I called my friend Mavis this morning to find out if this is the day
that she's making lefse for Thanksgiving. (She's pureblood Norwegian,
and married to one, too. Lefse is a staple at their Thanksgiving
Feast.) She laughed and asked if I was planning to come over. "Only if
you're making lefse," I said. Turns out she hasn't decided yet who's
making it this year, she or her SIL. I told her to get on it, because
there's not much time left, eh? She laughed. I was serious. Have you
figured out yet that I show up in her kitchen when she's making lefse so
I can partake of it? Quality Control. It's all about quality and I
wouldn't want Mavis to be serving any inferior stuff. No, sirree, Bob!
It's my duty - no, HONOR - as her friend to be sure she's true to her
heritage. Kitty didn't raise no slouch and I don't want Mavis to start
now.

Anyway, we visited a bit and I told her that when I come over, I'd bring
a treat for her St. Paul kids. (Said kids have just returned to St.
Paul from Philadelphia; Kid-in-law is a composer who can do his stuff
from here as well as there.) Since KIL is Jewish, I figure to share my
Second Generation Kasha Varnishkes with him and his family. I don't
know if DD is into Jewish cuisine.

OK, so I had the box of Wolff's kasha at the ready as well as the Second
Avenue Deli cookbook. Between the two of them, here's what I did:

Barb's Shiksa Varnishkes

3/4 cup kasha (coarse grind)
1 beaten egg
2 tbsp schmaltz
2 cups chopped onion
a few mushrooms (baby bellas)
less than a tbsp green pepper (I needed to use it up)
14 oz can Swanson's chicken broth (98% fat free)
About 3/4 cup water (next time, I'll just make the total liquid to
measure 2 cups)
8 oz pkg Streit's egg bows

Mix the kasha with the beaten egg and stir it around in a hot skillet (I
used non-stick) for 2-4 minutes, until toasted and the grains are dried.
Stir it after about the first 15 seconds. I was seeing almost-smoke,
but no harm. I did NOT burn the kasha, thank you very much.

After the kasha is toasted, add the liquid to it and cover. Simmer for
about 10 minutes. (This is considerably less time than the SAD cookbook
says and it's less liquid, too.)

While the kasha is cooking in flavorful broth!, slowly brown the chopped
onions (I used 2 small-medium, chopped by hand), chopped mushrooms (wish
I'd had more) and the green pepper (not a necessity, IMNSHO) in the
schmaltz. No schmaltz? Use buttah. When they're nicely browned, mix
with the kasha.

While your doing the onions, boil a vat of water in which to cook the
egg bows and cook them until just done. Not mushy. Drain and mix with
the kasha/onion mixture. Enjoy.

OK, this is mucho mejor than the otro batch. (I speak Spanglish :-)
Commentary: The kasha cooks way faster than one is led to believe. I
wouldn't use more than a 2:1 ratio of water:kasha. I wouldn't. In a
perfect world, both the kasha/onions and the varnishkes would both be
hot at the time of combining them. I'm thinking that, as good as this
batch is, it will be better in reheating.

Matter of fact, I think I would re-order the procedures in this fashion:
Brown the onions and set them aside. Now, set the vat of water to
heating. Now toast the kasha and get that cooking in the liquid. The
water should be about boiling (if you've covered it and the heat is
high) so cook the bowties. Mix the kasha with the onions and set aside,
covered, until the bows are done and drained and briefly rinsed; then
mix all together. Everything should be hotter this way than it was when
I did it.

This about filled my 3-quart sauté pan. I'll bring some over to Mavis'
for Adam. I'm thinking a nice Jewish boy can tell me if I nailed the
target.

Mavis is baking bars for the church's shootin' match fundraiser
tomorrow, so I'll check them out. They're not lefse, but I do what I
can for her.
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http://www.jamlady.eboard.com, updated 11-18-05 - a couple random things