LATVIA: Farmer's Breakfast (Zemnieku Brokastis) and Creamy Tomato and Cucumber Salad

The main dish for tonight's dinner is typically served for breakfast in Latvia. But despite it's simplicity, it is filling enough to make for a fabulous dinner. The smoked sausage alters the flavor profile from the potato-and-egg dishes typically eaten in the US, making the dish simultaneously familiar and unique. We gobbled it up! It would be lovely with an arugula salad and some white wine — in fact, it is going to reappear on our table this week in just that format.

Farmer's Breakfast (Zemnieku Brokastis)

1 lb Yukon Gold or other waxy potatoes (~4 medium)

½ lb kielbasa or other thick-linked smoked sausage

2 tablespoons butter and/or olive oil

6 eggs

1 cup whole milk

¼ cup chopped fresh dill

salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven 350° F.

2. Peel and slice your potatoes into ½-inch thick*. Place in pot of cold salted water, bring to the boil and cook for 4 minutes. You are parboiling your potatoes, not cooking them fully. Strain your potatoes in a colander and set aside.

3. Slice the sausage into ¼-inch slices.* In a non-stick pan, sauté the smoked sausage over medium heat until fats are released and the slices start to brown. Remove sausage from pan, leaving the fat in the pan. Add butter and/or olive oil to the fat in the pan. When the butter or oil is hot, decrease the heat to medium-low and add the potatoes and sauté until they start to crisp and brown and are just tender, as they will cook slightly more in the oven.

4. If using sliced potatoes and sausage and layering in a separate baking dish, butter a medium-size casserole dish big enough to arrange all potatoes in a single-layered formation. Remove potatoes from the heat and arrange potato slices and sausages in the prepared dish. If using cubed potatoes in the same skillet in which you browned them, remove the skillet from the heat, add in the cubed sausage, and toss to combine.

5. In a medium bowl beat eggs, milk and dill, then season with salt and pepper. Pour egg and milk mixture evenly over potatoes and sausage.

6. Place casserole or skillet in the oven and cook for 35 minutes, or until eggs are just set and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

*NOTE: For an easier variation, you can bake the dish in the same pain in which you sauté the potatoes, rather than layering them in a different casserole dish, creating a recipe visually similar to bread pudding. If you are going this route, cube the potatoes into 1-inch cubes and cube the sausage into bite-size pieces, rather than slicing them both. Be sure your non-stick pan is also oven safe. If you have a well-seasoned cast iron pan, it works perfectly!

Creamy Tomato and Cucumber Salad

4 medium tomatoes, such as Roma

4 small Persian cucumbers

1 scallion

⅓ cup sour cream

salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut each tomato lengthwise, then lengthwise again, into quarters. Then slice each wedge in halves or thirds to get bite-sized pieces. Cut each cucumber lengthwise, then lengthwise again, into quarters. Then slice thickly, to get bite-sized pieces. Place all in a medium-size bowl.

2. Slice the dark and light green portion of the scallion finely, then mince. Add to bowl.

3. Top with the sour cream. Gently mix together until combined. Taste for seasoning.

   
   

#breakfastfordinner #potatos #eggs #tomatosalad #tallwomen #latvia

FUN FACTS:

• According to a 2016 study by Imperial College London, Latvian women are the tallest in the world, with an average height of 5'7".

• One of the attractions of the port city Liepaja is a night in jail. The accommodation in an old military lockup comes complete with Soviet-style treatment.

• The Latvian flag is the second-oldest in the world (after Denmark). It's red-and-white striped pattern has not changed since 1279.