Berkshires, Bizen and BashBish....PART 1

With the threat of Hurricane Irene approaching New York I decided to get out while I could and  drive up to Great Barrington, one of my favorite places to visit in the Berkshires.

Heading into The Berkshires

As I drove I thought about the hurricane and the people who were preparing for it. I began to WONDER,  What should I do? Do I  purchase candles, batteries and a radio? How was I to know? I am a Canadian from the  Prairies and have never experienced anything like this. Could it really be as bad as everybody is predicting? My first thought was  FOOD (of course) and  since I was in the area I decided to make a pit stop in Housatonic, Massachusetts  at Berkshire Mountain Bakery to  pick up  some of the BEST  bread I have ever tasted...YUM! and it would be non perishable....perfect hurricane food.
Next stop BIZEN,  a Japanese  restaurant in Great Barrington. I ordered  the usual a Silence of the Yams roll which has tempura squash, sweet potato, coconut and a spicy sauce. I also tried  a cold soba noodle salad prepared with fresh  veggies and a light soy dressing, it was delicious.  On one of my recent visits to Bizen the sushi chef mentioned that he was teaching a  vegetarian sushi class at Kripalu, a yoga centre in Lenox, Massachusetts.    Seriously,  what would  be better than a weekend of yoga and sushi in the middle of the mountains?
There are so many great things to see  as you travel through the Berkshires. On any given day you will see beautiful farms, grazing animals, lakes and ponds but  today I found BashBish Falls...kind of.

When I say kind of  that means that I didn't make it all the way to the falls.  It seems that I have not gotten over my fear of bears or anything else that might consider me a tasty snack.  I can not go hiking by myself...I have tried.  Today I  made it 1/4 of a mile down a 3/4 mile trail until I realized there was nobody around,  I got scared and walked QUICKLY back to my car.  There are a  few good pictures but  would love to see  a waterfall and get some great pictures in part 2. Stay tuned!

CRAVINGS

Who can diet when you always have cravings?   Recently I had  a hankering for perogies and  found a recipe in a wonderful cookbook from REBAR, a vegetarian restaurant in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.  Baked, boiled or fried they would be completely satisfying.

Roasted Yam Perogies                6 dozen 
2 1/2 lbs yams
1 1/2 tbsp. butter
1 1/2 large leeks, mostly whites, chopped
1/2  tsp salt
1/2 lb smoked gouda, shredded ( I used 4 oz muenster cheese and 4 oz. smoked swiss cheese)
1/4  cup chives, minced
1/4  tsp cracked pepper
1/4 tsp caraway seed, optional ( I didn't use)


Preparation

Filling can be prepared one day in advance. Preheat oven to 400 F. Scrub yams and pierce  with fork.  Place on baking pan with 1 cup  water and roast until very soft and puffy.  Cool to handling temperature, peel and mash or puree the flesh until smooth.
While yams roast heat butter in a skillet, add leeks and salt saute until lightly golden and caramelized. Combine leeks, mashed yams, grated cheese and chives. Season with cracked pepper, caraway (if using) more salt may be needed, depends on saltiness of cheese.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

Perogie Dough


4 cups unbleached flour
3/4 tsp. salt
4 egg yolks
1 cup boiling water
2 tbsp vegetable oil ( I used walnut oil)

Preparation


To make the dough, mix the flour and salt in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl place yolks and oil and gradually add boiling water ( not too quickly eggs will cook) and mix. Add  egg mixture to flour mixture and mix until a dough forms. Cover and let rest at room temperature  for 30 minutes. Divide the dough into quarters and roll it out 1/8 inch thick or less. Using a 3'' cutter cut circles out of dough. Place a good  tsp or more of filling in the centre of each circle and press edges firmly to seal . If dough is dry use your finger to moisten edges with water. For crimped edges use ends of a fork.


To Serve


Heat a large pot of salted water to boil.  Drop in perogies and cook until they begin to rise to surface. Remove with a slotted spoon, drain. Serve. These are also nice fried until they form a light crust. YUM!!


Roasted Garlic and Cilantro Sour Cream


1 cup sour cream
4 cloves roasted garlic
1  cup fresh cilantro
2 tsp lime juice
1/4 lime zested

Preparation

Place all ingredients in food processor and blend ( should still be able to see pieces of cilantro)

Can You Actually Eat This Stuff??

As a child I remember  going  to restaurants to eat and getting plates of food with some kind of of leafy green on the side  usually accompanied with a lemon wedge  OR the greens would be  used as a place mat for containers of  dips and  condiments so they would not slide around.  I would ask "What is this, Is this edible?" I was told YES, it's KALE, but I  never did try it, I never saw anybody try it.

 It wasn't until I moved to New York to  attended the Culinary Institute  that I learned a little bit more about greens and started using them.  One of my favorite ways to use Kale is dehydrated in the form of a chip that has been coated with a vegan cheese sauce....DELICIOUS! 

Cheezy Kale Chips


1 1/2 cups cashews (you could mix raw and roasted) or use 1 cup cashew and 1/2 c sunflower seeds. I find using all cashews makes a slightly sweeter kale chip. Experiment ;-)
1 cup red pepper
1/3 cup + 3 tbsp. nutritional yeast
3 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 lemon, zested
3/4 tsp salt
pinch cayenne or as much as you like
pinch smoked paparika
water (enough to make a creamy sauce, about 1/8-1/4 cup) If soaking nuts not as much water is needed.
1 bunch of Curly Kale

Preparation
Remove Stem from kale  and rip into bite size pieces ,not too small because they will shrink  when dehydrating.
Place all ingredients ( except kale) in a food processor  blend until smooth, taste and adjust seasonings.
Working in batches, place a few handfuls of kale in a large bowl and pour in some of the cheese sauce and massage into kale leaves. Then place on dehydrator trays lined with non stick sheets. Dehydrate for about 6 hours then remove from nonstick sheets and place right on trays and dehydrate another 4-6 hours. Enjoy!!