THE ART OF RUSSIAN CUISINE

Potatoes- 0.5 lbs. (230 g); carrots-0.5 lbs. (230 g); 3 eggs; 4 small dill pickles; beef- 0.25 lbs. (115 g); green peas- 0.25 lbs. (115 g); salt- 0.5 teaspoon; mayonnaise- 0.25 lbs. (115 g).

Peal and boil potatoes and carrots. Boil eggs. Boil beef. Let them cool down. Chop potatoes, carrots, dill pickles, peeled eggs and meat into small (1/2 inch) cubes. Add green peas and salt. Stir mayonnaise into the salad and thoroughly mix it. Refrigerate only for short time. Salad can be prepared without meet. Serves 6-8 persons.

Red Cabbage Salad

1 small head red cabbage; salt- 0.5 teaspoon; vinegar- 0.3 cup; cinnamon- 1/8 teaspoon; cloves - 1/8 teaspoon; bay leaves- 3 whole leaves, or 1/8 teaspoon powdered leaves; olive or vegetable oil - 0.5 cup; sugar - by taste.

Add cinnamon, cloves and bay leaves to vinegar. Mix it. Chop red cabbage; add salt to it and squeeze it. Add vinegar mixture to cabbage. Let stand for 1-2 hours. Add oil and sugar before serving. Servings: 2-3.

Note: Red cabbage contains rough fiber - do not process thermally.

Sauerkraut Salad

For each white cabbage head (3 servings): carrots - 2-3, medium size; salt - 1 teaspoon; apple - 1 (small) and/or cranberries - 0.5 lbs. (230 g) (both are optional); sugar – 1 tablespoon; olive/vegetable oil – 2 tablespoons, black pepper – 1/8 teaspoon (optional), parsley or dill - 0.1 lbs. (50 g).

Chop cabbage into thin pieces and put it into a big container. Add salt and mix it with the chopped cabbage squeezing it hard. Add thinly chopped carrots, mix them with cabbage and continue squeezing until all mass is juicy. Keep it at least 15-20 min. at room temperature.

You may want to mix everything with apples and/or cranberries for a better taste if you keep mixture for more than several hours. If you plan to keep sauerkraut for a long time it’s recommended to keep it in a cold place, in a container with a non-metallic inside surface, covered with a heavy lead of smaller diameter (to keep cabbage mixture in juice).

To serve: Add pepper (optional) into sauerkraut and keep in refrigerator for 20 minutes. Add sugar, oil, and, if needed, salt. On top put chopped parsley or dill, cranberries and/or apples.

Herring Salad

Per1 medium size herring: 2 boiled potatoes; 1 apple; 1 pickled cucumber; 1 onion; 1 boiled beat; 2 eggs; 3 tbs. vegetable oil; 2 tbs. vinegar; 1 tsp. mustard.

Note: This recipe requires salted, not marinated, herring.

Sauce: Hard boil egg. Mix hard-boiled egg yolk with salt and mustard. Add butter a bit at a time to create a thick sauce. Add vinegar.

Clean herring and remove skin. Chop herring into small pieces. Cut apples and vegetables into thin slices. Dice onion and dill. Mix ingredients and add sauce.

Serve with thin slices of beat, herring and white egg yolk on top of salad.

Fried Ham Sandwiches

For each sandwich: 1 slice of ham; 1 slice of long French bread; mustard; parsley.

Lightly fry or toast French bread. Spread thin layer of mustard on one side of ham. Fry ham in butter, mustard side up. Put ham on bread. Cover with parsley and serve.

Heavenly Sausages

For each sausage: 1 small tomato, 1 bunch parsley.

Slice tomatoes into thin pieces. Add salt and pepper. Slice sausage across into 2-3 long pieces. Fry with butter in pan for 2 min. Add tomatoes and fry for another 2-3 min on a medium flame. Serve sausage with tomatoes on a plate covered with parsley. For stronger taste serve with grated fresh garlic.

Tomato and Cucumber Salad

For every 5 tomatoes: 2 cucumbers; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 3-4 tablespoons vinegar; small bunch parsley; 1 onion head.

Cut tomatoes and cucumbers into thin slices, nicely place into salad bowl. Add salt and pepper. Cut onion into rings and add to bowl. Mix vinegar and olive oil and pour onto salad. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Salad best served with meat or fish cutlets, boiled or fried fish or meat, or as an independent dish.

Borsht

Beef (with or without bones) - 0.7 lbs. (320 g); red beets - 1.5 lbs. (700 g); cabbage - 0.5 lbs. (200 g); potatoes - 0.5 lbs. (200 g); carrots - 0.2 lbs. (100 g); parsley - 0.7 ounces (20 g); onions - 3; garlic - 0.2 ounces (5 g); tomato paste or tomatoes - 2 ounces (50 g) or 2 tomatoes; sugar - 0.5 teaspoon; margarine - 2 tablespoons; vinegar - 0.5 teaspoon; bay leaf - 1; bell pepper (red) - 2.5 ounces (75 g) or 1 pepper; sour cream - 1 tablespoon; dill - 0.5 teaspoon.

Preparing meat broth: Put beef into a large saucepan and cover with 1.2 gal. (4.5 l) cold water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Remove the grease and froth from the broth surface with a spoon. Add one onion. Cook at low heat for 1-2 hours. If beef is with bones, filter the broth.

Simmering red beets: Melt 1 tablespoon margarine in a saucepan. Cut red beets into sticks and add them into the cooking pot. Add sugar, tomato paste or sliced tomato, 0.13 gal. (0.5 l) meat broth. Simmer at low heat for 1.5 hours. Add vinegar.

Pan-frying vegetables: Melt 1 tablespoon margarine in a frying pan. Add chopped onions and carrots cut into sticks. Cover and saute at low heat 250 F. (120 Celsius) for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Heat broth to boiling. Add chopped cabbage and potatoes cut into bars. Cook for 5 minutes. Add saute and cook another 10 minutes. Add bell pepper cut into sticks and simmered red beets. Cook another 5 minutes. Add salt, black pepper, and grated garlic.

Served with chopped dill and sour cream. Servings: 3-4.

Rassolnik (Soup with Pickled Cucumbers)

Beef (with or without bones) - 0.7 lbs. (320 g); potatoes - 0.5 lbs. (200 g); rice - 0.1 lbs. (50 g); parsley - 0.7 ounces (20 g); carrots - 0.1 lbs. (50 g); onions - 2, small size; pickled cucumbers - 0.1 lbs. (50 g); tomato - 1; sour cream - 1 tablespoon.

Preparing meat broth: Put beef into a large saucepan and cover with 1.2 gallons (4.5 l.) cold water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Remove the grease and froth from the broth surface with a spoon. Add one onion. Cook at low heat for 1-2 hours. If beef is with bones, filter the broth.

Pan-frying vegetables: Melt one tablespoon margarine in a frying pan. Add chopped onions, carrots and parsley cut into sticks. Cover and saute at low heat for 15 minutes stirring occasionally. Add chopped tomato and saute for another 5 minutes.

Simmering pickled cucumbers: Put chopped pickled cucumbers into a saucepan. Add meat broth covering cucumbers. Cover with lid and simmer at low heat for 15-20 minutes.

Add rice to boiling meat broth. Bring to a boil. Add potatoes cut into bars and sautéed vegetables. Boil for 10-15 minutes. Add simmered pickled cucumbers and boil for another 5 minutes. Salt can be added by taste.

Served with sour cream. Servings: 3-4.

Ukha

Note: Ukha is fish soup, which tastes best when cooked with sterlet, snapper, or redfish. Also great with pike perch, zander, or any other small fish but carp.
Per 2.5lbs (1kg) of fish: 1 onion; 1 leek; 1 bunch of parsley; 1 bunch of celery; 0.75 gallon (3 liters) of water.

Fish preparation: To create proper texture be sure not to remove scales. Gut and thoroughly clean fish. If using snapper remove gills.

Place fish into pot. Add water. Clean leek and add it to pot. Add onion, sliced celery and salt and boil on a medium flame for 40-60 min.

Served with fish and parsley.

Shchi with white cabbage

Beef or chicken (with or without bones) - 0.7 lbs. (320 g) for meat broth; white cabbage -1, small size; carrots -1, big size; tomato paste or tomatoes - 2 ounces (50 g) or 2 tomatoes; onions - 1, small size (only for broth); parsley leaves - 0.1 lbs. (50 g); parsley roots -1, big size; celery roots -1, big size; margarine - 1 tablespoon; bay leaf – 1; salt and black pepper - by taste; flour (for richness; optional) - 2 ounces (50 g).

Note: Can be cooked with meat, fish or mushroom broth, or with plain water.

Preparing meat broth: Put beef into a large saucepan and cover with 1 gallon (3 liters) of cold water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Remove the grease and froth from the broth surface with a spoon. Add one onion. Cook at low heat for 1-1.5 hours. If beef is with bones, filter the broth.

Pan-frying vegetables: Melt one tablespoon of margarine in a frying pan. Add chopped carrots, parsley and celery roots cut into sticks. Cover and saute at low heat for 15 minutes stirring occasionally. Add chopped tomato and saute for another 5 minutes.

Add chopped cabbage to boiling broth. Cook for 15 minutes. Add sauteed vegetables and cook another 10-15 minutes. Add bay leaf, salt and black pepper. At this stage a small amount of flour well mixed with broth can be added to shchi for richness. Boil for another 5 minutes.

If shchi are made with meat, they are served with a piece of meat and sour cream and chopped parsley leaves. Can be served with boiled buckwheat or farmers’ cheese pie.

Split Pees Soup

Can be cooked with meat broth and meat, or with cooked ham, or just with plain water. Pork (without bones) - 0.7 lbs. (320 g) for meat broth-(optional if cooking soup with meat); cooked ham – 1.1lb (500g)(optional if cooking soup with ham); canned/fresh pees - 30oz (850g) or dry pees - 20oz (560g); onion - 3, medium size; sour cream - 7 oz (200g)( optional, for richer taste); flour - 2 tablespoons (optional, for richer taste), butter-2 tablespoons, parsley - 0.1 lbs. (50 g), dill - 0.1 lbs. (50 g); salt - by taste, water – 0.8 gallons (3l).

If using dry pees, soak it in water for 3 hours. Filter and add fresh water. If cooking with meat – add meat.

Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Remove the grease and froth from the broth surface with a spoon. Add one onion. Cook at low heat for 1.5 hours.

Pan-frying onions: Melt one tablespoon of margarine in a frying pan. Cover and saute at low heat for 15-20 minutes stirring occasionally.

Filter the broth. Puree all the pees or just a part of them. If cooking with meat or ham, cut it into small pieces, and add to pees. Add filtered broth. Cook for 15 minutes. Add sauteed onion and cook another 10-15 minutes. Add chopped parsley and dill. At this stage flour well mixed with broth and/or sour cream can be added for richness. Boil for another 5 minutes.

Usually served with toasts or croutons.

Fish Solyanka

Fish – any kind, best if it’s salmon and/or salted fish – 1.75 lbs. (800g); sauerkraut (for preparing sauerkraut please see Sauerkraut Salad) - 0.5 salad bowl; olive/vegetable oil – 2 tablespoons; black olives ~ 10; capers – 1 tablespoon; laurel leaves - 1-2; onions – 2 (medium size); flour – 2 tablespoons; dill - 0.1 lbs. (50 g); salt and black pepper – by taste; pickles – 2-3, and pickle sauce – 1 small glass (only if cooking soup with fresh fish); water – 0.8 gallons (3 liters).

Cut fish without bones (fresh or salted) into portion pieces. For a more tender taste, you may want to pour fish pieces with boiled water and take the skin off. Cover pieces with flour. Pour oil on frying pan and fry fish pieces (both sides) at high temperature for 5 minutes. Remove fish pieces from the frying pan. Chop onion and fry it in the same oil for a couple of minutes. Add sauerkraut and sautee everything for 20 minutes. Put prepared pieces of fish and sauerkraut with onion on the bottom of the pot, add water, olives, capers, spices and boil everything for 15-20 minutes. If you cook soup with fresh fish, add pickles and pickle sauce.

When serving, first put pieces of fish on a plate, fill it with solyanka and add chopped dill on top. Servings: 3-4.

Cabbage Pie

Cabbage pie dough: 5 cups all-purpose flour; 1 package active dry yeast; 1 cup milk; 3 eggs; 8 tablespoons margarine (6 oz); 1 tablespoon sugar; 1 teaspoon salt.

Chopped cabbage filling: 1 medium head white cabbage; 4 tablespoons butter; 1 teaspoon sugar; ¾ teaspoon salt; 2 egg yolks.

Dissolve yeast in warm milk in a large bowl. Add sugar. Liquefy margarine and let cool. Add margarine, eggs, salt, sugar and flour and blend it (either manually or on low speed). Knead the dough for 5 minutes and stir in about ½ cup flour to make it easy to handle. Cover the bowl with a paper towel and leave in a warm place for 1.5 hours. After the dough rises, press it down. Leave the dough for another hour and let it rise again.

Chop and scald cabbage. Drain it. Pour cold water over. Squeeze it out. Put cabbage into a saucepan with melted butter. Cook and stir chopped cabbage in butter for 15 minutes; add sugar and salt.

Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Roll each part evenly into sheets, 0.25 inch (7 mm) width each. Place one sheet on a greased baking sheet. Spread cabbage filling evenly. Cover with another sheet and pinch edges of top and bottom sheets together. Let rise. Glaze the top of the pie with egg yolks and gently pierce it with a fork in 2-3 places. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake the pie at this temperature for 20-25 minutes, until light brown. Servings: 6-7

Carrot Cutlets

Carrots - 2.2 lbs. (1 kg); semolina - 0.5 cup (0.22 lbs. or 100 g); milk - 0.5 cup; 3 eggs; breadcrumbs - 0.5 cup; sugar - one teaspoon; butter - 3 tablespoons.

Cut carrots into sticks or slices, put them into a saucepan, add hot milk, one tablespoon of butter, sugar and salt. Simmer; stir periodically, until carrots are cooked (about 15-20 minutes). Add semolina and continue simmering for another 8-10 minutes. Separate egg yokes from egg whites. Stir in egg yolks. Let cool. Make cutlets in the form of flat drops from cooled mixture, and coat them with egg whites and breadcrumbs. Fry cutlets from both sides, and then bake them in oven for 15-20 min. Good with sour cream or milk sauce. Servings: 2

Note: red beets can be used instead of carrots

Carrot Soufflé

Carrots - 2.2 lbs. (1 kg); semolina - 0.5 cup (0.22 lbs. or 100 g), 3 eggs, butter or margarine - 1 tablespoon, salt - 1/2 teaspoon.

Cut carrots into sticks. Simmer them until soft (about 15-20 minutes). Cook semolina; carefully stir in egg yolks. While semolina/egg yolk mixture is still warm, about 140-158 degrees Fahrenheit (60-70 Celsius), stir in egg whites and salt. Mix with simmered carrots. Grease a baking form. Spread the mixture in the form and bake it for 15-20 minutes until light brown. Served hot. Servings: 2

Potato Croquets

Potato- 2.2 lbs. (1 kg.); 2 small onions; mushrooms - 1 cup (0.5 lbs. - 200 g); 3 eggs, bread crumbs - 0.25 cup (0.11 lbs. or 50 g); flour - 0.25 cup; salt - 1/2 teaspoon.

Cut onions and mushrooms into small cubes, mix and fry them. Make mashed potato. When it's hot, add egg yolk, fried onions and fried mushrooms to it. Mix the ingredients. Make small balls out of the mixture. Coat them with flour, and flatten them into the form of pucks. Coat them with egg white, and then - with breadcrumbs. Fry from two sides, and bake in oven for 15-20 min. Servings: 2.

Staffed Cabbage with Rice (Vegetarian Golubtsy)

White cabbage- one big head; rice - 1 cup; carrots- 0.5 lbs. (230 g); 2 chopped onions (about 0.5 cup); fresh mushrooms- 1.1 lbs. (500 g) or dried mushrooms - 0.11 lbs. (50 g); salt - 0.25 teaspoon; butter - 3 tablespoons; 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper; sour cream - 1 cup (or by taste); eggs and parsley - optional (by taste).

Cook rice and drain it. Boil mushrooms for 15-20 minutes, cut them into small cubes and fry in butter for 10 minutes. Add carrots and onions cut into small cubes and simmer for 10 minutes. Mix with cooked rice, adding salt and black pepper.
Optional: boiled chopped eggs and parsley can be added.

Boil whole head of cabbage for 20-25-minutes. Peel off leaves. Flatten them out. Put each leaf the inner side up. Place one tablespoon of prepared stuffing in the center of each leaf. Roll leaves, covering stuffing from sides like an envelope. Put stuffed cabbage leaves with seam down close to each other on a frying pan. Add water or broth, covering the bottom of the pan. Spread butter on top of each piece. Heat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit (140 degrees Celsius). Bake golubtsy for an hour.
Served with seam down, in a deep plate. Garnished with sour cream or sauce in which golubtsy were cooked. Servings: 2-3

Stuffed Cabbage with meat (Meat Golubtsy)

White cabbage- one big head; 0.5 lbs. ground beef; white bread - 0.3 lbs. (125 g); milk - 0.75 cup; salt - 0.25 teaspoon; sour cream - 1 cup (or by taste); butter- 3 tablespoons.

Soak white bread in milk for 10 minutes. Mix with ground beef. Add two spoons of butter and salt and mix again. Boil whole head of cabbage for 20-25-minutes. Peel off leaves. Flatten them out. Put each leaf the inner side up. Place one tablespoon of prepared meat stuffing in the center of each leaf. Roll leaves, covering stuffing from sides like an envelope. Put stuffed cabbage leaves with seam down close to each other on a frying pan. Add water or broth, covering the bottom of the pan. Spread butter on top of each piece. Heat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit (140 degrees Celsius). Bake golubtsy for an hour.
Served with seam down, in a deep plate. Garnished with sour cream or sauce in which golubtsy were cooked. Servings: 2-3

The Russian Pelmeni

1 cup all-purpose flour; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1/3 cup water; 1 egg; 1/2 pound mixed ground beef, lamb and pork (by taste); 1 onion, chopped (about 1/4 cup); 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper; 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Mix ground beef, lamb, pork, onion, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper; reserve. Mix flour with egg (yolk and egg white) and water; 1/4 teaspoon salt until a soft dough forms. Knead on floured surface until dough is elastic. Divide into 1-inch round pieces. Roll each piece so that they are 1/16 inch thick. Fill each piece with the meat mixture; fold into half-moons. Pinch edges together and connect the opposite sides. Pelmeni can be frozen to be cooked later, or cooked immediately. To cook pelmeni, boil about 1/2 gallon of water; carefully drop pelmeni into boiling water. Boil for 20 minutes. Serve with butter, sour cream or vinegar; add pepper and salt to taste. Serves 6-8 persons.

Boeuf Stroganov

Beef tenderloin - 1 lbs. (0.49 kg); salt - 0.25 teaspoon; pepper - 0.125 teaspoon; 2 yellow onions; sour cream - 0.5 lbs. (230 g ); flour - 1 tablespoon; butter - 1 tablespoon.

Prepare sauce: boil 1 glass of water. Carefully add flour stirring continuously. Boil 10-15 minutes. Add sour cream and salt. Bring to a boil. Put aside.
Chop onions and simmer them with butter at low temperature for 20 minutes. Mix with the sauce.
Cut beef into sticks 1.5 -2 in. (4-5 cm.) long and 0.2 in. (2-3 mm) wide. Add salt and pepper. Thoroughly fry at high temperature for 10 minutes and another 10 minutes at low temperature. Add the sauce mixed with onions. Fry for another 5 minutes.
Servings: 2-3 with any garnish.

Chicken Kiev

Chicken breast - 4 pieces; salt - 0.25 teaspoon; breadcrumbs - 4 tablespoons; butter - 4 tablespoons; 4 eggs; vegetable oil - 0.2 gal. (0.75 l)

Shape butter into four rolls, 2-inch long. Make sure it doesn't melt. (You can freeze it while you are working on chicken.) Make verticals cuts in the middle of chicken breasts and unfold them. Carefully pound to 1/8-inch thickness, trying not to pierce them. Put butter on the edge of chicken breasts. Roll chicken breasts, making sure butter is sealed inside. Refrigerate while preparing egg mixture.

Beat eggs in a dish wide enough for the cutlets; mix them with salt. Carefully roll each cutlet in egg mixture. Coat with breadcrumbs pressing firmly. Make sure the cutlets are completely coated with breadcrumbs. Repeat rolling in egg mixture and coating again with breadcrumbs. Refrigerate while heating vegetable oil.

Boil vegetable oil in a skillet. Carefully place chicken cutlets in oil. Fry about 7-9 minutes, turning as necessary until golden brown. Gently remove cutlets from oil.

Note - it's better to use chicken breast containing a bone at the edge. After Chicken Kiev is cooked, cover the bone with a papillote (nice curlpaper). While eating, make sure you hold Chicken Kiev by papillote, so that butter doesn't drip out.
Servings: 2-4

Shashlik

Shashlik is a kind of Russian/Georgian shish kebab.
For 1.5 pounds lamb: 2 small onion heads; 2 scallion (spring onion) heads, 2 medium-sized tomatoes, 1 lemon, 1 tbs. vinegar, 1 tbs. olive oil.

Dice 1st onion. Clean lamb, cut into small pieces, place into bowl, add salt, pepper, diced onion and vinegar or one tsp. of lemon juice. Make sure ingredients are well applied. Cover bowl, move to a cold place and allow marinating for 2.5 hours.

Slice 2nd onion. Add pieces of lamb interspersed with onion slices. One should cook Shashlik above hot (no flame) coals on a grill or brazier. In case of no available grill one can use a frying pan. Cook 15-20 minutes, spinning skewer to evenly cook Shashlik. Once done, remove from skewer, place onto plate, garnish with sliced red or green peppers, tomatoes, scallions and slices of lemon.

This method will work for pork Shashlik as well.

Blintzes

1 cup flour, 3 eggs, 3 cups of milk (or water), 0.5 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 0.5 onion.

Mix eggs with 3 cups of milk or water. Add salt and flour and mix thoroughly. The dough can be drained so that there are no flour lumps in it. Pour vegetable oil into a saucer. Clean an onion and cut it into 2 parts; take one part with a fork and dip it in oil. Use it every time for greasing the pan with vegetable oil. Heat the pan. Grease it. Evenly pour thin layer of batter. Cook until light brown, about 2-3 minutes on each side. Servings: 2-3.

Blintzes can be served with butter, sour cream, herring, black or red caviar, fillet of sturgeon, lox, and salmon.

Eggplant Dip

For each eggplant:
1 onions; 1.5 tbs. vegetable oil; 1 tomato; salt; pepper; 0.5 lemon 0.5 head of garlic.

Eggplant preparation: Boil or bake eggplant, remove skin and mince the inside.

Mince and lightly fry tomato and onion. To minced eggplant add: tomato, onion, salt, pepper, vegetable oil, lemon and a bit of vinegar. For sharp, spicy taste, add 0.5 a minced head of garlic. Add lemon and let cool.

Serve on bread or as a dip.

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