Easter Delicacies

LET’S COOK LITHUANIAN
with Dana Siliūnas

Traditional Lithuanian Easter foods are made of pork, veal,  fowl, and milk. Also an abundance of baked goods, both sweet and savory.

ROAST DUCK
Kepta antis
To  prepare  duck  for  roasting,  re­move all loose fat and giblets from cav­ity.  Trim   wings  off at  the  first  joint. Remove  fat  glands  at  the  base  of the tail.  Rub  cavity  with  salt  and  lemon juice.  Prick the skin along the thighs, back and breast with a sharp fork. Keep refrigerated  until  ready  to  roast.  Just before roasting  or  stuffing,  season cavity  with  pepper.  Preheat  oven  to 450°F.  Place  duck  breast  side  up  in
roasting pan on a rack. After  15  min­utes turn oven down to 350°F and turn duck over every 15 minutes until done. Baste  often  with  pan  drippings  or  a mixture of soy sauce, orange juice and apricot jam  or other  basting  sauce of choice.

Duck stuffing
Duck  may  be  stuffed  with  red cabbage  and  apple,  sauerkraut  and mushrooms,  sauerkraut  and  raisins, or prunes and apples.

TWIGS
Žagarėliai
1 lb. flour with a pinch o f salt
1/2 cup butter
6 egg yolks
2 whole eggs
2 Tbsps. sugar
1 cup sour cream
1 oz. rum
1 tsp.  vanilla extract
Powdered sugar
Oil for deep frying
Blend yolks  and  2  whole  eggs with sugar  until  thick  and  lemon-colored. Sift  flour  into  eggs,  add  sour  cream, vanilla and rum. Mix well. Beat dough, folding  it  inward,  until  dough  shows blisters. The more air is incorporated into  dough,  the lighter the  twigs.  Let dough rest in refrigerator for a couple of hours.  Roll  out  dough  very  thin. Cut  into  strips,  3  inches  long and  1/2 inch  wide.  Cut  a  slit  in  center,  pull one end through slit.  Heat oil in deep pot  or  deep  fryer.  To  keep  oil  from foaming,  add  two  pieces  raw  potato. When  the  twig is  placed  into  hot  oil and rises to surface fast, this means that oil  is  at  right temperature.  Fry  until golden  brown  on  both  sides.  Drain twigs  on  paper  towels  and  dust  with powdered sugar while still hot.

GLAZED  HAM
Apteptas kumpis
1 precooked smoked ham
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white or cider vinegar
2 Tbsps. flour
1/4 cup prepared mustard or
2 tsps. dry powdered mustard
1 oz.  whole cloves
1 bottle ginger ale
Boil  ham  for  1/2 hour  in  water  to cover.  Mix  together  sugar,  vinegar, flour and mustard. Remove ham from water,  score  it  diagonally  in  opposite directions  and  decorate  the  top  and sides  by  pressing  a  clove  into  each square.  Frost ham with glaze.  Bake at 350°F,  basting  every  15-20  minutes with  ginger ale  until  it  is  browned, about one hour.

HOLIDAY  BABA
Šventinė boba
2 packages dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
2 Tbsps. sugar
1 cup scalded milk
8 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
4 cups flour
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup oil
1 cup raisins
3 (1-pound) coffee cans for baking the bread

Preheat  oven  to  350°F.  Grease  the 3  coffee cans. Set aside. In small bowl, dissolve  yeast  in  warm  water.  Stir  in sugar  and  let  stand  until  foamy.  In large  bowl  of electric  mixer,  beat  egg yolks  and  1  cup  of sugar  until  light. Add yeast mixture.  Slowly add 4 cups flour, alternating with the warm milk. If the mixer has dough hooks, change to  these  for  mixing  in  the  melted butter and oil.  Kneading may have to be  finished  by  hand.  Dough  will  be sticky.  Cover  and  let  dough  rise  in  a warm  place  until doubled,  about  2 hours.  Punch  down  dough  and  add raisins.  Divide  dough  into  3  equal parts  and  fill  the  greased  coffee  cans, filling them about 1/2 full.  Set aside in warm  place  and  let  rise  until  almost doubled.  Bake  at  350°F  for  35  to  40 minutes. Remove cans from oven, cool until  slight warm; gently remove “bobas” from cans; cool completely.

To decorate, ice top of each dome with mixture of 1 cup powdered sugar and2 tablespoons lemon juice. Sprinkle with grated lemon or orange rind