My russian recipes
August 28th, 2010 in Main Dish Recipes, No-meat Dishes by MeCooking Oladi, or thick pancakes prepared from kefir based batter, is traditional russian breakfast food. Batter is easy to assemble and whole dish doesn’t take much time to cook.
Kefir gives a distinguishing taste to oladi, but it probably can be replaced with buttermilk in case you are having troubles finding kefir.
Oladi can be served plain or with some kind of a topping: jam, syrop or honey, as well as fresh fruits. I love oladi with sour cream.
Tags: breakfast, buttermilk, egg, flour, kefir, kid food, lenten, no meat, pancake, russian
June 5th, 2010 in Desserts by MeCooking 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.
Tags: butter, cake, cocoa, dessert, egg, flour, russian, sour cream, sugar
February 27th, 2010 in Main Dish Recipes, No-meat Dishes by MeCookingPotatoes fried with porcini mushrooms is one of the most delicious lenten recipes. It is also very-very russian. I believe russians eat that kind of food for centuries 
This main dish contains no meat, however mushrooms perfectly substitute meat in both – taste and nutrients – they contain vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre while are low on fat and easily absorbed carbohydrates.
All of that make potato fried with mushrooms and onions perfect main dish for Lent. Needles to say what any combination of potatoes with mushrooms can’t taste bad, so I really hope you will enjoy this dish just like I do.
Tags: dinner, lenten, lunch, mushroom, no meat, onion, porcini, potato, russian, vegetables
February 12th, 2010 in Hot Soups, Soup Recipes by MeCooking Sauerkraut soup, also called sour schi, is a traditional russian main first course dish for several hundreds year.
Original recipes for schi (there are more that one: sour schi, grey schi, green schi) usually include some kind meat, some kind cabbage, carrots, potatoes and spices. Sour schi are prepared with sauerkraut or mix of sauerkraut and fresh cabbage.
I do cook schi with just sauerkraut and I prefer pork broth for sauerkraut schi, however you may use beef for it if you don’t like pork.
Tags: broth, carrot, dinner, lunch, onion, parsley root, pork, potato, russian, sauerkraut, soup
February 6th, 2010 in Main Dish Recipes, No-meat Dishes by MeCooking Potato pancakes, prepared from fresh chopped or grated potatoes, onions, eggs and flour, are commonly associated with various cuisines of Europe. In Ukraine they are called “deruny”, in Russia and Belarus “draniki”; similar recipes can be found in Polish, German, Austrian, Czech cuisines.
Potato pancakes are usually a main no meat dish for lunch or breakfast; it tastes good topped with sour cream or mushroom sauce.
Even though potato pancakes are good enough as a separate dish, they can be also served as a side dish for vegetable or meat main dish course.
Tags: breakfast, egg, flour, lenten, lunch, no meat, onion, pancake, polish, potato, russian, soft food, ukrainian, vegetables
January 23rd, 2010 in Beef Dishes, Main Dish Recipes by MeCooking This it a traditional russian recipe for minced meat cutlets which includes meat, white bread soaked in milk and a lot of onions. Some people prepare those cutlets from beef only, some add a bit of pork or pork fat in them. I prefer just beef.
You may grind or mince meat yourself or buy a ground one and simply add finely chopped or grated onions: whatever you prefer. Either way I am sure it will taste delicious!
I’ve served those cutlets with fried potatoes and greek salad, just in case you were curious.
Tags: beef, cutlet, dinner, egg, ground beef, ground meat, lunch, russian, shallot
January 2nd, 2010 in Beverage Recipes, Non-alcoholic by MeCooking Uzvar is a kompot made from dried fruits: mainly apples, pears and prunes, however various recipes include raisins, dried sour cherries and even dried apricots.
Even though this drink is traditionally served to Christmas Eve dinner in some countries of West Europe (e.g. Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Lithuania), I really can’t find a reason why it can’t be a great better choice to drink before all those sugary-artificially prepared sodas people consume so much those days.
Uzvar, or as it also called in ex-USSR countries – Kompot made from Dried Fruits, is very refreshing, tasty and easy to do. I highly recommend this drink to everybody, prepare it for your kids – they will love it!
Tags: apple, beverage, drink, fruits, kid food, kompot, no meat, pear, polish, prune, russian, ukrainian