Recipes: Taste of Cleveland Cooking Class

Servings: 4

1 whole head cabbage
1 large onion, chopped
2 T butter
1 # ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork
1 1/2 cups rice, cooked
1 tsp garlic, finely minced
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

3 T butter
3 T flour
1 1/2 cups tomato juice
2 T ketchup
1 T sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Place pot with water and 1 T salt almost all the way and bring to a boil.
Cut cores from cabbage.
Once pot is at a boil, put in the water. Cover and cook for 3 minutes, or until soft enough to pull off. We will need 40 pieces.
Once cooled off enough, take the thick stem off and cut the remaining cabbage at the bottom of a hotel pan.

Filling
Saute the chopped onion in butter in a large saucepan until tender.
Mix cooled onions with beef, pork, rice, garlic, salt, and black pepper until well combined. Don’t over-mix or the meat will become tough.
Place ½ cup of meat of each cabbage leaf in the center.
Flip the right side of the leaf to the middle, then the left. Flip the bottom of the leaf. It will resemble an envelope.
Roll away from you to encase the meat and make a neat little roll. Place a small amount of sauce on top of the cut cabbage, season with salt and pepper, and arrange cabbage rolls on top. Put remaining sauce on top and cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 50-1 hour.

Sauce
Put butter in a saucepot and melt. Add the flour and cook for a minute or two to incorporate.
Add the rest of the ingredients, and simmer for 15 minutes.

Serving: 4

12 perch filets
1 cup flour
½ cup cornstarch
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp cayenne
½ tsp salt
12 oz beer, cold
Flour and Fryer Oil

In a medium sized bowl, add all dry ingredients and stir together.
Whisk in the cold beer until smooth with no lumps. It will have the appearance of pancake batter.
Taking one piece of perch at a time, dredge in flour then place in the beer batter to cover completely.
Fry until golden brown. Remove from oil and place on a plate with paper towel to drain excess oil off.
Repeat with remaining perch, and serve.

Serving for 4

¼ cup pickles
2 tsp capers
1 tsp parsley, chopped
¾ cup mayonnaise, recipe to follow
1 tsp lemon juice

Cut the pickles into a small dice, and place in medium mixing bowl.
Chop the capers up, and add to the pickles.
Add the remaining ingredients, and stir to combine.
Cover with plastic wrap and set aside until needed.

Serving 4

1 tsp egg yolk
1 ½ tsp lemon juice
1 tsp white wine vinegar
¼ tsp Dijon mustard
½ tsp salt
¾ cup canola oil

Combine the egg yolk, lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, and salt in a mixing bowl. Whisk until blended and completely emulsified, about 30 seconds.
Very slowly begin to add the oil while whisking continually. Once the mixture begins to form an emulsification, whisk in a little more gradually until all the oil is added, and the mayo is thick in consistency, about 8 minutes.

Serving 4

Pierogi Filling

1 ½ # russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
Salt and pepper to taste
3 T butter
3 medium yellow onions, small diced
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

For the filling, put the potatoes in a large saucepot and cover with cold water with a tablespoon of salt.
Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook until potatoes are cooked, about 15-20 minutes.
Drain the potatoes, then place in oven at 350 degrees to dry out, about 5 minutes.
Using the ricer, rice the potatoes until smooth, then set aside.
Add the butter to a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the chopped onions, and cook until caramelized, about 15 minutes. Add half the onions to the mashed potatoes. Add the cheese and salt and pepper to taste.

Pierogi Dough

2 1/2 cups flour
½ cup butter, softened
1 cups warm water

Put the flour in a large mixing bowl or food processor. If using food processor put half the flour in at a time.
Add the butter piece by piece until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the water until the dough forms into a mass and doesn’t stick to the bowl.
Turn the dough onto a surface with flour and knead until soft and elastic, about 5 minutes. Let rest for 20 minutes.
Divide the dough into 4, and using one dough ball roll out until 1/8 inch thick and about a foot circle.
Using a floured cookie cutter, cut the dough and place on a baking sheet with parchment paper. You can reuse the scraps of dough, but just once. Cut all the dough in circles placing on the baking sheet between parchment paper making sure they aren’t stacked together.
Working with one circle at a time, place a T worth of the filling into the center of the dough. Fold in half and using your fingers pinch the edges to seal. Place on a separate sheet tray and flour lightly. Repeat with the following circles.
Bring a large, low saucepan of salted water to boil. Drop in the pierogi about six at a time. Return to a boil and reduce heat. When they rise to the surface, continue to simmer a few minutes more.
Remove with a slotted spoon to test for doneness. Remove if done and serve immediately with rest of the caramelized onions.

Serving for 4

Pretzel Crust
¾ cup graham crackers, crushed
½ cup pretzels, crushed
3 T butter, melted
1 T sugar

Cheesecake Filling
16 oz cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp cornstarch

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a spring form pan with parchment and grease with cooking spray.
For the pretzel crust, mix graham crackers, pretzels, butter, and sugar together. Press along pan making sure all is well packed into the pan.
Bake the crust for 23-25 minutes or until slightly golden brown.
For the filling, mix the cream cheese and the sugar together using a kitchen aid, until well beaten and the sugar begins to emulsify into the cream cheese, about 8 minutes.
Add the egg, vanilla, and cornstarch. Mix until combined while scraping the sides off the bowl while machine is off.
Once the crust has cooled, pour the filling to the top, and smooth out evenly. Bake for 45 minutes.
Remove from oven, and cool completely. Refrigerate until cool.
When ready to serve, drizzle salted caramel over and add crushed pretzels. Slice and serve.

Serving 4

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/8 cup corn syrup
3 T butter, room temperature cut into pieces
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tsp maldon sea salt

In a large saucepot, place the sugar and corn syrup and put on medium high heat.
Using a wooden spoon, stir to combine, yet being careful to not get on the sides of the pan as the sugar is heating up. *If that does you can use a wet brush to loosen the sugar from the sides of the pot*
Continue cooking until the sugar reaches a deep amber color, but not burnt.
Remove the pot from the stove top, and add the butter. Then VERY CAREFUL stir in the heavy cream without keeping your hand away from the pot since it will steam and be very hot!!!
Once heavy cream is combined, add the maldon salt. Let cool until needed.