Semolina Porridge (Mannaya Kasha)

Mannaya Kasha is one of foods associated for russian people with their childhood. When I was little I was always told it is rich on nutrients and required for healthy kid growth - every kid knew that to grow strong and healthy they need to finish up their plate with semolina porridge.

Just as a note: while researching for proper translation for this recipe, I stumbled on information that semolina porridge isn’t recommended for kids younger than 3 years (which was new to me) as it contains high amount of gluten and also phytin. But because it also has a lot of proteins and high content of vitamins E and B1 it is very good for kids after 3 year old who have no gluten intolerance.

While cooking it is important to stir mannaya kasha all the time (I use whisk for this and it helps a lot), or you will get clots and no kid likes them in their mannaya kasha.

West Ukrainian Cheese Cake (Syrnyk)

This cake is similar to the cheese cakes so popular in west part of the globe. However this one is made from quark cheese (fresh farmers cheese), not from the cream cheese.

It is very popular dessert treat in West Ukraine. It is often being made with raisins, however I don’t like raisins, so I am doing it without any filling. Just add them if you like.

During the baking this cake will rise in the oven, and then it will fall down a bit while colling down. That i s ok, just important not to open oven while baking or cooling.

To make up for a bit uneven shape, you can cut uneven sides off before serving it.

Sweet Braided Bread

I am used to call this kind of braid sweet bread Hala (Хала in russian), however when I was preparing to write this recipe and did a bit of research to make sure I get name right in english, I discovered that real Challah (Hala) doesn’t contain dairy.

Considering this recipe have butter and milk and eggs in it, I didn’t risk to call in challah. After all it is a sweet braid yeast based sourdough bread.

It tastes good by itself and even better with a cup of yogurt or cultured milk (kefir or buttermilk).

Wine, Butter and Capers Sauce for Fish

Rich sauce prepared from shallots cooked with white wine, butter and capers and seasoned with fresh chopped dill. It suits for any kind of fish whatever it is boiled, fried or grilled. Goes good with salmon (see Salmon with Capers and Dill Sauce recipe), cod, tilapia and other fish which you would usually serve with butter sauce of some kind.

If you are trying to get more liquid sauce use more wine or add more shallots otherwise. If you don't like texture of cooked onions - increase shallots frying time and cook them with wine longer.

Ready sauce can be stored in the fridge, but it should be served warm, just make sure when you reheat it to remove sauce from burner before it starts boiling.

Chicken Liver Pate on Crackers

I find dishes from any kind of liver not very popular on this side of the globe. However I can't see anybody not liking this one: chicken liver pâté or “pashtet” like it is called in Russia.

Pate in russian cousine is prepared mostly from liver cooked, ground and mixed with butter and few additions to taste. For chicken liver pate I add onions, carrots, a dash of nutmeg and a spoon of cognac, see the instruction below.

Chicken liver pate can be served as appetizer or snack, on bread, toasts, crackers or flat breads. You can also exercise a pastry chief inner self and arrange pate flowers using pastry bag.

Simple Cake with Sour Cream Frosting

Yuriy had his birthday 2 weeks ago, so I decided to cook him a cake. Somehow we ended up eating whole cake just by ourselves; so we will need to work out more now :)

I've used this simple recipe of homemade cake which is very popular in Russia and other countries of ex-USSR. Because of the sour cream frosting it is often called “smetannik”, which basically mean “made of sour cream” in russian.

If you decide to make this cake - make sure you have enough time to let sour cream to soak to into each layer of the cake after it is assembled; 6-8 hours are usually enough. If you prepare cake a night before you are going to serve it and then put to fridge - it is even better.

Madeleines

It is easy to fell in love with those little butter cakes the first time you try them: it is exactly what happened to me :), I had to find the recipe. And then I've got hooked: every time I have extra 30 mins and a mood for baking – I am preparing madeleines.

Apart of eggs, butter, flour and a few other ingredients you will also need madeleine baking pan (madeleine molds) to prepare those french sponge cakes. Internet says they exist in two sizes: bigger and smaller.

I've spend quite some time before I finally found bigger ones in Williams-Sonoma, I was also lucky they appeared to be nonstick ones. By the way if you cook in small size molds – reduce cooking time to about 6 mins.

With ingredients described in this recipe will get you about 24 madeleines, enough for 2 baking forms with molds of bigger size. If you want more just double or triple the amounts.

Salmon under Capers and Dill Sauce

Capers and dill, butter, wine and shallots – those are ingredients of very good sauce for fish. Personally I pick salmon, because it is especially good when boiled or even simmered like in this recipe. However I think it will work with other kind of fish without any problem.

Should I also remind you what fish is an important part of the healthy diet?

Got a romantic dinner coming up and want to surprise your date with something special? I recommend this tender salmon dish, especially if after preparing of it you still have a few sips of Chardonnay left to accompany it with.