paska

lemony
delicious
soft
easter
mennonite

all words that lead to PASKA!

i have never made paska before. my grandma always made it, and i miss her & all of her good mennonite baking.

so i found this recipe on a blog called mennonite girls can bake

i made it once, and it is already gone (3 days later!!) paska is meant to be shared & given away so my paska was given & shared with some friends, both sisters, aunts, uncles & cousins, and of course my hubby. the second batch is about to go into the oven, and i already have in mind a few people i will be sharing these with. so, try it for yourself. it seems like a bit more work than other recipes, but it's worth it.

Paska

1 medium lemon
1 medium orange

Using a potato peeler, peel the rind of the citrus very thin. You don't want any of the white part of the peel. Put the thinly sliced peel into your blender.
Once you have removed & discarded all of the white pith of the citrus, chop your lemon & orange, removing all the seeds. Add the chopped lemon and orange to the blender.

2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 teaspoon sugar
In a large bowl, put your yeast, sugar & warm water. Let it sit for 10 minutes. If it hasn't poofed up, either your yeast is old or dead, if that happens, start again. There is no point continuing with dead yeast.

1 1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup butter or margarine
In a microwave safe bowl, heat the butter & milk until the butter melts. Once it is melted add it to the blender with the citrus. Start the blender & puree for 2-3 minutes.

2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Add eggs, sugar & salt to citrus/milk/butter puree in the blender. Blend for 1 minute, or until smooth.

Measure the milk/citrus/sugar mixture, it should be about 4 1/2 cups. if you have a bit more or less, that is fine, you will just have to adjust the flour likewise.

pour the mixture, along with the yeast mixture into a large bowl. Add flour, one cup at a time, stirring with a wooden spoon until you have a smooth soft dough. it will be sticky.  7-8 cups is what worked for me, but it will depend on the size of your eggs & the size of your lemon & orange. if you use a plastic bowl it is easiest to tell when your dough is getting to the right consistency, because it will stop sticking to the sides. once the dough is getting close to the right consistency it's best to turn it onto a floured surface, and knead in more flour until the dough is slightly sticky, but doesn't stick too much to your hands.

The amount of flour is a guide. if you dough is still super sticky add a little more flour, just a dusting at a time.  the dough should be able to hold it's shape.

After kneading it by hand for about 8-10 minutes, transfer to a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap & a tea towel. i place it in the sink with about 2 inches of hot water to help speed up the rising process. let it rise for about an hour, or until it has doubled in size.

at this point, give it a bit of a punch down and let rest at least 10 minutes, or up to another hour.  during this 10 minutes, prepare your pans by spraying with pam or rubbing with margarine. make loaves, or use muffin tins, or shape into small buns or twists on cookie sheets. let rise until doubled in bulk, about an hour to an hour & a half.

preheat the oven to 350 degrees. bake the loaves for about 20 minutes. if you are making buns or muffins, it only takes about 14 minutes.

allow to cool on cooling racks. freeze if you aren't going to eat them in the next couple of days.

ice with a lemon cream cheese icing - which you can find on my lemon raspberry loaf post
and top with rainbow ball sprinkles.

share with friends & family & enjoy!

tex mex chicken & rice bake

i was flipping through my chatelaine today and came across this recipe page with the tastiest looking meal. you know it must look super good if it makes you crave chicken at 8 am! so i got all the ingredients together & now it is cooking up wonderfully in the oven.

try it for yourself!

1 can campbell's condensed cream of chicken soup
1 soup can 1% milk
3/4 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 cups mixture of red & green peppers (i used red & orange)
small chopped onion
1/2 cup frozen corn
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 1 lb)
1/2 cup shredded tex mex cheese (or cheddar & monterey jack mixture)

Mix soup, milk, rice & chili powder in shallow 2 L baking dish. Spread evenly with vegetables.
Top with chicken. Sprinkle chicken with cheese & additional chili powder, if desired. Cover.
Bake at 400 degrees until chicken is cooked through & rice is tender - about 45 minutes. Remove cover and broil until cheese is golden & bubbly - about 3 minutes. Remove chicken & stir rice before serving.

*note - i would decrease the amount of milk slightly or increase the amount of rice. it was a bit too runny/saucy for my liking. but otherwise, delcious!