Old Fashion Potato Bread

This is a great tasting bread that I tried from one of my grandmother's cooking skills.

Ingredients: 

• 1 serving instant potatoes made according to directions (my grandmother used to run potatoes through a hand grounding machine - like grounding meat!)
• 1 pkg active dry yeast
• 1 cup water
• 1 tbsp spoon sugar
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 cup butter (margarine) softened + 1 tbsp melted
• 3 3/4 cups bread flour + 1/4 cup in case dough is too wet

You can put everything in a bread machine according to the machine instructions and choose "dough" setting. Remove dough and place it in a large greased bowl and cover with a towel and let it rise until double in size at 85F (about 1 hour). Roll dough into a 16 x 8 in rectangle and then roll up from one end pinching the ends and tucking under loaf. Place loaf in a greased or Pam sprayed loaf pan. Brush surface with melted butter and let it rise until top of loaf is higher that loaf pan and rounded. Meanwhile preheat oven to 400F. Bake for 30 - 40 min until deep golden brown and bottom of loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Let it cool on a wire rack and enjoy it. Makes one loaf.  

Romania: Oriental Salad

The Oriental Salad is a very refreshing dish especially during hot summer months. Makes an excellent lunch or just a snack. Very easy to prepare. You may replace the radishes with a vegetable you like or experiment with different kind of vegetables.

Ingredients: Boiling potatoes (1 1/2 lbs.), olive oil (6 tbs.), ground black pepper (1/4 tsp), salt (4 1/2 tsp), one regular can of green beans, 1 tsp finely chopped garlic, 4 tbs finely chopped fresh parsley, 1/2 cup thin sliced radishes, 1/2 cup thin sliced scallions, 1/4 red wind vinegar (or cider).

Preparation: Boil potatoes in slightly salted water till potatoes are cooked but tender so they can be cut in slices. Drain the potatoes and let them cool, then peel and slice into 1/4 inch thick round slices. Place the sliced potatoes into a large bowl. Add the olive oil, 1 1/2 tsp salt, pepper and vinegar (cider) and gently toss together till potatoes are evenly coated with the mixture. Cook the green beans as directed by the package together with the remaining salt (if you are sensitive to salt, you may skip it). After cooking, drain the green beans and keep them under running cold water to cool them. Dry the beans with a paper towel, cut them in half crosswise and place them over the potatoes. Add the garlic, parsley, radishes and scallions and gently toss together. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours before serving. Enjoy!

Austria: Viennese Schnitzel

The Viennese Schnitzel it is a dish that is fairly easy to cook. Cooking time is about 30 minutes. The original recipe calls for lamb meat but since lamb is quite expensive I use skinless chicken breast. I cut the skinless chicken breast in thin slices no more than 1/4 inch thick. Feel free to use any kind of meat for this recipe: lamb, skinless turkey breast, skinless chicken breast, sliced in thin layers. This recipe is made with chicken.

Ingredients: Skinless chicken breast, 2-3 tbls of fresh lemon juice, 1 cup flour, 2-3 large eggs, breadcrumbs (either Italian style or plain), your favorite cooking oil, lemon wedges, fresh parsley.

Procedure:  Wash and trim the chicken breast of any fat. Cut in thin slice no more than 1/4 inch thick. Slightly tenderize with the kitchen knife handle or a tenderizer utensil you have. Place the chicken in a medium size bowl. Mix enough water with the lemon juice just enough to cover the chicken. Slightly mix the chicken with a wooden spoon just to make sure all pieces are soak in this water and lemon juice mixture. Set aside. In a deep dish beat two of the eggs with one or two tbls of water like you are to do an omelet. Set aside. Pour the flour and the bread crumbs in two different plates (I use paper plates for this purpose). Set a large frying pan on the stove at medium heat and pour about 2-3 tbls of your favorite cooking oil. Take one chicken slice at the time and run them through flour (making sure the flour covers well the entire slice), then dip it to the eggs on both sides. Withe a fork keep the slice upright to allow the excess egg to drip back into the plate then place it into the bread crumbs on both sides. Transfer the breaded slice into the frying pan. Cook it on both sides till golden brown. Because the chicken is so thin it does not take long to be cooked so you have to watch it carefully. While the first slice is cooking repeat the procedure with the next slice. When you place it in the frying pan, check the previous slice for donness. Repeat this procedure with all remaining slices. Place cooked slice in a large bowl padded wit a paper towel to absorb the excess oil. You might have to change the oil in the frying pan during cooking due to burned bread crumbs that are deposited during cooking. Use your cook common sense.

I serve the Viennese Schnitzel with mashed potatoes and green salad (like baby spinach or romaine letuce) and if you like add a gravy of your choice.

I hope you will enjoy this dish as much as I and my teenage daughter do. See you next time for more home cooking recipes from arround the world.