A Sample Menu for Kūčios 1. Beet Soup 2. Pyragėliai (pastries) with mushroom & cabbage filling recipe 3. Herring with carrots, walnuts and prunes 4. Stuffed Crepes 5. Fish in Tomato Sauce 6. Pan Fried Fish 7. Herring pancakes 8. Beetroot and sauerkraut salad 9. Potato Salad 10. Cranberry kissel – Kisielius 11. Christmas Eve Biscuits – Prėskučiai (or Šližikai) 12. Poppy Seed Milk – Aguonpienis

Beet Soup

Ingredients: a handful of dried mushrooms (100 g) 2 cloves of garlic 4 medium beets 2 liters of vegetable broth (2 carrots, 1 onion, 1 parsley, 1 leek) dried herbs: 2 bay leaves, 2 tablespoons of marjoram, 6 grains of black pepper, 4 grains of allspice 3 tablespoons of the chopped fresh parsley 3 tablespoons of lemon juice 3 tablespoons of thick sour cream (18% fat) salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pyragėliai (pastries) with mushroom & cabbage - filling recipe

Ingredients: 1 kg of the sauerkraut 2-3 cups of dried mushrooms or much more raw white mushrooms from grocery 2 medium-sized onions oil or butter for frying onion some salt some black pepper 8-10 bay leaves spoonful of breadcrumbs (optional)

Filling Recipe: Rinse dried mushrooms with cold water and throw into the pot with hot water. Leave for 15-20 minutes. 1.Put the pot on the cooker and cook mushrooms, until become soft. 2.Drain mushrooms off on the colander. Collect water in the second pot. 3.Throw the sauerkraut into water, in which mushrooms were cooked. Cook it, until become soft. 4.In the meantime cut mushrooms carefully into small stripes. 5.Drain the cabbage off on the sieve. You can pour water out. Carefully shred the cabbage into small stripes.

6.Peel two medium-sized onions and cut into small dices. 7.Melt some butter or oil on the frying pan. 8.Throw onion to hot butter / oil and fry about 5 minutes to achieve delicate browning. 9.Next throw the cabbage and mushrooms. Mix precisely. 10.Add the salt and grinded black pepper to the taste. Add 8-10 bay leaves. 11.Put a lid on the frying pan and stew about 10 minutes. 12. Put the filling to the bowl and let it cool off. The filling is ready when cooled but you will need to get rid of bay leaves before folding pastries.

Herring with carrots, walnuts and prunes

Ingredients: 3 herring strips (packed in oil) 2 medium carrots 1 medium-sized onion a handful of chopped walnuts a handful of chopped prunes salt, pepper, dried parsley sunflower oil for frying

Recipe: 1.Chopped walnuts and chopped prunes pour with a hot water and leave for ~ 20 minutes. 2.Peel carrots ; grate them with a major grater. Heat the oil in a pan, put the grated carrots and fry for ~ 5 minutes on medium heat. 3.Chop the onion, put together in the pan along with the carrots. Mix everything and fry until the onion and carrots become tender. Then remove walnuts and prunes from the water and add them into the pan with carrots and onions. Season with pepper, salt, dried parsley and fry everything for ~ 5-7 minutes, stir. When it’s done – leave to cool. 4.Put the carrot relish into the plate. On top of the relish put the pieces of herring.

Stuffed Crepes

Ingredients: Batter 2-3 tbsp. melted butter or oil 3/4 c. milk 3/4 c. water 1 1/2 c. flour 2 large eggs 1/4 tsp. salt

1. In a bowl, beat melted butter with milk, water, flour, salt, and eggs, using a wire whisk. 2. Refrigerate for 2 hours to allow flour to absorb liquid. 3. Brush crepe pan with oil; heat over medium heat. 4. Pour scant 1/4 c. batter into the centre of the pan, tilting it in all directions to spread the batter evenly. 5. Cook for 1 minute or less until the top is set. 6. Turn and cook until the other side is lightly browned. 7. Invert onto waxed paper. Repeat

Mushroom Filling 1 (8 oz. ) can mushrooms, drained, 1 large onion, finely chopped 3 tbsp. butter 3 tbsp. dry bread crumbs 1/4 salt 1/4 tsp. pepper 1. Sauté mushrooms and onion in butter in heavy skillet until onion is tender. 2. Stir remaining ingredients. 3. Fill crepes and roll up. 4. Serve with sour cream.

Fish Fillets in Tomato Sauce

Ingredients: 2 carrots, peeled and coarsely grated 1 stalk celery, coarsely grated 1 (7 oz) can tomato paste 2 c. tomato ketchup 1 tsp. sugar 6-8 fillets whitefish, sole or similar 1 c. flour mixed with a tablespoon of seasoned salt 2 tbsp. oil 1 large onion, sliced

Recipe: 1. In a large skillet, sauté onions, celery and carrots until tender. 2. Add tomato paste, ketchup, and sugar. 3. Set aside. 4. In another skillet, heat oil and brown fish fillets, dredged in seasoned four. 5. Add sauce to fish and simmer for 3-5 minutes. May be served hot or cold.

Pan Fried Fish

Ingredients: 1.5 lbs of any white fish 1/4 cup sugar 2 tablespoons salt 1 tablespoons flour 1 egg 1/2 cup bread crumbs 3 tablespoons oil 2 tsp fresh black pepper 1 tsp thyme 1 tsp garlic powder 1 lemon salt & pepper to taste

Recipe: 1. Rinse thawed fish and soak (brine) for 30 minutes in a cold water mixture of 1/4 sugar and 2-3 tablespoons salt. You can skip this step, but it makes the fish tender, even if you accidently over-cook it. 2. Drain fish and pat dry. 3. Sprinkle fish with pepper, garlic powder, thyme, and salt on both sides. 4. Make three bowls, one with flour, 2nd with beaten eggs, and third with breadcrumbs. 5. Heat oil in large pan on high heat. Then dip fillets one at a time in each bowl in this order: flour, egg, and then breadcrumbs. Put fillets on pan and cook according to thickness of fish. 6. When fish is cooked, remove with a skimmer to a paper-lined basket, and serve with your favorite tartars sauce and a lemon wedge.

Herring pancakes

Ingredients: 1-2 strips of herring in oil 100 ml cold water flour 1 medium-sized onion 1 tsp. balsamic vinegar salt, pepper, dried dill sunflower oil for frying

Recipe: 1.In a bowl mix the water with that much flour that you would get the dough consistency as yogurt. You don’t need that the dough would be too thick, otherwise the pancakes will be too firm. 2.Chop the onion and fry it in a pan with some oil, leave to cool. Half of the fried onion put together with the dough, stir. Season the dough with pepper, salt, dried dill. 3.Pour some oil in the frying pan, preheat it on the medium heat. 4.Chop the herring strip into small pieces. 5.Pour one tablespoon of the dough into the pan, then put couple of pieces on it, pour half of a tablespoon of the dough to cover the herring pieces. Bake pancakes on both sides until they get nicely golden brown. 6.Half of the remaining fried onion sprinkle on the herring pancakes and half of the rest fried onion mix with balsamic vinegar and sprinkle on the pancakes. If you like, you can mix all remaining fried onion with balsamic vinegar.

Beetroot and sauerkraut salad

Ingredients: 2 boiled beetroots ~ 100 g sauerkraut Olive oil White vinegar Salt, pepper, sugar (optional)

Recipe: 1. Peel the beetroots; grate them with a major grater. 2. Wash the sauerkraut using colander under cold water (if they are very acidic). 3. Mix grated beetroots and sauerkraut in one bowl, pour some olive oil, vinegar (taste how much you like it). 4. Season with salt, pepper and a little sugar (if you wish).

Potato Salad

Ingredients: 5 potatoes, boiled and cubed 5 carrots, boiled and diced 1 c. frozen peas 3 dill pickles chopped 2 eggs, hard-boiled and chopped 1 c. mayonnaise salt, pepper Recipe: 1. Combine all ingredients; toss with mayonnaise. 2. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Cranberry Kissel (Kisielius)

Ingredients: 12 oz bag of fresh cranberries (3 cups) 3 cups water 1 cinnamon stick 2 whole cloves 1 1/2 cups sugar 2 tablespoons potato flour 2 teaspoons vanilla

Recipe: 1. Place the cranberries in a saucepan and add enough cold water to cover them (approximately three cups). 2. Add the cinnamon and cloves and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the cranberries are split and their pulp appears. Remove from heat. Remove and discard the cinnamon and cloves. 3. Force the mixture through a food mill or sieve. Discard the cranberry skins. Reserve one cup of cranberry juice and chill it in the refrigerator. Return the remaining juice and pulp to the saucepan. Add the sugar to the saucepan. Stir the potato flour into the chilled cranberry juice until it is completely dissolved. Add it to the cranberry mixture and bring to a boil stirring constantly. When it is translucent, remove it from the heat. Stir in the vanilla. Pour the kissel into individual serving bowls and chill until set.

Poppy Seed Milk (Aguonpienas)

Ingredients: 1 cup poppy seeds 5 to 6 cups water 2 tablespoons honey or more, to taste Recipe: 1. Place the poppy seeds in a small saucepan and cover them with one to two cups of cold water. 2. Bring the poppy seeds to a boil and then simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool slightly. 3. Drain the water from the poppy seeds using a fine mesh sieve. Discard the water that drains from the poppy seeds. Place the poppy seed mixture in a small food processor and process until a thick mass forms. This may take some time. After a thick mass forms, transfer the mixture to a glass pitcher. 4. Pour four cups of cold water over the poppy seeds and stir until well combined. Add honey and stir again. Serve chilled. The poppy seed milk may be served over Christmas Eve biscuits.

Christmas Eve Biscuits (Šližikai)

Ingredients: 1 package dry yeast 1/4 cups warm water (105ºF to 115ºF) 3/4 cup milk 1 egg, beaten 1/4 cup butter, melted 3 1/2 to 4 cups flour 1/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon salt Recipe: Dissolve yeast in warm water in large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Add milk, egg and butter to yeast mixture. Combine flour, sugar and salt; stir well. Gradually stir flour mixture into yeast mixture. Add more flour if needed to make a stiff dough. Turn dough onto floured board, divide into balls and roll the balls into finger-width coils; cut coils into 1/2-inch pieces; place on a slightly greased cookie sheet and bake at 350ºF degrees until golden brown.