Fish Chowder with Wine and Bacon

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This is one of my favorite soups of all times. It’s so light and full of flavor, and I crave it on early spring days or cool summer evenings. It makes me think of lunches at small cafes at the Bulgarian seaside, or a well earned meal after hiking for two days in northern Minnesota. The beauty of this soup is that the fish is the star, and it is gently poached in the flavorful broth. I absolutely love the texture and the mild flavor of the Whitefish, and I think that it is the perfect fish for this soup. When cooked gentility in the broth, the Whitefish becomes buttery and velvety, and it’s such a wonderful compliment to the rest of the ingredients in the soup. 

I absolutely love Julia Child, and the original recipe of this fish soup is from her show “In Julia’s Kitchen With Master Chefs” with Jasper White. The original recipe was made with homemade fish stock. I modified several parts of the original recipe per my taste, and instead of homemade fish stock I used clam juice and water for the base of the soup. I found that calm juice flavors the broth just right, not too fishy or too bland compared to if you just used water. I do have to say that homemade fish stock would be absolutely wonderful for this soup, however I often find myself limited to the fish and the fish parts I can get at my local market, but this would never stop me from finding ways to make this beloved fish chowder even when limited by geographic location or ingredients..

Fish Chowder with Wine and Bacon

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 5 strips bacon
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut in 1/2-inch cubes (about 3-3.5 cups)
• 1/2 cup white wine (Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grgio)
• 1 (8oz) bottle of clam juice
• 3 cups of water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 2-3 bay leaves
• 1.5 pounds Whitefish (Pollock, Haddock, Sea Bass, or another white type fish works well too) skin removed
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• zest of one lemon
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley
• Salt
• Pepper
• Olive Oil  

Directions:

1. Chop the bacon in small pieces (about 1/4-inch). Heat 1tbs olive oil in a Dutch oven or a large pot, add the bacon and cook in until crispy by stirring from time to time so it doesn’t burn. Remove the cooked bacon with a slotted spoon, place on a paper towel-lined plate and set aside for later. Add the onion to your cooking pot with the leftover oil and bacon fat, and cook until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add potatoes and the wine, stir and cook for additional 1 minute to allow the alcohol to escape. Add the clam juice, 3 cups of water, bay leaf, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer on low for about 20-30 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft. 

2. When potatoes are cooked, turn the heat off and remove the bay leaves. Cut the fish into large chunks (about 4-5 inches), do not worry the fish will break into smaller pieces when stirred around in the pot when cooked. The large chunks will prevent the fish from turning into a mush. Add the fish gently into the soup. Make sure the fish is nestled well and covered with liquid. Let it sit with heat off and undisturbed for 30 minutes. The hot liquid will gently cook the fish into a buttery, soft texture.  

3. After 30 minutes add the cream, lemon zest and lemon juice, and gently stir the pot. Taste and add more salt, pepper and lemon juice if needed. 

4. Ladle the soup into serving bowls, top with freshly chopped parsley and the reserved cooked bacon bits.  Enjoy!

Lasagna with Homemade Lasagna Noodles

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When I was a kid, lasagna was this mystical dish that the cartoon character Garfield devoured with so much pleasure and excitement, so to the young me lasagna was the dish of the happy, joyful creatures of the world.

The very first time I had lasagna in my life was in December of 2000. This was the very same year in which I arrived in the United States, and the first of many years to be away from my family for Christmas. That year, a warm-hearted American family (who soon after became my American family) invited me to celebrate Christmas Eve with them, and to my surprise and dismay they served homemade lasagna with a salad at the Christmas Eve dinner.  

Reading, you might be wondering what is so strange about having lasagna for dinner on Christmas Eve. You see, growing up our Bulgarian customs were to have vegan food for Christmas Eve dinner. And in fact there were some very specific traditions about it. For example: the number of dishes is to be an odd number, and some staple Bulgarian dishes have to be present – like: bean stew, rolled cabbage leaves, and fortune bread. For some unknown to this day reason, my child head believed that if I don’t honor Jesus’s birth and don’t eat vegan food I will be punished by the Gods. Don’t ask me which Gods since I made up the whole story. One could think that perhaps my family was religious, but in fact my family was not even remotely religious, therefore I have no idea where this story came about in my head, but strangely enough I believed in it – kind of like believing in Santa, until you don’t.

So here I was, sitting in a beautiful American home, surrounded by a loving group of people with a meat lasagna in front of me for Christmas Eve dinner. 

I had to eat it. I couldn’t let down the most wonderful family who took a barely-speaking English young woman under their arm, and made her part of their family for Christmas. I was going to deal with the Gods later. And, to be honest, I was hoping that the Gods in America were different than in Bulgaria, and their will was that people had to eat meat Lasagna for Christmas dinner in order not to be punished by them.

The lasagna was amazing! The dinner was amazing! And in fact, it was one of the most memorable Christmas dinners in my life. However, the entire time I ate the lasagna my head was going through probable scenarios of me being punished by the Gods later. Some of the stories swirling in my head were around me getting in a car accident after leaving dinner. Or that my plane going back home would crash. All imaginary scenarios were very dramatic, and included very sudden and super deserved (as far as I was concerned) death.

On my way home from dinner, I kept waiting for my car to explode, or to be hit by a deer, but nope – I came home in one piece, my car and I were ok. Traveling back to Bulgaria a few days later, to my dismay the plane didn’t crash either. In fact nothing even remotely bad happened to me in the days and months following the Christmas dinner. Relieved by the outcome, I promised to my twenty-something years old self, that I will definitely eat lasagna for Christmas Eve dinner again someday. 

So here I was, exactly 20 years later and during another year where old habits and traditions were being tested and broken by another huge life change – the virus. It was Christmas time, and I found myself remembering the lasagna story. It was then when I decided to have lasagna for Christmas again, as a tribute and a symbol of opening the door to a wonderful, and unexpected new traditions. 

While rolling the lasagna sheets I was giggling to myself and thinking “Life is giving me the same unexpected gift for a second time in my life.” As one door closed, another one opened, and it gave me the chance to experience life in a new way.  

About the recipe:

Lasagna with homemade lasagna sheets sounds impossible to make at home and waaaaay too complicated than it actually is. Don’t know about you, but for me the store-bought lasagna sheets seem like a real good idea until it’s time to dig-in and enjoy the final result of my hard labor. This is what usually happens to me: I put my fork into the mound of cheesy goodness and sauce, and all the saucy yumminess slides off to the side, leaving a massive amount of hot dough on my fork. Nope. Not a fan.

To me, the whole idea of lasagna is that the lasagna sheets have to hold the saucy, cheesy goodness together. But with most store-bought sheets usually the opposite happens. After many years of using the store stuff, getting excited, and then frustrated, I thought “what’s the point?” and I gave up on making lasagna at home ...until last year when I decided to make my own pasta sheets (eggs, salt, flour—that’s it!). I was freaking out at first, but my first attempt tasted so good, and I got hooked up and never looked back. 

Unlike the store-bought lasagna sheets the homemade ones act like a sponge to the sauces and cheese, binding everything together for a perfect bite of silky dough and saucy goodness. The other nice part of making your own lasagna sheets is that you can make them the size of your pan, or cut them in strips like the store-bought ones, or make the sheets as thin or thick as you like. Added bonus — you don’t even have to boil the homemade lasagna sheets. Some people do, but I didn’t find any difference in taste, just more work (try fetching those soft, boiled sheets out of the hot water without tearing them apart—no, thank you!). 

If I got your curiosity and excited to make lasagna again, yay! Now, roll up your sleeves, pour yourself a glass of wine, and let’s make lasagna!

Lasagna with Homemade Lasagna Noodles

Makes 8-10 servings

Ingredients:

Homemade Lasagna Noodles
• 1 cup of all-purpose flour (plus more for dusting)
• 1 tbsp semolina flour (optional)
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 3 egg yolk
• 1 whole egg

Filling
• 1 can (28oz) whole tomatoes
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4-5 garlic cloves, mashed
• 1.5 pounds lean ground beef
• 2.5 cups whole milk ricotta cheese
• 1.5 cups + 1 cup (for topping) shredded Mozzarella = 2.5 cups
• 1 cup + 3/4 cup (for topping) freshly shredded Parmesan = 1.3/4 cups
• 1 egg
• 1/5 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
• 1/2 cup freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley + more for topping
• Salt 
• Pepper
• Olive oil

Equipment
• Long rolling pin, or a Pasta Roller
• 8x12 or 9x13 baking pan
• Ruler

Directions:

To make the Pasta Dough: Follow my recipe from this blog post.

Make the dough per directions, form a ball, wrap in a plastic wrap and let it rest for 30min on the counter.

To make Lasagna filling:

1. While the dough is resting, place the canned whole tomatoes in a food processor and pulse a few times. The mixture should become slightly rough but without large tomato chunks. Set aside for later.

2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, add some olive oil, onion and garlic, and sauté until soft and translucent (be careful not to burn the garlic as the flavor will become unpleasant). Place cooked onion and garlic in a bowl and set aside for later. Return the empty pan back to the stove and add the ground beef (work in 2 batches if necessary) brown and cook the meat thoroughly. Place the cooked meat on a paper towel to absorb some of the excess fat. Remove any fat from the pan, return the cooked ground beef back to the pan, and add the cooked onion and garlic, the tomatoes plus some salt and pepper. Mix well and simmer without a lid for 15-20 minutes by stirring from time to time, until the mixture is slightly thicker. Remove from heat, taste and add more salt or pepper if needed. Set aside to cool.

3. While the beef mixture is simmering, in a large bowl combine the ricotta, the 1.5 cup shredded mozzarella, 1 cup shredded Parmesan, parsley, thyme, the egg and a couple of pinches of salt and pepper. Mix well and set the bowl aside.

To make the Lasagna Sheets:

Have your pan nearby for size reference. Cut the dough in 3 and form 3 balls. Cover 2 of them with a plastic wrap and set aside. Lightly flour your surface, working 1 ball at the time and roll out the dough to the size of your pan. Oval shapes, not perfect rectangles, or slightly small or large lasagna sheets are totally fine. If you are using a pasta machine instead of a rolling pin, roll the dough as wide as possible and make the sheets a bit longer, so you can cut a piece to fill the empty spots in the pan. But if possible, roll the sheet as close to the size of the pan since that will make the spreading of the filling easier for you. Place the rolled out lasagna sheet on a parchment paper. Repeat with the remaining dough and place the rolled out sheets on top of each other separated by parchment paper.

To assemble:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Spread 1 cup of meat and tomato mixture on the bottom of your pan. Place one lasagna sheet on top. Spread 1/3 of the ricotta mixture over the lasagna sheet, using a spoon. Follow with 1 cup of the meat and tomato sauce and spread well over the cheese mixture. Repeat the process with the remaining lasagna noodles. Your top layer should be a layer of meat and tomato sauce. Sprinkle the remaining 1cup of shredded Mozzarella and 3/4 cup shredded Parmesan. Cover with foil and bake for 45-50 min, or until fragrant and bubbly. Remove the foil and place lasagna back in the oven for additional 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is lightly browned. 

Remove from oven and let rest for 20-30 minutes. Sprinkle with some chopped parsley if desired. Cut and serve until still warm. 

Homemade Lutenitsa/Домашна Лютеница

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September is here. The weather is changing, cool air is coming and the days are getting shorter. I love watching the sunlight in my little apartment and its slow transitioning from the early bright sunny mornings in June, to the hot mid-days in July and August, and the amber-colored late mornings in September. I find myself all the sudden needing a long sleeve shirt for my morning coffee walks, and my rain jacket now is permanently hanging by the door instead of somewhere in the closet. My body feels the change is coming, and I noticed that I have been a bit more jittery this season compared to previous years. I stay longer at the farmers markets, and I have been hauling a ton of farmers vegetables to my little kitchen and preserving them for the winter. My cooking is also different. I noticed my constant cravings for Bulgarian foods lately. And little by little, I am starting to realize that I miss home (Bulgaria). I miss it a lot. 

I usually visit home at this time of year, my mom, my friends, and my favorite Sofia. And due to life changes and the current pandemic, this year marks two years since I have been home. I miss the Bulgarian air. There is something different about it. My body and my senses always know when I am home. I feel it all over me as I walk on the streets of Sofia in late August and early September, inhaling the smell of roasted red peppers, cucumbers and parsley coming from the open balcony doors and kitchen windows. It smells like end of the summer, and like all the foods I think as quintessentially, summery and Bulgarian – shopska salata (cucumber, tomato, parsley and feta cheese salad) made with juicy heirloom tomatoes and crunchy cucumbers, kufteta na skara (mini burgers with parsley and onions), and roasted red peppers for lutenitsa (a spread of roasted red peppers, tomatoes and parsley). The flavors and the aromas of these foods are embedded in my bones, and my body craves them as the fall season approaches – year after year, no matter if I am physically in Bulgaria or somewhere else in the world.  

So today, I want to share with you my version of the recipe for homemade Lutenitsa. From all the Bulgarian dishes I listed above, this beloved spread has the most nostalgic and craving effect on me. And this year I decided to make loads of it for the winter days, using all the bountiful produce from the farmers market. If you are close to me, I probably fed you Lutenitsa which I make yearly by following this old recipe of mine (my mom’s recipe). So what is different this year, and why a new recipe? Well, I have noticed that my Lutenitsa from previous years tasted slightly bitter due to the store-bought tomato paste. So, this year I decided to embody my Bulgarian grandma and make a homemade tomato paste from scratch, taking advantage of all the sweet, ripe, beautiful (and super cheap) tomatoes from the farmers market.

So how did you make a homemade tomato paste? – you might ask. Here is how I did it: I got loads of Roma tomatoes from the farmers market, grated them on a cheese box grater (super low-tech, how amazing is that!), and cooked them down to s super thick sauce consistency. The process takes a little bit of time, however, most of the tomato cooking is off-hands, and all you need time and patience. In addition, this year I also added garlic to the Lutenitsa, and a bit more oil (olive oil + sunflower oil, for a depth of flavor), which made all the difference taste-wise. Bellow are some tips I discovered that helped me when making homemade Lutenitsa:

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Type of the red peppers: I recommend using Italian red peppers. They are different from red bell peppers as they are longer, triangularly shaped (see photos below). Italian peppers also have more condensed sweet-peppery taste, and they contain far less water than red bell peppers. The water content is important when making Luitenitsa because the goal is to evaporate most of it. So less water in the peppers, means less cooking time for you, and thicker Lutenitsa. If you can’t find Italian peppers at the farmers markets, or at co-ops nearby, you can use red bell peppers but use less of them as they tend to be meatier.

Roasting the red peppers: When using Italian peppers I prefer roasting them whole. Italian peppers are less meatier than bell peppers, and thy can burn and dry much faster than bell peppers while under the broiler or the grill. 

The tomatoes: I like using Roma tomatoes as they also have less water and are meatier than other types of tomatoes. However, I love the richness and the sweetness that big heirloom tomatoes have, so I tend to use about 90% Roma tomatoes and 10% heirloom tomatoes. You can use entirely Roma tomatoes, just add a bit more sugar for balance. If you want to use other types of tomatoes rather than Roma, you have to increase the quantity of the tomatoes about 25% since other types contain more water, which will mostly evaporate during the cooking process.

How to thicken your Lutenitsa: I like adding boiled and pureed carrots to my Lutenitsa for two reasons. One: it adds sweetens and complexity to the flavor. Two: it helps thicken Lutenitsa really fast. If you are a person who absolutely hates boiled carrots, don’t worry – when mixed with the rest of the ingredients you won’t taste the carrots at all. I promise!

The Jars: Mason jars with twist off metal lids work the best for water bath . The glass jars with glass lids (found in the United States) will not work for Lutenitsa as they do not create a good enough vacuum seal, which will result in spoiled Luntenitsa and, many, many tears and frustration for all your hard work. The nice part of the metal lids is that you can buy new ones, super cheaply to replace each year. Having new lids (free of scratches and dents) when canning will ensure a perfect vacuum and a seal that could last for a month even without refrigeration. How clean your jars are is super important too. Make sure you wash them with soap and water just before ready for canning.

Canning Funnel: In my opinion canning funnel is one of the greatest inventions ever! It is super cheap and it helps from spilling the canning liquid everywhere around and all over the jars. Having clean jar necks is supper important while canning, as it will ensure good vacuum between the jar and the seal. 

Canning Time: Make sure that the temperature of the water bath is the same as the filled jars temperature. Also, make sure that the water bath covers the jars at least 1/2” above the top of the jars. This will ensure that the temperature around the jar is consistent bottom to top. My cooking time for 8oz jars is 10 min after the water starts boiling rapidly. 

How to store Lutenitsa: After the jars are vacuumed sealed the contents are good up to a year. I usually store my Lutenitsa in a cool dark place, like a basement, or even a closet or a cabinet in a box. Examine jars once a month to ensure the seals and the lids are holding up. 

Common problems: 
– “Help! Some Lutenitsa escaped the jars during the canning process and it is floating in the boiling water bath.”
– Turn the heat off, dump the hot water, let the jars cool down completely and examine them to see which lid might be leaking. Most of the time this is a one jar problem vs the entire batch problem. Usually this happens due to faulty lid, broken seal, or irregular jar neck. In those cases, place the content of the faulty jar in a new one with a new lid and start over with the canning process.

Homemade Lutenitsa/Домашна Лютеница

Makes 4-6 (8oz) jars

Equipment:

• 4-6 (8oz) jars with new metal lids
• Canning funnel
• Jar lifter (optional)
• Large cooking pot (at least 5” deep)

Ingredients:

• 10 large, ripe Roma tomatoes (or 8 Roma, and 2 heirloom), about 2.5 pounds
• 10-12 Italian sweet peppers, about 2.5-3 pounds
• 1-2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 4-5 garlic cloves, mashed
• 3 large carrots, peeled and boiled
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 3 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 - 2/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

Directions:

Wash jars and lids and let them dry.

Tomatoes 

Wash tomatoes and cut them in half lengthwise. Take a shallow (pasta type) bowl, or a plate, place a box grater over (or inside) the bowl so the bowl can easily collect the tomato juices. Hold a tomato half cut side towards the box grater (see photo) and grate the tomato half on the large holes of the grater until the only part left from the tomato in your hand is the tomato skin. Discard the tomato skin and repeat with the rest of the tomatoes. You might have to empty the bowl when full of tomato juices a few times in a large cooking pot. When all the tomatoes are grated and juiced in the cooking pot, add the salt and the sugar, place the pot over high-heat and bring to a boil, lower the heat to a medium-high heat and let the water to evaporate naturally, about 2 hours. It’s important to keep the heat to a medium-height for the first hour during the cooking so the water can evaporate quickly. Stir tomatoes frequently, and after about 1.5 hours lower the heat to a low-heat to avoid tomato splashes over the stove top. Tomato sauce is thick enough when it is reduced to 1/3 of its original volume. Tested for thickness by running a spoon through the sauce, it should leave deep grooves. Turn heat off, place the lid on the pot to keep the tomato sauce warm, and set aside until you have the rest of your ingredients for the Lutenitsa all cooked, pureed and ready to go. If the rest of your ingredients are pureed and ready, keep the tomato sauce on the stove top on low and follow the directions under “Assembly” below. 

Peppers 

While the tomato sauce is simmering and thickening, wash and dry the Italian peppers. Arrange on a rimmed baking sheet (work in batches if needed), leaving at least 1/2 inch space around each pepper. Place peppers under the broiler (alternatively you can use the grill) and roast until their skin blisters and turns black. Check peppers every 3-5 minutes to make sure they are not burning. Turn peppers over when a side is blistered and with dark spots. Roast until all sides of the peppers are blistered and with black spots, 25-40 min depending on your oven type and broiler settings. Remove peppers from the oven and place in a large pot or bowl and cover tightly with a lid. Repeat with the remaining peppers, if any. Let peppers cool completely, the steam in the bowl/pot will loosen their skin. The skins should peel away off of the peppers easily when cooled. 

Peel the pepper skins, remove the stem and the seeds.  Seeds can be easily removed if the roasted peppers are cut open and the seeds are gently scraped with a spoon or back of a knife. Do not run peppers under water to clean, you’ll lose most of the roasted flavor that you worked so hard to get.  

Assembly 

Place as many peppers as you can fit in your food processor (using an immersion blender works well too). Pulse a few times until peppers are chunky and bumpy consistensy (not entirely smooth). Place the pureed peppers in the cooking pot with the thickened tomato sauce. Add the boiled carrots to the food processor and puree until smooth. Add pureed carrots to the pot with the tomato and peppers puree. Add the mashed garlic and balsamic vinegar to the pot with the rest of the ingredients (hold the paisley until the end), mix everything really well and add more salt, or balsamic vinegar per taste. At this point, if your mixture looks a bit runny or not quite thick, turn the heat on and simmer the mixture on very low heat for additional 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently, until the mixture looks thick enough. Add the chopped parsley, stir well and taste (I tend to love my Lutenitsa with lots of parsley, so I always add more, but you donut have to).

Canning

Take a clean jar, place the canning funnel on top, and fill the jar using a spoon. Make sure the jar is filled only to the point where the jar neck starts, don’t fill it all the way to the top. Wipe clean the jar top, otherwise it might not create a solid vacuum with the lid. Close the jar with a lid and make sure the lid is tight. Repeat the process with the remaining jars until no Lutenitsa is left. Sometimes the Lutenitsa will not be enough to fill one last full jar, in that case place the mixture in a smaller jar, or just enjoy the fresh leftover Lutenitsa with some toasted bread. 

Working in batches if necessary, place the closed Lutenitsa jars, standing up with lids up, in a large pot. Make sure that the pot is deep enough; you need at least 2 inches of space above the top of the jars. Fit as many jars as you can but make sure the jars are not touching each other. Fill the pot with water that is close to the temperature of the filled jars. Water should cover the jar lids by at least an inch. Bring the pot to a boil, lower to med-heat and simmer bubbling for 10 minutes (start timing after the water starts boiling). During the 10 minutes of canning make sure the water is bubbling but not super aggressive and splashing. Check the jars from time to time to make sure no jar is leaking.

After the 10 minutes of canning, pour the water from the pot carefully, it will be really hot! If some water is still left at the bottom of the pot that is ok, the most important thing is to be careful when pouring the hot water from a pot filled with jars. Let jars sit for 10 min to cool off slightly.  Using a jar lifter or a thick kitchen towel, carefully remove jars from the pot and place them on a kitchen towel. Repeat the sterilizing process with the remaining jars, if any.

Cool the jars completely and store in a cool place. Lutenitsa can be stored for up to 1 year. Refrigerate opened Lutenitsa jars, and consume within 10 days of opening.

Ways to enjoy Lutenitsa

• Spread on a buttered thick-crusted bread toast, and top with feta or goat cheese (Bulgarian style)
• Spread on burgers or sandwiches
• Excellent French fries dipping sauce