My (Georgian) Hero

Darra Goldstein.

She's amazing. I finally made the Khachapuri in her Winter Vegetarian cookbook (1996, aka The Winter Hearth), and we judged it to be the most authentic Georgian cheese bread of all. It transported us back to the Tblisi restaurant in Warsaw where we had such a lovely meal when our friend Babs visited from the States. Here is a loaf of mine in all its glory:

In fact, I didn't have any "farmer cheese," so for the second cheese I used cream cheese.  (I don't really find the American "farmer's cheese" you can buy in the grocery store to work anyway -- it seems just like Muenster to me. There is another kind of "farmer cheese" I think that is softer, but I don't have access to it.) I worried that with cream cheese the result would be too sweet, but it was fine.

Adding the garlic clove made a surprisingly enormous difference and may very well be where the "authentic" taste came from.

Here we go:

Georgian Cheese Bread (Khachapuri)

3/4 c. milk
2 1/2 t. active dry yeast (= one packet)
1/2 t. honey
6 T. unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus 1 T. melted unsalted butter
1 3/4 t. salt
2 c. unbleached white flour
1/2 lb. farmer cheese (or cream cheese!)
1 lb. Muenster cheese, grated
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 garlic clove put through a garlic press

Heat the milk to lukewarm. Dissolve the yeast and honey in 1/4 c. of the milk. Set aside to proof for 10 minutes, then stir in the remaining milk. Add the 6 T. butter, 1 1/2 t. salt and the flour, mixing well.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning the dough to grease the top. Cover and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2-2 hours.

To prepare the filling, cream the farmer/cream cheese in a medium bowl (or a Kitchen Aid mixer). Stir in the grated Muenster until well blended, then add the eggs and the remaining 1/4 t. salt. Add the pressed garlic and beat until smooth and light. Set aside.

When the dough has doubled in bulk, punch it down and let it rise again until doubled, about 45 minutes. (If you're me and you're making this for dinner, these steps take too much time. Don't worry -- just make sure the dough rises some.) Punch down and divide into three equal pieces.

Grease 3 8-inch cake or pie pans, says Darra. Or just use a cookie sheet, greased or lined with parchment paper. On a floured surface, roll out each piece of dough into a circle about 12 inches in diameter. Center a round of dough in each pan (or on the cookie sheets). Divide the cheese mixture into three equal parts and place 1/3 of the filling on each circle of dough, mounding in the center. Then begin folding the edges of the dough in toward the center, moving in a clockwise direction, allowing each fold of dough to overlap the previous one, until the filling is completely encased in the pleated dough. Grasp the excess dough in the center of the bread and twist into a topknot to seal.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Let the breads stand for 10 minutes and then brush with melted butter. Bake for about 45 minutes (or much less, depending on your oven -- trust the scent of the bread to know when it is done) or until browned. Slip the khachapuri out of the pans and serve hot or at room temperature.

Darra also suggests mini-loaves with 1 T. of filling each, 12-15 minutes to bake.

I recommend this cookbook -- it is really terrific. Funny that I've had it for years and never searched Khachapuri. I guess I figured that for Georgian cheese bread, I use my Cooking in the Caucasus cookbook, and for Borscht I use this one. By the way, I also recommend Darra's vegetarian borscht, although only if you have a Cuisinart. It has so many vegetables in it that it's extremely hearty and you don't miss the meat at all (how would I know? I haven't eaten meat in over 30 years!), but without an army of serfs or a Cuisinart, you'll never manage the vegetables.

Mushroom Kulebiaka -- the vegetarian option

When I coerced my students into making a kulebiaka a couple of weeks ago for our Russian cuisine day, they bought salmon and cod ... and chicken stock. Which technically means I couldn't eat any -- I have avoided all meat products for years, though I have been eating fish since getting pregnant (now 14 years ago... seems like just yesterday!).

But I also wanted to have something to do during the cooking session, and though I could have taken the opportunity to horn in on their recipes and give advice (cut those cucumbers into smaller pieces! chop finely!), I instead chose to make a dish of my own.

Grabbing another Darra Goldstein classic off the shelf, I launched into a mushroom version of the pie. The added advantage was that I made the dough at home, which enabled me to use my cuisinart, and I doubled the recipe, as I always do.

One of my Fulbright chums asked for the recipe, so here it is:

Mushroom Kulebiaka (Darra uses the French title, Coulibiac)

Dough:
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 t. salt
1 t. baking powder
1/2 c. unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4 lb. cream cheese

Filling:
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
3 T. unsalted butter or olive oil
1 lb. mixed mushrooms, trimmed and finely chopped
1/3 c. raw pearled barley
2/3 c. water
pinch plus 1 t. salt
freshly ground black pepper
3 T. sour cream
2 T. snipped fresh dill

1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

Place the flour, salt and baking powder into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add the butter and cream cheese and process, using the pulsing motion, until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Turn out onto a bowl and with your hands gently press the mixture until the dough sticks together and forms a ball. Do not overmix or the pastry will be tough. Wrap the dough in wax paper and chill for at least an hour before using. (I made it the night before.)

In a large skillet, saute the onion in 2 T. of butter or oil until it begins to turn golden, 8-10 minutes. Add the remaining tablespoon of butter or oil to the skillet along with the mushrooms and cook the mixture for 10 minutes more, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan bring the barley, water, and a pinch of salt to boil. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. The grains will still be chewy. Stir the cooked barley into the mushroom mixture. Add the remaining 1 t. salt and the pepper, sour cream, and dill. (I forgot the sour cream in the heat of the moment, but it was still tasty!)

Preheat the over to 400 F.

To assemble the pie, roll out the dough on a well-floured surface to a 10 x 14 inch rectangle. Trim the edges, saving the scraps to make decorative shapes for the top of the pie if desired. (My students made fun of me, but I thought this was pretty.)

Mound the mushroom mixture lengthwise down the center of the dough. Bring the two long sides of the dough up to meet at the center over the filling, then fold up the short sides to enclose it completely. Seal the edges with cold water.

Gently place the finished pie seam side down on an ungreased baking sheet. Brush all over with the beaten egg yolk and decorate the top, if desired. Bake for 20 minutes, until the pastry is crisp and nicely browned. Allow to sit for 10 or 15 minutes before slicing.

Serves 6 to 8.

My students with the unbaked mushroom kulebiakas.
Wish I'd taken a picture when the pies came out of the oven!