Tasty appetizers for your Spring entertainment

STUFFED MUSHROOMS
Kimšti grybai

10 ounces mushrooms, washed and trimmed
2 Tbsps. butter
3 Tbsps. finely chopped onions
2 Tbsps. fresh parsley
1 cup bread crumbs
1 tsp. mustard
¼ cup grated cheddar or other hard cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Dry mushroom caps on paper towel. Chop stems. Sauté chopped stems with butter, onions, and bread crumbs. Add parsley, mustard, grated cheese, salt and pepper. Fill caps with filling. Bake at 350 ° for about 15 minutes until tops are browned.

PORK SHANK ROULADE
Karkos vyniotinis
2 pork shank
½ lb. soup greens
10 peppercorns
2 bay leaves
Salt
Wash shank, cut lengthwise and remove bone. Rub with salt, roll up tightly and tie with string. Boil with vegetables and spices. Cool roulade, and press in the same broth where it cooked. Be- fore serving, remove string, cut meat into thin slices and arrange on a round platter. Serve with horseradish or mustard.

SANDWICHES
Sumuštiniai

White and rye bread slices
Hard-boiled eggs, sliced thin
Butter or margarine
Cucumbers, peeled and sliced thin
Radishes, sliced thin
Tomatoes, sliced thin
Pickles, sliced thin
Olives, sliced thin
Green onions, chopped
Dill weed
Lunch meats (ham, salami, any type of sausage), sliced thin
Sardines, optional
Butter the bread slices. Arrange each bread slice with vegetables, meats, and egg slices. For example, a slice of ham could have a cucumber on top; radishes could be arranged in a circular design with an egg slice on top; tomato could have an egg slice on top; an egg slice could have olives surrounding it; or a slice of sausage can have an egg slice on top and topped with sardines. Use green onions or dill weed to top the sandwich- es. Proportions depend on quantity of sandwiches desired.

PICKLED MUSHROOMS
Marinuoti grybai
2 lbs. fresh whole mushrooms
2 Tbsps. coarse salt
2 Tbsps. lemon juice
3 cups water
1¼ cups white vinegar
2 bay leaves
¼ tsp. sugar
Wash and trim mushrooms. In a large saucepan, combine water and salt and bring to a boil. Add mushrooms; simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Drain mushrooms, let cool. In a small saucepan, bring vinegar, lemon juice, sugar and bay leaves to a boil. Arrange mushrooms in canning jars. Pour boiling vinegar mixture over mushrooms. Seal jars tightly. Cool. Serve chilled.

FISH IN VEGETABLE MARINADE
žuvis daržovių marinate
2 lbs. fish (perch, etc.)
½ cup flour
½ cup oil
2 carrots
2 onions
2 bay leaves
6 peppercorns
1 tsp. sugar
Parsley
Salt, vinegar to taste
Clean and bone the fish, cut into pieces, roll in flour and fry in oil. Small fish may be fried whole. Clean and slice vegetables for marinade: onions into thin slices, carrots into a star shape. Sauté vegetables in oil about 10 min., then add peppercorns, bay leaves and one cup of broth. Braise in a covered dish. When done, add salt, sugar and vinegar to taste and pour hot marinade over the fish. Heat until boiling point, remove into salad dish and cool. Sprinkle with parsley leaves or scallions. Serve cold.

HERRING WITH MUSHROOMS
Silkės su grybais
1 lb. mushrooms, washed and sliced
4 herrings or 1 (32-ounce) jar of marinated herring
3 onions, sliced into rings
1 tsp. vinegar
½ tsp. sugar
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
3 Tbsps. oil
If purchasing whole herrings, soak them in cold water for 24 hours, changing the water frequently. Skin, fillet and cut into 2-inch pieces. Arrange these in a large shallow dish; set aside. In a large skillet, heat cooking oil and sauté onions and mushrooms until tender. Stir in seasonings. Pour mushroom and on- ion mixture over the herring pieces. Let sit for about 1 hour before serving to blend the flavors. Please note: Soaking whole herring is the old-fashioned but real way to prepare it. Depending on your location, you may find it in ethnic markets. Lithuanians enjoy eating herring prepared with onions, tomatoes, sour cream, marinated, or even fried. Herring is a favorite dish at Kūčios or Christmas Eve dinner.