Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Improved Mizeria
Tuesday, August 5, 2008 
I thought that I had the recipe correct before, as I had taken it from an old Polish cookbook I picked up. It was close, but not entirely correct. I spent this past weekend with many of my relatives who straightened me out on Pra Babcia's recipe.During the family reunion we had a ton of food, and at the last minute I decided to make Mizeria for everyone. And it went pretty quickly. My great grandmother used to make it all the time up in Hamilton, Ontario. I had forgotten onion which makes a delicate yet overall substantial impact on the overall flavor. A few asked about onion and I had never made it that way, but ran to the store and picked one up.
After making the dish, a little light went off in my head, "That's it. I was missing it all the time but didn't notice. Now it's great." The fact that my family enjoyed it and it disappeared so quickly means I had finally gotten it right. And it brought back memories for everyone -- which was really the point.
Prep time: around 45 minutes, includes a lot of waiting for salt to draw moisture out of the cucumbers.
All that you need to make this dish are the following things (I always use this quantity):
- 4 thin cucumbers (don't go with the seedless English variety)
- a package of sour cream (don't get the light kind), will need 4-6 tbsp.
- white vinegar, 2-4 tsp.
- salt (traditional) 2 tsp.
- lots of dill, 2 tsp.
- a single white onion
- a large piece of Tupperware with a top
Take your tupperware container and then peel and thinly slice your cucumbers (as thinly as you can) into the tupperware. Thin slices allow the mixture you'll make later to more easily flavor the vegetable and also allows for the accelerated leeching of water from the slices. More surface area to drain.
When you've peeled and sliced all four cucumbers, place 2 tsp. of salt in, cover, swirl around, and sit the container on it's side. After 10 minute increments, drain the collected water out of a corner. After a few times, you shouldn't be pouring out much water anymore.
This is important... you really do want most of the excess water removed. If you rush this step, your end product may still taste okay (since water really doesn't have any taste to it), but the texture will be all wrong.
With that finally done, place 2 tsp. of dill, 2-4 tsp. of vinegar (to taste... I ALWAYS side with a heavier vinegar concentration), and 4-6 tbsp. of sour cream. I normally end up using 5 or 6 tbsp.
Cut the onion in half, and then cut one of the halves in half. Dice one side, slice the other (both thinly). Put the onions in with the cukes, put the top on, and swirl the mixture around until it's all mixed well.
If you've done things correctly, you shouldn't see any bubbles in the sour cream (which has now become more of a thickish sauce.) Give the Mizeria a litttle time in the fridge for the onions and dill and vinegar to flavor everything. The onions really do top of the signature flavor of this simple and refreshing dish.
Good to go. Enjoy it. Perfect for the summer.
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