Ukrainian Kolechka Recipes

UKRAINIAN COUNTRY BABKA

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine 2 teaspoons sugar, 1/2 cup water, yeast, milk and 1 cup flour. Mix until well blended, then cover and allow to rise in a warm place until light and bubbly, about 30 minutes.
• In a large bowl, beat the eggs, salt and 1 cup white sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the melted butter and lemon zest. Stir in the sponge, then gradually mix in the flour. Knead in the bowl for about 10 minutes, then knead in the raisins. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume.
• Punch down dough and knead for a couple of turns then let it rise again. Grease 4 smaller coffee cans with soft butter. Fill the prepared pans about 1/3 full and let rise until the dough is even with the rim. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, then turn down the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Continue baking the bread for another 40 minutes. Avoid letting the top get too brown, if it begins to brown too quickly, cover the top with aluminum foil. Remove baked loaves from the pans and cool on a wire rack.

UKRAINIAN KOLECHKA

Steps:

• Cream butter and cream cheese until fluffy.
• Beat in vanilla extract.
• Combine flour and salt; add in fourths to butter mixture, blending well after each addition.
• Chill dough until easy to handle.
• Roll dough to 3/8 thickness on a floured surface.
• Cut out 2-inch circles or other shapes.
• Place on ungreased baking sheets.
• Make a"thumb print" about 1/4 inch deep in each cookie.
• Fill with jam.
• Bake at 350 F 10 to 15 minutes, or until delicately browned on edges.

OKROSHKA (UKRAINIAN VERSION)

Steps:

• Boil the chicken breast. Drain and chill the chicken. Reserve the chicken stock and chill.
• Peel the hard boiled eggs. Remove the egg yolk and dice the egg white. Combine the egg yolk with some mayonnaise/buttermilk to make a paste.
• Chopped the green onions green part only. Sprinkle with some salt and mash with a fork to remove the sharpness from the green onions.
• Dice the cooled chicken breasts.
• Combine all the chopped vegetables. Toss the vegetables to mix well.
• Blend in the mayonnaise/buttermilk egg yolk mixture.
• Add the chopped chicken and toss. Add more mayonnaise or buttermilk to taste.
• Add the cooled chicken broth. Add more cold water if needed as it has to be soupy.
• Squeeze the juice from 1/2 lemon to the soup. Stir then refrigerate the soup for at least 20 minutes before serving.
• When ready to serve, toast some bread and flavour the bread by rubbing a garlic clove over the toasted bread. Serve the Okroshka with the toasted bread and a dollop of sour cream. Okroshka can be kept in the refrigerator to up to 3 days.

UKRAINIAN CHRISTMAS BREAD KOLACH

Steps:

• In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water, then add 1 teaspoon of the sugar and stir well. Set aside. Note: Make sure your yeast is fresh. If it does not break the surface with little bubbles the yeast is old, start over with fresh yeast.
• In a large bowl, dissolve the remaining sugar in the warm milk. Stir in the melted butter, salt, and eggs, then add 2 cups of the flour and stir until smooth. Add the yeast mixture and stir it well, always stirring in the same direction. Add 4 to 5 cups more flour, 1 cup at a time, stirring and turning to incorporate it; when the dough becomes too difficult to mix, turn it out onto a well floured surface and knead for 5 minutes or more, adding flour if necessary, until firm (not soft), smooth, and elastic.
• Place the dough in a large clean bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise in a fairly warm place (about 70 F.) until doubled in volume, about 3 hours.
• Pull the dough away from the sides of the bowl and deflate it, then cover and let rise again until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Butter or grease a 9-inch round cake pan or cast iron frying pan (or a 9- or 10-inch flan ring set on a baking sheet).
• Turn the risen dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Cut into 6 equal pieces (first cut the dough in half, then cut each piece into 3).
• Set 4 pieces aside, lightly covered.
• Roll the remaining 2 pieces out under your palms into ropes about 33 to 36 inches long. Lay 1 piece diagonally across the other at the center of each, then, working from that center point, twine the ropes around each other, toward each end, to make a long coiled rope. Make a circle of the rope, pressing the ends together, and place it in the buttered pan or ring.
• Roll out the remaining 4 pieces of dough into 24-inch lengths and, following the instructions above, use them to make 2 coiled ropes. Then use the same technique to twist the 2 coils around each other to make a DOUBLE coil. Lay the coil inside the dough in the pan to form a circle, and pinch the ends together, trimming them at an angle as necessary to make a neat joint. There will be a small circular gap in the center of the bread. Cover and let rise until almost doubled in volume, about 45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, place a rack in the lower third of the oven. If you have a baking stone or unglazed quarry tiles, place them on the rack. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Brush the top of the risen dough generously with egg wash. Transfer to the stone, tiles, or a baking sheet and bake for about 1 hour. The bread should have a rich golden crusts and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. (The bread starts to turn golden very early in the baking because of the egg wash. This does not mean the bread has baked, but it may tempt you to take it out too early. Be sure to use the "hollow tap" test to make sure it has baked through.) Let the bread stand for at least 1 hour on a wire rack to firm up before slicing.
• NOTE: To make the traditional three breads, triple the recipe as follows: Increase the yeast to 4 teaspoons and the milk to 5 cups; triple the quantities of sugar, butter, eggs, and flour. Divide the risen dough into three, then shape each loaf separately. You will probably have to bake them in two batches unless your oven is very large, since only two breads will fit on a regular rack. The breads must be completely cool and firm before being stacked-make them a day ahead if possible.
• TO TEST IF BREAD HAS RISEN ENOUGH, use the "poke test" Press a moistened finger briefly into the dough. If the dent stays dented it's ready. This tests especially useful when you're trying to determine if shaped breads or rolls are ready to be put in the oven.
• TO TEST IF A LOAF HAS BAKED ENOUGH, tap on the bottom of the loaf to see if it sounds hollow, and then use the "pinch test"" Pinch the loaf at the corners or at the bottom edge. It should feel firm, not soft. If it stills feels soft, place it back in the oven for another five or ten minutes. When baking pan loaves, take them out of the pans to test them. If you need to bake them a little longer and you have a baking stone or unglazed quarry tiles in your oven, bake them straight on the hot surface, rather than putting them back in the pans.

UKRAINIAN CHRISTMAS KOLACH

Steps:

• Dissolve 1 teaspoon sugar in water and sprinkle yeast over it.
• Add 1 tablespoon sugar, stir, and let stand 10 minutes.
• Combine yeast with milk, lightly beaten eggs, salt, 2 tablespoons sugar, oil, and 3 cups sifted flour.
• Beat until smooth.
• Cover and let rise in a warm place until light and bubbly, about 1 hour.
• Mix in remaining flour and knead until smooth and elastic and dough leaves the side of the bowl easily.
• Form into a ball and place in lightly oiled bowl, turning once to oil the top.
• Cover with towel and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk.
• Punch down and allow to rise again slightly.
• Divide dough into 3 parts.
• On a floured work surface, divide one part into thirds, rolling each into a rope 8 to 10 inches long and 1 1/2 inch thick.
• Braid together, starting at the middle, and turn ends under.
• Repeat to make other two loaves and place on buttered baking sheets.
• Do not crowd, since loaves will double in size.
• Cover with damp towel and let rise until almost double.
• Brush with egg glaze and sprinkle with poppy seeds.
• Bake in preheated oven at 375 degree F.
• at least 1 hour, until golden.
• Test by rapping the bottom; there should be a nice hollow sound.
• Cool on racks.
• Makes 3 medium loaves.

KOLATKI/KOLACKI (UKRAINIAN CHRISTMAS COOKIES VIA CZECHOSLOVAKIA)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Cream together butter, cream cheese, sugar, egg yolks and lemon zest.
• Stir in flour, creating stiff dough.
• Mold dough into hamburger-size patties and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.
• Roll patty out 1/8-1/4 inch thick, preferably on chilled marble or glass cutting board.
• Cut dough into 2 1/2 inch squares.
• Place squares on cookie sheet (ungreased is OK).
• In each square, dab about 1/3 teaspoon pastry filling.
• Fold one corner halfway over pastry so that it points to opposite corner.
• With pastry brush, dab egg white onto folded corner.
• Fold opposite corner onto folded corner.
• Press lightly to fix with egg white.
• Optional: Brush egg white over top of cookie and dust with confectioners' sugar.
• Bake cookies for 15-20 minutes or until edges are slightly brown.