Category Archives: Sides & Bites

Pigodi, Korean Steam Pies with Meat and Cabbage

Pigodi are a type of Korean pies that are steamed. I usually cook them in a bamboo steamer. The most popular type is with meat and cabbage. Its best to use finely chopped pork but they can also be prepared with ground meat. Serve with various sauces, for example, mix the soy sauce with wine vinegar, fresh finely chopped cilantro...
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Vareniki with Potato and Mushrooms

Vareniki (varenyky, pirogi) are stuffed dumplings from Ukraine made from unleavened dough and different fillings. Some of the more popular fillings are vegetables, boiled potatoes, salted cabbage, baked pumpkin, fruits and berries, meat, mushroom, cheese, poppy seed or buckwheat. My favorite fillings are meat, potatoes with onions and mushrooms, cottage cheese or curd cheese and cherries. Vareniki with berry...
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Baked Eggs with Bacon

Very interesting idea how to cook the ordinary breakfast of bacon and eggs. I used a one cup bowl, but you can use a muffin pan also which are a little smaller, so you’ll get more servings too. It’s not necessary to add spinach or it can be replaced by other herbs as well....
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Chorizo Cheese Dip

Lots of gooey, melted cheese with spicy chorizo mixed in. Use any hot pepper to your taste, I had poblano pepper so I used those, but you can use also serrano, jalapeno, etc. Serve with crunchy tortilla chips. And add a ice cold beer to complete the meal. What could be better for a Super Bowl party?...
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Fried and Steamed Dumplings

There are many ways to cook dumplings, by steaming, boiling, frying or even combining these techniques. One way I like doing it best is to fry them a little to make them crisp and then quickly steaming them to cook the filling and make them tender (or steam first and then fry). You can prepare dumplings in...
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Tsibriki

Tsibriki (Tsybriki) is a national Belarussian cuisine dish. Its made from grated potatoes rolled in flour and sauteed in lard. Belarusian cuisine is famous for dishes from potato and Tsibriki is one of them. This dish is similar to Tater Tot or Potato Latkes (potato pancakes), the ingredients are almost the same, but the taste is different. Usually...
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Roast Beef

There are many recipes for roast beef.  You can use meat on the bone or without, the most important thing is that the meat can't be frozen. Also, the meat can be tightly rolled up (if you use meat not on bone) and tightly tie it with thread. The roast beef can be serve hot or cold and can...
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