15 minutes).

Contributor: Arpy Minasian, P’22, P’23 (Sareen & Nare Minasian)

69 Entrées & Main Dishes

Desserts

Contribution by the STEM Department

Around 10,000 years ago, humans discovered that by fermenting milk you could turn it into yogurt, something that is more transportable, lasts longer, and digests easier. In the 1600s, a new cooking apparatus called the “bone digester” (pressure cooker) allowed you to cook things faster while enhancing the flavor. When the 1800s came around, a scientist named Eben Horsford discovered that adding an acid with sodium bicarbonate creates baking powder. Soon enough scientific and kitchen minds started to collaborate, and new creations were made in the culinary world. As you can see, many of the fundamental cooking techniques and ingredients we use today are products of scientific discoveries. There’s a great deal of science involved in cooking, and the more you know about it, the better a cook you can be. Understanding the transformations that proteins go through under different levels of heat will tell you whether a particular piece of meat should be seared, roasted or braised. Knowing how emulsions work will help you fix a sauce that has gone wrong or help you produce a better vinaigrette.

Many people have made the distinction that baking is more science-based than cooking savory foods, and in a way, they’re right. Baking is all about specific ratios. Bread mixed at 65% hydration will have a different texture and rise than one mixed at 70%. But all those ratios are just tools for the creative baker. Sure, you can memorize ratios of flour, fat, sugar and liquid to make muffins, cookies and cakes. But technique is also important, as is improvisation. Yes, you can improvise when baking. You just have to do it before you put everything in the oven. So maybe baking requires a bit more care and precise measurements than throwing together a stew with whatever meat, herbs, spices and vegetables you happen to have on hand. That doesn’t make it less creative or less of an art. In fact, it can be more so, because given the exact same ingredients, an experienced baker who knows just how to work with them will turn out a superior product every time. Just like a good cook.

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Cheoreg (Armenian Sweet Bread)

Ingredients:

• ½ cup butter • ½ cup Crisco • 1 tsp salt • 1 cup milk • 1 cup sugar • 5 eggs • 6 cups flour • 2 packages dry yeast • 1 tbsp black seeds • 1 tsp mahleb (Mediterranean stores will have these.) • Sesame seeds for sprinkling

Directions:

• Mix yeast with 1 tsp sugar and ¼ cup warm water in cup, stir then set aside until it rises. • Meanwhile, melt butter and shortening in large pot on low heat. Add salt, milk and sugar. Turn off flame. Keep mixture lukewarm, not too hot. Add beaten eggs, black seeds and mahleb. Mix well, then add risen yeast. • Move pot to table. Add flour gradually, stirring frequently. Stir well. Knead dough well in pot. Add vegetable oil on hands as needed while kneading dough until dough is not sticky. Cover pot and let stand in warm place for 3 hours until dough doubles in size. (You can also make the dough the night before and let it sit overnight.) • On floured table, roll out dough and form into different shapes, such as braids or twists. Place on baking sheet. Let rise again for 1 hour. Brush top with egg wash (1 whole egg and 3 yolks).

Sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Bake at 350°F for 20-30 minutes until the tops are golden brown.

Kurabia (Armenian/Greek walnut powdered cookies)

Ingredients:

• ½ lb clarified butter • 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted • 1 ¾ to 2 cups flour, sifted • 1 cup finely ground walnuts

Contributor:

Arpy Minasian, P’22, P’23 (Sareen & Nare Minasian)

Desserts

Directions:

• Cream butter very well. • Add sugar slowly, beating until creamy. • Gradually add walnuts and flour, mixing until dough is like putty and pliable. • Roll small amounts of dough into round shapes and place on ungreased cookie sheets leaving space between. • Bake in preheated 350°F oven for 12-15 minutes until golden brown around the edges. Do not overbake. • Place on wire racks to cool, and sprinkle will confectioners’ sugar. • Store in covered container.

Yields two dozen or more depending on size.

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Six-Layer Honey Cake (Ukrainian)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups honey • ½ teaspoons cinnamon • 1 cup sugar • 1 teaspoon allspice • 8 cups flour • 1 teaspoon nutmeg • 8 ounces butter, softened • 2 teaspoons baking soda • 2 large eggs • ½ cup milk • 1 teaspoons ginger • 1 tablespoon raisins (optional) • 1 teaspoon coffee

Chocolate frosting & filling:

• 4 squares baking chocolate • 1 cup powdered sugar • ½ cup milk • 2 sticks butter • 6 egg yolks

Directions:

• Cook honey and sugar until sugar is dissolved. • Remove from heat and add 4 cups flour. Allow to cool. • Add butter; mix well. Beat eggs until light and add to batter. • Add ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and raisins. • Dissolve baking soda in milk; add to butter and mix well. • Add remaining 4 cups of flour. Mix well with wooden spoon. • Cover dough and let stand for 2 weeks in a cool, dry place (do not refrigerate). Baking dough: Divide dough into 12 equal parts. Roll each part out to ⅛-inch thickness. • Place on a lightly buttered pan and prick with fork. • Bake 15 minutes at 250°F. • After cooled, sprinkle each layer with rich dissolved coffee and add alternating fillings.

Chocolate Frosting and Filling:

• Melt chocolate with milk. • Blend with wooden spoon, adding egg yolks one at a time. • Melt butter and beat with powdered sugar. • Combine with chocolate and beat until creamy.

Walnut filling:

• Mix and blend powdered sugar, lemon, walnuts and whipping cream until smooth. If too thin, add some bread crumbs.

Makes 2 (6-layer) cakes.

Walnut filling:

• ½ cup powdered sugar • Juice of 1 whole lemon • ½ lb. ground walnuts • ¼ cup whipping cream

Contributor:

Dr. Terry Maksymowych

73 Desserts

Irish Bread Pudding with Nutmeg

Ingredients:

• 2 large eggs, room temperature • 2 cups whole milk • ¼ cup butter, cubed • ¾ cup sugar • ¼ teaspoon salt • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract • 4 ½ to 5 cups soft bread cubes (about 9 slices) • ½ cup raisins, optional

Vanilla Sauce:

• ⅓ cup sugar • 2 tablespoons cornstarch • ¼ teaspoon salt • 1 2/3 cups cold water • 3 tablespoons butter • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Contributor:

Mrs. Kate McTiernan This has always been a family favorite!

Directions:

• In a large bowl, lightly beat eggs • Combine milk and butter, then add to eggs along with sugar, salt, spices and vanilla. • Add bread cubes and, if desired, raisins; stir gently. • Pour into a well-greased 11x7 baking dish. Bake at 350°F until a knife inserted 1 inch from edge comes out clean, about 40-45 minutes. • Meanwhile, for sauce, combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a saucepan. Stir in water until smooth. • Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir until thickened, about 2 minutes. • Remove from the heat. • Stir in the butter, vanilla and nutmeg. • Serve with warm pudding.

Desserts

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Cuban Bread Pudding

This is my go-to recipe for desserts for small groups, especially if my father-in-law is visiting. Although not how it’s traditionally served, my husband and I like this served slightly warm with vanilla ice cream on top.

If you, like my family, always eat the bread before it becomes stale, just tear a fresh loaf into smaller chunks and let them sit out for about an hour, that will make them stale enough.

Ingredients:

• 1 loaf stale Cuban bread (French or Italian will also work) • 2 cups milk • 4 large egg yolks • 1 cup sugar • ¼ lb (1 stick) salted butter, room temperature • 1 tbsp vanilla extract • ¼ cup dry sherry • ½ cup raisins (optional) • Flour for coating raisins, if using • ¼ cup unseasoned bread crumbs for thickening, if needed

Directions:

• In a large mixing bowl, crumble the loaf of bread, pour the milk over it, and let it stand for 1 hour. Pour off any milk that is not absorbed. • Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter a 9x13x2 inch baking dish. • In another bowl, beat together the egg yolks, sugar, butter, vanilla extract, and sherry. Stir the egg yolk mixture into the bread mixture. • If using, coat the raisins with flour.

Add the raisins to the bread mixture.

If the mixture is runny, add the bread crumbs to thicken it slightly. • Pour the pudding mixture into the baking dish. Place it on the middle oven rack and bake until slightly browned on top, about 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes. • Cool before serving.

75 Desserts

Scottish Table Fudge

Ingredients:

• 1 (14 oz) can condensed milk • 1 tsp vanilla extract (or whiskey) • 1 stick + 1 tbsp salted butter • 2 lb granulated sugar • 1 cup whole milk

Desserts

Directions:

• Melt the butter, sugar and milk over a low heat in a large, heavy bottomed saucepan. • When the mixture has completely melted and there are no grains of sugar remaining, add the condensed milk and slowly bring to the boil, stirring all the time. • The mixture will start to bubble quite furiously, and that’s fine, as long as you keep stirring so it doesn’t catch on the bottom of the pan. • The setting point for tablet is 120°F or 248°F.

If you don’t have a thermometer, then you can drop a piece of the mixture in a glass of cold water – if it sticks together and forms into a ball shape, then it’s ready. • Do bear in mind that it can take about 15-20 minutes for the tablet to reach the correct temperature. • As soon as the tablet comes off the heat, add vanilla extract (or you could use whiskey if you like!) and beat it by hand (very hard) or in a mixer for about 10 minutes until the mixture starts to thicken and turn slightly

“grainy.” • If you scrape down the bowl with a spatula, the mixture should be thick enough to stick to the spatula. • As soon as the mixture has thickened, pour it into a greased and lined 9x11-inch tin/glass dish. • Then all you need to do is leave it to set a little (about 20-30 minutes) before scoring into squares with a sharp knife.

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