Smoked Fish Salad

Recipe:

Smoked fish

1 can of peas

Green onion

Cucumber

Mayonnaise

Dill

Black pepper

Herring with Dried Apples

Ingredients:
Dried apples
Onion
Salt and pepper
Herring

Boil the dried apples, chop into small cubes. Fry chopped onion, add the apples and salt and pepper. You may add tomato sauce for more flavor. Top the herring.

Pastries with Dried Mushroom Filling

http://pragarovirtuve.lt/pyrageliai-su-grybais/2790/

The dried mushroom pastries were my favorite growing up. Traditionally they are made with yeast dough, but this year I was afraid it would be too much work. This dough is with margarine and farmers cheese, and is very easy to work with.

Ingredients:
160g flour (379ml = 1.52 cup)
1 teaspoon salt
160g margarine
160g farmers cheese (I used creamcheese)
1 egg yolk

Filling:
Dried mushrooms
Onion
Egg
Salt and pepper

The creamcheese worked well as substitute. I also used shortening for margarine, but the dough lacked flavor. I would used butter next time. Creamcheese makes it already pretty easy to work with.

Will I make it again? - I love the dried mushroom pastries, but the yeast dough is much better and worth the work.

Marinated Mushrooms

By Tyler Florence

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/marinated-mushrooms-recipe.html

The mushrooms taste refreshing marinated in lemon and not vinegar. Light frying deepened the flavor. I would marinate them a night before to let the flavors soak in. I will definitely make them again as a side dish for a holiday dinner.

Baked Fish with Mushrooms, Zucchini and Tarragon

http://www.food.com/recipe/baked-fish-with-mushrooms-and-zucchini-505481

Great fragrance from tarragon, but zucchini made the dish kind of bland. It still fit the fish and mushroom theme of the Christmas Eve. If I made it again, I would replace zucchini with a different vegetable.

Dried Mushroom Soup - Rasalas

This is the most disliked dish of my childhood, so I wanted to make it and try it as adult. It is a very old Lithuanian dish more common in the the Southern Region Dzūkija. It is made on Christmas Eve Kūčios.

The broth turned out beautifully, and everybody loved the soup. It kind of reminds me of pho or ramen broth, although is made very differently. I made the soup a night before the dinner, and it seemed weak to me, but the flavor was very rich the next day.

http://www.delfi.lt/gyvenimas/receptai/kuciu-patiekalai-ir-tradicijos.d?id=11557841

Recipe:
- 2 handfuls of dried wild mushrooms, presoak in boiling water
- 2 cups of barley (presoak in cold water)
- onion, chopped

Soften the onion in oil with some butter. Add a liter of boiling water (4 cups), chopped rehydrated mushrooms, barley, salt and pepper. Simmer for about an hour. Let stand overnight or for several hours. Reheat before serving, or serve cold with hot potatoes.

Traditional Lithuanian Christmas Eve - Kūčios

After living in US for 13 years, this was my first traditional Kūčios (Christmas Eve) dinner. Tradition is to make 12 vegan and fish dishes.

Meniu:
Dried mushroom soup - Rasalas
Baked fish with tarragon, mushrooms and zucchini
Marinated mushrooms
Pastries with dried mushroom filling
Herring in Shuba (Russian)
Herring with dried mushroom topping
Herring with dried apple topping
Fish cakes
Smoked fish salad
Beet salad
Kūčiukai with poppy seed milk
Cranberry jello