I am happily immersed in attempting to recreate it.  And while my first attempt was yummy–and close to the original–the end result was not quite exact.

What I am attempting to make may very well be this bread, perhaps just made into small pieces (all the better for package tourists to fill their pockets for the day ahead). The bread also reminded me of povitica / potica  – another nut-filled and rolled bread of Eastern European origin, with the swirls facing sideways instead of upward (as they do with a traditional cinnamon roll).

My first crack at this started with my usual sweet dough recipe, which I stretched then rolled with a tahini filling (1 cup tahini, 1 cup of sugar and a few pats of butter, maybe three tablespoons, melted). I divided the dough into four parts (as if I were making mini cinnamon rolls). The aesthetics were not quite there–cut too large, maybe, or the dough rolled too thickly. The taste was pretty close, though.

I’ll let you know when I hit the mark–which will probably involve a little less yeast and more stretching. But if you are hankering for a new taste at brunch, try the tahini filling in lieu of cinnamon/butter/sugar in cinnamon rolls. It’s delish — nutty, creamy and sweet.

Mountains of grains, from top left, buckwheat groats, red quinoz, wheat berries, bulgur

• Red Quinoa — A little Internet research turns up that quinoa is actually a seed, which explains the way it cooks up into kernels that pop in the mouth, kind of like Rice Krispies (and a reason that quinoa is turning up in artisan chocolates as a kind of organic-alternative Crunch bar). That texture will make the kids either love or hate a hot quinoa cereal, but the fact that quinoa is a complete protein source is a good enough reason to give it a whirl.  This Sweet Breakfast Quinoa is a keeper, with a nutty, sweet taste and pretty color. Try topping it with topping with a spoonful of yogurt instead of the ricotta suggested in the recipe, since we’re all more likely to have the former on hand.
• Wheat Berries —Sunset magazine reports that wheat berries, actually whole-wheat kernels, are one of the least processed of all grain products, which means they retain fiber, nutrients and chewiness after cooking. Wheat-berry cereal was a nice surprise — sweet, chewy and satisfying. And it’s a good do-ahead, since wheat berries freeze well after cooking.
• Buckwheat Groats (aka kasha) — Here’s a grain in serious need of a name change. Groats? Although, come to think of it, we all jump for joy at the thought of buckwheat pancakes — so go figure. This Apple-Scented Breakfast Oatmeal and Buckwheat, picked up from Whole Foods, actually seems to benefit from making it ahead; the apple “scent” and cinnamon flavor come to the fore after sitting in the fridge overnight. Although I’m still not sold on buckwheat groats, or at the least the variety I had, which cooked up with a kind of grassy note that seems more suited to savory dishes. (Could just be the Eastern European in me.) This recipe definitely benefits from the addition of some fruit and a pinch of salt in the pot, and a little touch of butter in the bowl, to round out the flavor.
• Bulgur — A quick cooking grain you might know better from as a main ingredient in Middle Eastern recipes for tabouli. Bulgur is made from wheat that’s parboiled and dried, so it’s requires only pouring some hot water over, and letting sit, covered, until it’s absorbed. Try this innovative take: Bulgur and Coconut Breakfast Cereal.

The menu:

Slow-Roasted Leg of Lamb. Marinated in cognac, garlic, marjoram, thyme and onions, the main course was an improvization based on recipes for Spanish lamb and Greek slow-roasted lamb from MoVida Rustica and Gourmet Magazine, respectively.

Whipped Celeriac and Potatoes with Caramelized Onion and Leeks. While the potatoes and celery root boiled, we caramelized onion and leeks in lots of butter for last-minute incorporation into the whipped root vegetables.

Asparagus, Feta and Couscous Salad. Mateja kept the Mediterranean theme going with this fresh and light salad, modifying the dish with the addition of chopped red onion, more asparagus, plum and balsamic vinegar, and a blend of dried herbs.

Carrot Salad wth Parsley and Mint. Elizabeth treated us to this crisp and delicious salad, perky with white wine vinegar dressing.

Kathryn’s Homemade Biscuits. We rewarmed these tasty risen biscuits right before serving. Recipe from King Arthur Flour’s Baker’s Companion.

Roasted Tomatoes with Sumac and Marjoram. The twist here: The tomatoes were tossed in a specialty olive oil from New Zealand that exuded buttery goodness.

Feta-Phyllo Torte. This savory pastry from the New York Times never fails to impress. We substitute ricotta for the cottage cheese and load it up with thyme and marjoram, in addition to the dill.

Green Deviled Eggs. Inspired by Dr. Seuss, these greenish eggs packed a spicy punch.

Potica. As per tradition, Mateja brought her famous Slovenian walnut bread. (A recipe for the Croatian version is here.)

Strawberry Marscapone Tart. A Gourmet confection with a lightly sweetened layer of marscapone cheese, whipping cream and vanilla covered by glazed fresh berries.

Raspberry Frangipane Tart. Gourmet provided the recipe for the frangipane base, which, once baked and cooled, was covered with glazed raspberries.

A dinner companion the other evening recalled his childhood in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, where dishes for the Passover seder were prepared by the housekeeper. Like a scene out of The Help, she’d then turn around and make the family’s recipes, like  kugel, for her own church suppers, calling it Easter dressing.

It was the perfect anecdote for a weekend with a mashup of the Jewish and Christian calendars that people in the New York region had taken to calling “Eastover.” Around these parts, gatherings for either Passover or Easter invariably include friends and relatives of varying religious backgrounds.  So the table this Sunday included recipes that recognized both holidays:

• Lois’ Mother’s Matzo Ball Soup — These knaidlach (matzo balls) are of the fluffy variety, with whipped egg whites folded in to lighten the batter.  With a nod to contemporary tastes and food resources, the usual parsley was replaced with a mix of fresh dill and cilantro and a bit of ground ginger for zing.
• Coffee-Cola Baked Ham — In the Southern tradition, poured a cola over the ham (using Boylan’s Cane Cola in place of the typical Pepsi, or Coca-Cola, depending upon your regional cola allegiance) along with the last of the morning’s coffee that is the origin of red-eye gravy.
• Potato-Mushroom Kugel – Fresh garlic —  looking much like scallions — and a touch of marjoram bumped up the seasoning in this Jewish staple.
• Salad of Green Beans – The beautiful celadon-green color of Spanish Verdina beans screamed out for a place on the Eastover table. The lovely, creamy beans were cooked on their own, then tossed with some of the minced greens of the fresh garlic, chopped celery, dill and an olive-oil/lemon juice dressing. Served at room temperature.
• Roasted Cabbage – A Martha Stewart recipe brought to our attention via Pinterest, with the reaction: Why have we not thought of this before? Simple green cabbage, cut into thick slices, drizzled with olive oil and set in the oven to roast while the ham and kugel baked. Like other roasted vegetables, cabbage turns into a real sweety.
• Blackerry-Ginger Sorbet – Frozen blackberry pulp served as a base. Simply mix the defrosted puree with sugar to taste, add a touch of lemon juice if desired, and some minced fresh ginger (in this case we substituted a couple drops of the magnificent Fresh Ginger Chef’s Essence from Atelier Perfumes) Churn according to your ice-cream maker’s directions. A dollop of creme fraiche on top proved the perfect, refreshing touch for after chocolate Easter bunny consumption, while also meeting the needs of those avoiding leavened desserts for Passover.

All of the Three Points wax rhapsodic on dumplings, pierogies, knishes, bierocks, tamales, turnovers… But we have a definite attachment to empanadas: the Spanish transplant to Latin America that has hybridized in imaginative ways while still maintaining hints of the old country.

In Spain, the emapanadas come large–a full sheet of pastry, spread with filling and covered with a pastry top. Cut into squares, they are a tapas standard. My favorite is Galician comfort food: a saffron-kissed, barely yeasted dough filled with canned tuna and a flavorful, melty blend of green and red peppers, onions, garlic, tomatoes, paprika and olives. Hot out of the oven or cold from the fridge, it is handheld happiness. I pulled my recipe from The New Spanish Table–though just about any Spanish cook book will have something similar.

Meanwhile on a recent trip to Mexico, where I thought I had had it all, I was blown away by a simple, savory empanada with a massive taste: plantain and black bean empanadas from Veracruz. Just three ingredients (if you use prepared refried black beans), one of them salt, fold together for a sweet-crunchy-meaty-hearty package that surprises and pleases. The “dough” is super-ripe plantains, boiled (with salt) and mashed. The filling is beans. That’s it, but so much more. We ordered one plate at Mexico City’s El Bajio restaurant–served with smokey-hot-sweet salsa negra–then ordered several more (almost missing the amazing green ceviche for all of our greed).

The plantain empanadas we had that night were fried, but I found–when I tried to recreate this dish at home–that they were just as tasty (and less likely to collapse) if baked with a spritz of oil. I served mine with fresh salsa verde cruda as a tart foil to the sweet plantain.

Easter and the beginning of Passover coincide this weekend, which presents an opportunity to reprise experiments in bread both leavened and unleavened.

A lesson in povitica

Mamma, matzoh!

As we continued to lounge with our Sandy Cays in hand, there was the discussion, albeit slow, about dinner. Fresh sea bass arrived so we did the simple thing, and chopped garlic and squeezed some lime and baked the fillets for 10 minutes. Since rice and coconuts were in abundance, it seemed that the right thing to do was to make a coconut based rice — somewhat modeled on the lovely Colombian version, which is almost like a dessert and side dish in one. After a few Sandy Cays, and limited resources, our version went like this:

Coconut Rice

 

2 cups rice

4 cups fresh coconut water

1 cup coconut meat grated (we just chopped because there was no grater on the island)

 

Wash the rice.

Heat a deep sauce pan with oil.

Add the rice and chopped or grated coconut to the oil, cook for five minutes, stirring constantly. When the oil is cooked out of the rice-coconut mixture, add the four cups of coconut water and cook until rice is tender.

Author’s note: We used the leftover rice to serve with fish tacos, made with the leftover sea bass.

Another pleasant thing about being on an island was the ability to purchase two essential items for cooking on the main island: Central American sour cream, known as crema, and homemade corn tortillas, which can last very well in any climate. (Mothers are known to actually make and freeze mass quantities of them and bring them stateside to their families). So armed with leftover rice, leftover fish, and the crema and tortillas, it was time to make fish tacos.

Sandy Cay Fish Tacos

 

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 envelope of Frontera Green Salsa sauce

4 cups of cooked sea bass, chopped and deboned

½ cup crema

 

Saute the tomatoes, onion and garlic in a teaspoon of oil until the tomatoes start to wilt a bit.

Add the sea bass and let the fish simmer for two minutes. Add the green salsa and simmer for another minute.

Heat the tortillas on the open stove or in a microwave. Place the fish mixture in tortillas (double the tortillas)  and serve with a dab of crema on top.

Best eaten with a cold beer of your choice.

Meal planning was out of the question, but we knew enough to take organic brown rice (a staple in our house), a good cooking knife, and ample spices. Macaroni and cheese was also added as a quick fix. A great challenge for those of us who believe everything tastes better home cooked, we found ourselves in the sauce section of the local coop and supermarket, reviewing all that was prepackaged. There was pad Thai, jambalaya and gourmet Mexican seasoning sauces, in bags no less. Were they waiting for us, did they know we were going on a trip, hence the packaging? Purchases packed, we made our way to the cay and made one more stop on the way the local supermarket of the main island to build up our supply of fresh fruits and local tortillas and beans.

Upon arriving on the island-cay, our first order of business was peeling the pineapple, and making some pineapple tea base. Using the pineapple tea as a base, we added fresh coconut water, freshly chopped coconut meat and pineapple, ample amounts of rum and a shot of fresh lime to create our first drink and christen our stay on the island with the first of many happy hours.

And then there was fresh sea bass.

The Sandy Cay

½ cup Pineapple tea (see above)
¼ cup fresh coconut water
2 shots dark rum
1 tbsp. chopped coconut
2 tbsp. chopped pineapple
Dash fresh lime juice

Mix the liquid ingredients together and then add the fruit. Stir and serve in fancy plastic glasses .

Firestarter, (pictured) a fiery red concoction incorporating pomegranate, Chambord, and more.

Brooklyn Spring, a chance to break out the Absolut Brooklyn vodka, perking up its apple-ginger flavor with an herbal note.

The Cad Killer, slay ‘em with something sweet and hot.

Fresh from a trip to Mexico, I opted to celebrate the summerlike temperatures with a fiery green sauce (for the plantain empanadas planned for tomorrow’s dinner). Tomatillos, garlic, onions, serranos, cilantro, salt whirl together in seconds revealing a tangy, spicy salsa verde cruda that is almost good enough to drink on its own.

Breaking out the Mexican avocados next for a little guacamole.