Say cheeeeeese!

POTATO CAKE WITH COTTAGE CHEESE
Bulvių plokštainis su varške

2 lbs. potatoes
1½ cups dry cottage cheese
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
2 oz. bacon, chopped
1 Tbsp. sour cream
6 Tbsps. butter
1 tsp. French tarragon
1 tsp. sugar
Pinch of salt
Grate potatoes and remove most of the potato liquid. Bring milk to a boil and pour into grated potatoes. Mix well. Fry bacon and add to potato mixture. Blend cottage cheese with eggs, sugar, salt and tarragon. Mix well. Grease baking dish and pour a first layer with ½ potato mixture. Cover potato layer with cottage cheese mix and top with remaining potato mixture. Bake for 1 hour in a preheat- ed oven at 350 ° . Serve with melted butter or sour cream.

CHEESE DUMPLINGS
Varškėčiai

1½ cups dry cottage cheese
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup flour
6 Tbsps. butter
Salt to taste
Add eggs, flour and salt to cottage cheese and blend well. Shape dump- lings into finger thick rolls, 2 inch long. Cook dumplings in salted water for 5–10 minutes. These dumplings can also be fried in hot oil, until golden brown. Water cooked dump- lings are served hot with butter-sour cream sauce. Oil fried dumplings are served dusted with powder sugar and eaten hot or cold.

COTTAGE CHEESE POTATO PANCAKES
Bulviniai blynai su varške

10 potatoes, peeled and grated
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup dry cottage cheese
½ cup flour
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil for frying
Mix grated potatoes with flour, eggs, cottage cheese, salt and pepper. Blend all ingredients. Drop by spoonful into hot oil, fry on both sides until crisp. Serve with sour cream, sugar, apple sauce or fruit preserves.

COTTAGE CHEESE SQUARE
Plokštainis su varške

3½ cups flour
½ lb. butter
½ cup small raisins without seeds
2 eggs
2 Tbsps. sour cream
1 package baking powder
Filling
1½ lb. fresh cottage cheese
½ cup sugar
2 oz. butter
3 egg yolks
1 package vanilla sugar
½ cup sugar
Cream butter until white. Separately, cream egg yolks with sugar, then mix with butter and sour cream. Add the flour, mixed with baking powder. Quickly knead the dough in a cool place, cover with a cloth and let stand in a cool place to set. Roll out ¾ of the dough to a thickness of 1 / 3 inch, spread in prepared baking sheet, and bake until the top of the cake is light golden. Reserve ¼ of the dough for garnish. In the meantime, prepare the cottage cheese filling. Cream egg yolks with butter and sugar. Force cottage cheese through the sieve, so that there are no lumps. Mix with the egg yolk mixture and beat well. When almost done, add raisins and vanilla sugar. Remove partially baked dough from the oven. Quickly spread the filling over it to a thickness of 1/3 inch. Decorate the top with strips of the same dough, brush with beaten egg and bake 20 to 30 minutes in a hot oven (450°).
Want to make your own cottage cheese to use in recipes? Try this one:

HOME-MADE COTTAGE CHEESE
Naminė varškė
1 gallon milk (1% or 2%)
½ quart buttermilk
Pour milk into a large saucepan or stock pot, add buttermilk. Cover with a dishcloth to keep dust particles out of the milk. Set in a warm place for about 48 hours, until it has the consistency of “jello.” (The surface will split when a spoon is drawn through it.) Warm the milk on very low heat for 45–60 minutes, until the curds separate, and the yellow liquid is fairly clear. Check every 10 minutes. DO NOT OVERHEAT, or the curds will be dry and tasteless. Strain for about 1 hour through a colander lined with cheesecloth or two “J-Cloths.” Trans- fer to a bowl or container, cover, refrigerate. Makes 4 cups. This cottage cheese can be used in any recipe calling for this type of cheese. It is also delicious on toast, with or without jam.