Pork in Aspic
1kg pork, 50g flavouring vegetables (onion, carrot, parsley, celery), pepper, bay leaves, salt.
Choose meat from a young, relatively fatty piglet (knuckles and a piece of side or shoulder). Chop knuckles in half, cut up the side or shoulder. Wash all of the meat. Place in a saucepan and add cold water to cover meat. Cover saucepan and bring to the boil, skimming off any foam. Add peeled flavouring vegetables and salt, then simmer on low heat with the saucepan partly covered. Add pepper and bay leaves towards the end of cooking. Remove from flame when meat separates easily from the knuckles.
Remove meat from broth, separate from bone and cut into cubes. Strain broth, let it settle, and skim fat from the top. Rinse bowls in cold water. If you wish for the aspic to have a garlic flavour, add a clove of minced garlic to each bowl. Arrange boiled carrot and parsley in the bowls. Add meat and pour over broth. Place in a cool room to set. Before serving, upturn the pork in aspic on a shallow dish. Serve with vinegar, mustard and horseradish. Veal in aspic is prepared in the same way.
"Herring in Jacket" (Herring with Vegetables)
1 salted herring, 150g boiled vegetables (carrot, beetroot, green peas), 100g sour cream, 10g horseradish, salt, sugar to taste, spring onions.
Soak herring and peel off skin. Slice fillet into angled pieces. Dice vegetables and arrange to cover a fish plate in a slight mound. Arrange the pieces of herring on top of the mound with the points coming together in the centre. Mix sour cream, horseradish, salt and sugar and pour diagonally over the herring. Spread chopped spring onions. Cut hollow cone shapes from a boiled carrot to decorate the centre or one side of the dish.
Jāņu cheese (summer solstice) cheese
1kg skim milk dry cottage cheese, 5l milk, 100g sour cream, 2 eggs, 100g butter, salt, caraway seeds.
Heat milk, stirring occasionally, until the temperature reaches 90-95°C (194-203°F). Grind or process cottage cheese and add to milk. If the cottage cheese is sweet, mix with rūgušpiens (curdled milk) for the whey to separate more easily. Continue to heat at 85-90°C (185-194°F) for 10-15 minutes. When a clear whey separates, remove from heat, and allow cheese to sit. Pour off liquid. Place cheese into a dampened linen cloth. Holding corners of the cloth together, roll cheese back and forth to allow any extra liquid to separate out before the cheese cools down. Put cheese in a bowl. Mix sour cream with eggs, salt and caraway seeds and gradually add to cheese, mixing with a wooden spoon. Add the mixture to a saucepan with melted butter, and stir continuously over a low flame for 10-15 minutes, until cheese is smooth and shiny, and has a temperature of 75-80°C (167-176°F). (The lower the temperature and shorter the heating time, the softer and more crumbly the cheese will be. A higher temperature and a longer heating time will make the cheese harder). Place cheese in a dampened linen cloth. Gather corners of the cloth together and tie, smooth out any folds, and place under a weight in the refrigerator. When cheese is cool, remove from cloth, place on a shallow dish and slice. Jāņi cheese is served with butter or honey or as a snack with beer. If you wish to store the cheese for a longer period, rub with salt, wrap in paper or plastic wrap and store in a cool, dry place. The cheese can also be spread with butter and baked in a hot oven until brown
