Independence Day get-together

My family calls it Independence Day, not “4th of July” because it’s not just another calendar date. We do commemorate this holiday in our own way, which does not include flag-looking cakes and themed paper plates. We commemorate this holiday by remembering where we came from, what we had and what we left behind for a chance of a life in this country. There is at least 1 toast that celebrates our good fortune of being in this country, and at least 1 toast that celebrates our good fortune of being able to leave our old country. But as most celebrations, this one is on exception when it comes to food. So, without further ado, here is the menu for this year’s celebration. Recipes will follow at a later date.

1. Seafood salad
2. Smoked fish with onions and potatoes
3. “Pickled herring in a coat” salad [selyodka v shube -- for Russian-speaking]
4. Egg salad/deviled eggs
5. Beet salad
6. Stuffed peppers
7. Baked chicken
I’m sure there were other things, but I can’t remember what they were.

The Seafood Salad

Egg Salad / deviled eggs

This is the "Pickled herring in a coat" salad

The Beet Salad

Lagman (Uzbek soup/sauce)

This recipe turned out very close to how I remember my grandmother’s Lagman.  Having grown up in Uzbekistan (Tashkent), we ate this somewhat often.  I love the food of the region and I try to reproduce some of it now.  There are many variation on Lagman, some have it really “dry” and more like a sauce, some have it more “wet”, like a soup.  Our version is the more like soup one.

All the chopping and slicing is very much worth the effort.

Ingredients:
1lb lamb (cut into small pieces, about 1-inch cubes)
3 TBLSP of extra virgin olive oil or vegetable oil
2 medium onions (diced)
4 medium-large carrots (diced)
2-4 bell peppers (diced) [I used 2 really large red ones]
3-4 tomatoes (diced) [I used 1 14-oz can of diced tomatoes]
4 medium potatoes (diced)
8 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
4-5 cups of stock [I used chicken stock but beef stock works absolutely great]
3 medium bay leaves
salt, pepper, coriander, and cumin to taste

Steps:
1. Saute the diced onion, carrots, and bell peppers.

Diced onion, carrots, and bell peppers

2. Add the lamb, tomatoes, and garlic. Let this mixture cook until the meat gets browned.
3. Add the stock and bring to a boil.
4. Add the diced potatoes and the bay leaves and simmer for at least 30 minutes.

Lamb, tomatoes, garlic, potatoes, and bay leaves

I add the salt, freshly ground black pepper, cumin, and corriander between each step. This way, the flavors can develop gradually and I can adjust as I go along. Also, you know your stove better than anyone, so adjust the cooking time to meet your stove’s capacity.

This must be serverd over noodles. I used spaghetti, but angel hair pasta works really well here too.

Lagman with Spaghetti

Lagman in kasa 'касушка'