February Food Swap Recap

As always, I'm a bit late with the swap recap, but also per usual still aglow and inspired by the fantastic community of swappers in our town!

We had a super crowd, who were fun and engaged and brought their A-game to the swap. It was mostly new faces too (I think the Bold Italic story is largely to thank for that), but folks were dedicated, and even with the Bay Bridge closed that weekend we had some East Bayers trek over with their goods by BART.

The first hour is always spent eating and talking (as it should be)

Lydia Rose's Heaven Honey Drops were divine

Fabulous potluckery

Joyce & Violet brought style with their matching homemade aprons!

Old friends got to hang

New friends were made

And there was rhapsody over Jim's noodle salad

And that was all before the swapping began!


Get ready to get hungry over the following items seen at this swap: Vegan Peanut Butter Truffles, Best Toffee Ever, Spring Rolls, Kim Chi, Lemon Curd & Scones, Homemade Soaps, Sichuan Oil, Marques de Chocolate, Sparkling Ginger Chip Cookies, No. 2 Pineapple Xpress Hot Sauce, Spicy Pickled Oranges, Oat ‘n’ Maple Cream Sandwich Cookies, Homegrown Kale, Herbs & Meyer Lemons, Pickled Romanesco Broccoli, Chocolate Decadence in a Jar, Hand Rendered Leaf Lard, Duqqa, Pinto Bean Dip, Mango-Rum Chutney, Chayote-Jicama Slaw, Empanadas Argentinas, Flour Tortillas, Lemon Muffins, Key Lime Syrup, Organic Yogurt, Blueberry Citrus Preserves, Blood Orange Curd, Grapefruit Hibiscus Curd, Fermented Radishes, Turnips, Carrots & Daikon, Fermented Cabbage, Kale, Carrot, Sunchoke & Dill Seed

Pickles & Chocolate Decadence by Stephanie

Vegan Peanut Butter Truffles with various cute coatings by Marissa

Sichuan Oil by Rebekka

Lovely Leaf Lard by Lydia Rose

Marques de Chocolate (made with Pisco) by Roby

Flour Tortillas by Wendy

Oat 'n' Maple Sandwich Cookies by Penna

Cakes by Roby, Empanadas by Martina & Lemons by Patricia

Ferments by Jill

Spring Rolls by Jim

Lemon Curd & Scones by Joyce

Chutney & Slaw by Angela

Yogurt, Key Lime Syrup, Preserves, Citrus Curds & Muffins by me

Soaps by Rebekka (Photo by Christina)

Ginger Cookies by Cristen (Photo by Christina)

Pineapple Hot Sauce by Francine (Photo by Christina)

Swap table

Happy swappers (Photo by Christina)

Packing up goodies (Photo by Christina)

Smiling swap exchange (Photo by Christina)

Reviewing bid sheets (Photo by Christina)

Freshly swapped kale (Photo by Christina)

Roby's swap loot (Photo by Penna)

My take-homes

Christina's before & after shots (Photos by Christina)

Isn't that impressive?! Not everything is even shown here, so go see more pictures on our Facebook page too.

Our next swap is tentatively set for the evening of Wednesday, April 25th and will have a theme of foods based on family recipes and/or your cultural heritage. More on that soon, plus stay tuned for new swapper profiles coming up with recipes for food enjoyed at this event!

Swapper Profile: Olga Trusova + Borscht Recipe

I am so happy to introduce Olga Trusova with our next swapper profile! Olga is a one of our star swappers who has been attending our swaps right from the beginning. After our first event, she offered up her fabulous garden with an unbeatable view where she and her boyfriend Jim hosted our second swap last June. I'm always excited when I see her name on the registration list — not just because I will be delighted to see her again — but also because you can count on Olga to bring something that is both very unique and very delicious! Some of her past swap items have included Candy Cap Mushroom Sugar Cookies (foraged from an undisclosed CA location), Rugelach and Farmer's Cheese. Read on to learn about some traditional Ukrainian dishes including her recipe for borscht, what inspires her in the kitchen, and her biggest (yup, it's actually big) food surprise.

Olga showing off the latest in headwear

Name: Olga Trusova (@olga_t)

Home (+ hometown swap): San Francisco / SF Swappers

Profession: Designer

How did you first get involved in food swapping? How long ago? 

I came to the very first food swap thanks to my neighbor, Chef Stephanie, who is one of the SF food swap organizers. Stephanie and I met in Bernal Heights last year and had an instant connection around our passion for food. I offered my house for the second food swap and it was a blast! Now I'm a regular.

What did you make for the last food swap and what inspired your choice?

My mother and I made traditional Ukrainian dumplings ("vareniki") with potato-mushroom filling. We are both originally from Ukraine and decided to share one of the most popular winter dishes from that region of the world. Winter is actually one of my favorite seasons, in part, because of Ukrainian Christmas - the biggest holiday of the year for us. On Christmas Eve, twelve meatless dishes are prepared and served to family and friends with the first rising star (read more about it in my guest post on The Pickle Project blog).

Making vareniki, Ukrainian dumplings

Vareniki at the December food swap

Olga & her mom Luda at the December swap

What’s your favorite thing about swapping? Food, of course! And people :)

Who or what most influences your cooking? My heritage, but also traveling. A while ago, my boyfriend and I took a year off to travel around the world, and that has become an endless source of inspiration for our cooking. 

Have you tried Ca cuong?

What’s your favorite kitchen tool? Whisk. 

Your current flavor or ingredient obsession? Nutmeg.

Biggest food surprise? Ca cuong (I first tried it in Thailand): 

If the Rapture came tomorrow, what would your last meal on earth be? Ice-cream!

When I'm not in the kitchen… I'm working on my startup: http://gratitude.is

Favorite local food experience: A small "no-name" taqueria on 24th St. (yummy horchata and freshly-made guacamole)

Recipe by Olga

Borscht

Here is a recipe for borsht (you can make it veg or non-veg; I think beef-based borscht is the best :)

Ingredients:

1-2 Russet potatoes

1 large onion

2 large carrots

2 medium size beets
2 garlic cloves
1/2 cabbage
1-2 tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 bay leaf
a few celery sticks
parsley, dill, cilantro
salt, pepper
1 tbsp brown sugar
1-2 cans of vegetable or beef broth (if you want to make your own beef broth, rinse and boil a few chucks of meat on the bone, remove the meat and use the liquid, add small chunks of meat back into the borscht when ready to serve)

Preparation:
Saute onions, garlic, celery; add pureed tomatoes (without the skin), sugar, and tomato paste - mix well and add to a large stock pot. Finely slice carrots and beets like matchsticks, add to the pot. Fill the pot with vegetable or beef stock and water. Bring to a boil. Add the bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Simmer on medium. Peel and cube the potatoes, add to the soup. When beets and potatoes are almost done, add finely chopped cabbage. After the soup is ready (basically, when all the vegetables are cooked - but not overcooked!), add parsley, dill, cilantro. Serve hot with sour cream and garlic bread rolls (just brush warm dinner rolls with a garlic-oil mixture - 4 cloves of pressed garlic + 2 tbsp canola oil + salt). 

Homemade Spätzle - Cook It 2012: January Resolution

Freshly made Spätzle

I've never been very good at making resolutions for the coming year. Never mind about keeping to them. It isn't that I don't try new things or get a lot done, because I do; but let's just say my creative eye tends to wander in new directions. Constantly.

So I was charmed by Grow It Cook It Can It's simple approach: to master a new kitchen technique each month of the year. I eagerly hopped on board Cook It! 2012.

The cold nights of January definitely deserve pasta, so the first month's challenge was a shoe-in. In fact, I had been thinking about and pinning lots of homemade pasta recipes already. Ravioli, paparadelle, linguine.... I had visions of dough dancing in my head. But, I decided to go with something a little closer to home for my first fresh pasta foray: Spätzle (also Spaetzle, the 'ae' being a written substitute in German for the umlaut).

Zum Wohl! Family gathering in Germany (mit Bier u. Spätzle)

My mother is from southern Germany—Swabia to be precise—where Spätzle reigns. My Oma (grandmother) and virtually all my relatives regularly made it as a side dish, and you could always bank on it being there on the plate with Schnitzel for special occasions.

I've helped make it countless times in my mom's kitchen, but I am embarrassed to say even though my mom sent me home a Spätzle press as a gift direct from the homeland a couple summers ago, I had yet to use it for Spätzle in my own kitchen. Though I have used it as a potato ricer a time or two.

Beckoning to be used

Though my Mom's typical presentation at home is with goulasch (this has remained my chosen birthday meal since childhood), I'm just covering a recipe for the noodles here plus a couple simple ways to serve them.

It takes just four basic ingredients!

Mix in the eggs stirring from the center out

Slowly add in milk or water as you beat the batter

Once consistency is smooth & somewhat stretchy, it's ready to go

Filling the press

Make sure water is rapidly boiling before adding noodles

Spätzle in the making

Noodles are ready when they rise to the surface

Repeat with rest of batter

Two batches of Spätzle

Beautiful bowl of freshly made pasta

Mom's Recipe for Spätzle
(Proportions adapted from metric measurements, there is room for experimentation if you want)

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk (or water), plus 1-2 tablespoons as needed to reach right consistency

Optional: A small pinch or grating of fresh nutmeg can be added to the flour mixture before mixing in the wet ingredients.

Sift flour into a large bowl. Stir in salt. Make an indentation in the middle of the flour and add eggs.

Stir from center out and add liquid gradually to avoid clumps. You want consistency to be moist but not wet, so gauge your milk/water quantity accordingly. If you your dough seems too moist, just add a bit more flour, or vice versa if too dry, add more milk.

Beat batter with a wooden spoon until smooth and it begins to stiffen up. (Spätzle stirring was hands-down my favorite kitchen job as a kid!) Let dough rest for approximately 5 minutes and spoon into Spätzle press. Drop noodles into large pot of rapidly boiling water. The Spätzle will rise to the surface when cooked. Remove them and place in a sieve or collander to drain. Repeat until all Spätzle are cooked. If serving plain you can drop the entire batch into boiling water very briefly to warm up, but not for too long or they will get soggy. Strain and serve.

Serves 2-4 generously

Simply delicious!

If you are going to eat the Spätzle as a side dish, depending on what they are accompanying you can leave them plain (best if serving with rich sauce or meat) or top them with a bit of butter, salt and pepper to taste, and serve. You can also lightly pan fry them in a little oil or butter and top with fresh herbs such as parsley and chives or dill.

I tend to like them plain or more simply prepared, but if you prefer you can saute thinly sliced yellow onions until golden brown and lightly carmelized and then bake the noodles with cheese (Emmenthaler or similar, or Quark if you can find it from a local cheesemaker) and onions for a German-style cheesy casserole dish: Käsespätzle. Peas can be a nice flavor addition too, or you can add chard or zucchini. Really, have fun with them the way you would another type of pasta and find the way you like them best.

Käsespätzle with a chicken breast "Schnitzel"

Don't own a press? No problem. It's traditional to hand-cut Spätzle, though it does take a bit of getting used to since the dough is moister and stickier than Italian pasta, and therefore cannot be rolled out. It's simplest to spread the dough on the edge of a wooden cutting board (use one with a handle if you've got it), and while resting the board on the edge of the pot, cut and swipe pieces of dough directly into the boiling water. You can experiment with the ratio of ingredients a bit to get the consistency you find easiest to work with - generally batter with more eggs is a bit fluffier in the finished product but more flour makes easier work of cutting it.

Guten Appetit!

Next up, February's Cook It! resolution is bread. I have yet to decide exactly what type I'll be tackling, but it will most likely put my sourdough starter to use.