Category: Russian
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Mushroom Soup Russian Style
The first rays of the sun are piercing the crowns of Siberian pines… A mооsе family trotted afar, and disappeared in the morning fog… An early lizard darted onto the stump, and froze, catching the sunshine… The air is fresh and brisk… I am walking along the path overgrown with blue moss… I am looking…
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Cloaked Herring
This Holiday Season was marred for me by a nasty flu that has been keeping me disabled in terms of elaborate cooking. Alas. I will see better days… Only Masha’s presence and inspiration made it possible to create something worth mentioning. The herring dish I am sharing with you today is one of the favorite…
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Olivier – Russian Salad
Most of the potato salads served in American Restaurants under the name “Russian Salad“, are simplified variations of this 20th century Russian classic. In Russia this salad is most commonly called Olivier Salad, and no self-respecting Russian feast can go without it. Where I come from, we call it simply the Winter Salad. Indeed, every…
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Vinegret – Jazzy Holiday Salad
Without vinegret, a winter vegetable salad, Russian traditional table is missing one of its important components. As far as I remember my precious self, vinegret (please do not confuse it with vinaigrette – a dressing made of oil and vinegar)was always in my mama’s festive winter menu, especially on New Year’s eve. Colorful, refreshing and…
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Pea Soup
Traditional pea soup with pork hocks, perfect for warming body and spirit, but requires some patience… Pea soup has been one of my favourites since nursery school. I still remember its wonderful smell when we the kids used to fall into the building from our outing in the snow. Oh, was it good to throw off…
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Rassolnik – Chicken Soup with Pickles
Rassolnik is a fairly common traditional Russian soup. Its name comes from the Russian word rassol, or brine in which pickled cucumbers are kept. It is true that brine can be used in preparing this soup, but it is not essential. In practice, pickled cucumbers alone are sufficient to give the broth the tangy acidity…
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Pickled Mushrooms
Pickled mushrooms are traditional to Russian cuisine, especially as a winter treat. They could be used in salads, pies, as a side dish, as is, and as a perfect zakuska (snack) for vodka. There are several methods to prepare pickled mushrooms, but two main ways are marinated and salted. Marinated mushrooms are prepared with salt and vinegar(and sometimes…
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Beef and Mushrooms Stew
It’s interesting how food is associated with our memories. Remember a meal, and then go people, and places, and feelings. Or maybe it’s just me?.. Maybe I’m getting old and tend to return to my past as old people do? 🙂 Combination of beef and mushrooms brings me back to the time when Alex and I…
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Classic Beets Salad
Out of the Russian gastronomic stereotypes (apart from cabbage, which is also German, and vodka, which is really quite popular around the globe) beets is one of the most persistent. And yes, we are truly beet-eaters. Beets are a proud ingredient of many traditional Russian dishes. Nothing to be shy about. Beet root is known…
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Red Shchi
This variation of cabbage soup was my aunt’s favourite. Remember my aunt Shura who taught me all cooking basics? She cooked with her own special attitude, appreciating good quality products and enjoying the process of cooking with them. She just loved to cook this red shchi in summer when there were plenty of ripe fresh tomatoes. Actually,…
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Beef Stroganoff
Bœuf Stroganoff (Beef Stroganoff, or just Befstroganov) is one of Russian traditional and loved meat dishes. I remember my mother’s kitchen and wonderful aroma of cooking meat, and sauce, and fried potatoes. It was an all-time favourite and never failed to be well prepared. The dish of finely cut beef in sour cream sauce was…
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Soup with Puff Klezki
A soup with klezki, one of the simplest Russian dishes, must have been handy during the time of empty shelves in the Soviet supermarkets. I barely remember those times, they left in me no bitter sediment, and this soup has left me nothing but warmth. There are other variations on klezki, most notably the German kößchen, but the klezki I…
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Classic Borsch
A staple of East European kitchen, this bright beet soup is healthy, delicious, and worth every bit of trouble… If you know of Russian food, you’ve heard of Borsch. It is popular not only in Russia, but also in Ukraine – its motherland – and in a number of East European republics. Naturally, this dish…
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Tomato Herring Salad
Herring is one of those products that is under appreciated here in the US. It evokes the feelings of unconcealed disgust and possibility of poisoning. This is strange since anchovies, which are very similar, are widely used in gourmet preparations. Herring is not only Russian traditional food, it is also a favourite in many European countries, Scandinavians being the…
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Farmers Cheese Pancakes (Syrniki)
These delightful tender pancakes make a perfect summer breakfast, especially if one has fresh berries for garnish. Syrniki (syr means cheese in Russian) is a traditional Russian and Slavic dish made of tvorog. Tvorog (also quark, topfen, twarog, tvaroh) is curd that is similar to cottage cheese and farmers cheese, but is thicker and drier, it is very well strained…
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Gigantic Potato Pancake
Simply put, this is a big (the size of a frying pan) Jewish latke(s), also Belarusian dranik(i), Ukranian derun(i), German Kartoffelpuffer, and Swiss Roesti. I looked this recipe up on one of cooking shows and decided to give it a try. Alex was wandering around kitchen and whining that it would not work out. Boy, was he wrong. It…
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Classic Russian Cotletas (Cotelettes)
Russian cotleta is not to be confused with American cutlet. Cotleta (french cotelette) is one of Russian traditional and very much loved dishes made of ground meat. It came to Russia from Europe and initially was a deep-fried slice of meat with rib bone, but later became a ground and spiced meat patty, coated with bread crumbs and pan-fried. Since the 19th…
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Buttermilk Cookies
Time for baking! This is one of kitchen activities that is relaxing, comforting and satisfying for me (grandfather’s genes, maybe). I love to knead, to pat and touch dough, especially yeast dough, when you can feel how the dough is alive and growing under your fingers. But today’s recipe is another type of dough that uses…
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Daikon Salad
This favourite of ours was inspired by Asian salads that became popular in Russia in the 80-s. Korean salad, as we called it, was made mostly of carrots with the addition of garlic, red and black pepper, salt, white vinegar (there was nothing else in stores), and sunflower oil (also the only option we had at that time). Daikon, Japanese…
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Stuffed Peppers, Spring Cabbage Salad
Today was one of those (relatively few) days, when I forsake all my youthful yearnings for extreme sports, shopping, museums, nightlife, and instead settle for a day of picture-perfect domesticity. I decided to take it to a relative extreme and spent a few solid hours in the kitchen, cooking enough food to last us a…
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