Cabbage Rolls in Sour Cream Sauce

Another variation for ukrainian cabbage rolls: meat staffed cabbage rolls with gentle sour cream and onion sauce.

Making these from scratch will take some time as any recipe for cabbage rolls even if you use ground beef and don’t need to prepare it yourself, you still need to separate cabbage, assemble rolls and then cook them.

But don’t let this to stop you - even though it is time consuming to cook cabbage rolls you will get enough rolls for later - just store left overs in fridge or freezer.

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.

Kvass (Russian Fermented Rye Bread Drink)

Kvass (kvas, quass) is probably a bit of unusual drink to this part of the globe.

Indeed, if you read ingredients list: dried rye bread, water, sugar and yeast - it probably will not strike you as something delicious. However this is one of soft drinks which is, according to Wikipedia, popular in Eastern Europe countries, especially Russia, since ancient times.

It is not hard to prepare kvass at home: you just need 2 big cooking pots, a funnel, cheese cloth, rye bread (which can be a bit of challenge to find) and about 3 days. Any type of rye bread will work.

I recently discovered good borodinsky bread in nearby european store, we liked it a lot and now buying pretty often. I dice the bread leftovers and heels and dry them for 10-15 mins in oven; that way I always have dried rye bread for the next patch of kvass ready to go when I need it (and I also don’t need to throw bread out).

Prepared kvass can be stored bottled in fridge; serve it as soft drink or use to prepare okroshka soup.

Crab Sticks Salad with Pickled Mushrooms and Apple

I didn’t post salad recipes for a while now, so wanted to come up with something special this time.

I chose salad made of surimi crab sticks mixed with tender pickled mushrooms, grated apple, fresh dill and parsley and dressed with ground black pepper and a bit of mayo.

This mix may seem unusual (especially here in US), however it is very popular in post-USSR countries. You can find it under name “Salad Anshlag” in menus.

Some people use boiled mushrooms for this recipe, however I prefer mushrooms pickled following this recipe: they are very easy to do and are less plain than just boiled; but this is a matter of preference.

Homemade Pickled Mushrooms

Taste of homemade pickled mushrooms can’t be beaten by any brand from the store. If you pickle mushrooms yourself you can control spiciness and acidity to make sure they taste exactly as you want them to.

Champignon mushrooms are most commonly available that is why I used them, but this marinate will work for wild mushrooms: boletuses, honey mushrooms and other edible mushrooms as well. However for wild mushrooms you will need to increase boiling time and maybe change water trough boiling at least once.

Mushrooms pickled this way can be stored in the fridge for long time, if you want to preserve them outside of the fridge - use sealing jars and follow the instructions for proper sealing; however I don’t see a reason to do so: champignons are commonly available in every store and you can pickle them as much as you want without actually sealing into jars.

Russian Fried Pies with Meat and Rice Stuffing

Fried pies (piroshki/pyrizhky), resembling individual size fried buns of yeast dough with stuffing, are very popular in all countries of ex-USSR. There are many stuffing variations for these: fruity and sweet or savory.

This is recipe for piroshki with boiled meat and rice stuffing - meat left over after preparing broth or soup is usually used to prepare these. And later fried pies can be served together with that soup or broth.

Piroshki are good choice if you need to take food to-go: they don’t require refrigeration to keep them fresh (for 1-2 days).

Clear Beef Broth with Vegetables

Beef broth with vegetables is easiest liquid food to make, easiest to consume, good for your digestive system. Why not to cook it yourself instead of pouring it out from a can or a box?

All you need is beef with bones (I find shank cut very suitable for soups and broths), roots (carrots, parsley, celery), onion, fresh greens and this recipe.

Clear beef broth is nice to accompany any food prepared from that boiled meat cooked in the broth (since you don't need it after broth is cooked), such as crepes with boiled meat stuffing, savory pies or fried dumplings.

Russian Zucchini Paste

This is recipe of zucchini paste from my mom: easy to cook, contains only vegetables (zucchini, tomatoes and onions) and is very-very tasty.

I usually eat this paste on bread toast, for breakfast or as a snack; however it is also a nice side dish to help increase vegetable servings in your daily diet.

Zucchini paste can be served warm or cooled down.

Beef Stroganoff with Mushrooms and Cream

This recipe features a small modification to the beef stroganoff recipe I posted earlier, but a good one: a cup of cream and cremini mushrooms give this dish a very rich taste.

Field mushrooms will also work good in this recipe, but cremini are the best.

As usual, I suggest serving beef stroganoff with a side of boiled buckwheat, it tastes great with mushrooms and cream and, of course, beef.

Minced Cutlets Stuffed with Mushrooms

This is a tasty tweak to original minced beef cutlets recipe. The mince is prepared exactly the same way and mushrooms and onions stuffing gives ground meat juiciness and extraordinary taste.

A bit of agility is required to put stuffing inside of minced meat cutlets, but once you get it - it seems easy: meat is sticky, so if you get some holes, they can be easily patched by adding a layer of mince on top of the hole.

To prevent meat from sticking to hands - rinse hands with cold water from time to time while assembling minced cutlets.

Sorrel and Pork Soup (Green Borscht)

Sorrel and pork soup, or as it is called also green borscht (obviously because of the color), is one of these dishes you can rarely eat in US, unless you are ukrainian, poland, russian family or visiting one of those :).

I was a bit unlucky in buying sorrel this time. Sorrel is very seasonal (meaning available only on spring), and for some reason WholeFoods (the only place where I was able to find it) carries it in herbs section - read this as 2-3 branches per a pack.

I ended up getting last 3 packs they had in their stock, but even that was less then needed for this soup (I am actually still wondering, who buys sorrel in WholeFoods in such packs and for what?).

Anyway, if you are more lucky than me and either know where to buy enough of sorrel or growing it by yourself, you can safely use more, and by more I mean much more: 3-4 cups is good. If you want to make it’s sour taste a bit less intense - fry it before adding to the cooking pot or/and use more water when cooking broth.

Tomato and Rice Soup

Gentle tomato soup with rice filling garnished with freshly chopped basil is a russian variant of tomato-basil soup.

It is beef broth based and if you want to make it more tomaty and thick, reduce amount of water you use for broth and increase amount of tomatoes.

I've garnished soup with basil even though it isn't very widespread in Russia, but it gives a nice kick to flavor of this soup. After all basil and tomatoes are the combination which can never taste wrong.

Khrustyky Pastry (Hvorost)

This pastry is very popular in countries of ex-USSR. The shape is what gave them their russian name – "hvorost" – which means “dry wood used to make a fire”. Ukrainian name - “khrustyky” - describes texture – which it very crisp.

I had troubles trying to figure out what english name to use for this dish. Even if there is an equivalent of it in cuisine of some english speaking country, I don't know about it.

So, feel free to let me know if you have some ideas in this regard :)

Lazy Cabbage Rolls

Lazy cabbage rolls, or “lenyvi golubtsi” how this dish is called in ukrainian, is an easier version of ukrainian cabbage rolls.

Since it doesn't require assembling of rolls it is much easier to prepare, and taste is very similar to cabbage rolls.

Lazy cabbage rolls taste great when seasoned with a bit of chopped garlic and a bit of mayo.

Russian Lenten Mushroom Soup

This soup doesn't include any meat, it is based on mushrooms and have vegetables (carrot, parsley and celery roots, potato) as well as pearl barley.

Such kind of mushroom soup is very popular in Russia. Various kind of mushrooms can be used in this recipe, but I must say fresh or frozen porcini are the best tasting ones, if you can find them, of course.

If you are not trying to follow Great Lent rules - my advise is don't skip on sour cream, 1 tablespoon of sour cream to the bowl of mushroom soup not only adds nutrients, but also gives the soup its unique rich taste.

Homemade Egg Noodles

Homemade egg yolk noodles are not so hard to do as it may seem. Lapsha (in russian cuisine) or klusky (in ukrainian cuisine) are as easy to do as simple egg and flour dough.

It is also a good way to use leftover yolks if you needed egg whites for some other dish.

Boiled homemade egg noodles can be served as a side dish or added to meat or chicken broth or soup.

Braised White Cabbage

Braised cabbage can be a nice meat-free dish on its own, however it also makes a good side dish for various meats, especially pork and sausages.

You can braise fresh white cabbage alone or mix of white cabbage with sauerkraut (1:1 proportion) to your taste. If you choose to use sauerkraut, rinse it with water before adding to the skillet.

Fresh tomatoes in this recipe can be replaced with tomato paste, if you don't want to spend time blanching and de-seeding tomatoes.

Russian Pancakes (Oladi) with Apple

This recipe is a step up for russian kefir based pancakes – oladi. My mom used to add slices of apple to oladi batter and that is the way how I prefer them – oladi with apple served warm with sour cream topping.

So the recipe is quite easy: prepare oladi batter, add slices of apple and fry pancakes.

This dish is a perfect choice for breakfast or brunch, or even fast prepared snack. I bet kids would love those pancakes as well. They taste good accompanied with a glass of kefir.

Easier Borscht with Precooked Beets and Beans

One of the challenges when cooking classic beet root soup, borscht, is to get all vegetables (and there are quite few) cooked till perfect readiness at the same time.

Considering different vegetables require different cooking time it is sometimes hard to achieve. For borscht you need to make sure beens are soft, while potatoes are not over cooked and beets don't lose their color.

So, to make this happen: I cook beens in a separate cooking pot (just until they are soft and ready), cook beets skin on (like for salad) in separate pot in advance, and add these two to the main cooking pot at appropriate times.

By the way, using of canned beets and beens instead of cooking them yourself is an option (which I never did, but it may safe you some time).

Chicken Schnitzels (Chicken Tenders)

This recipe for chicken tenders (or beaten chicken cutlets) is somewhat similar to pork schnitzels, except for the fact they are made from chicken, of course.

In additional to breading (for which, I must say, ground breadcrumbs work the best), cooking of those require some agility to cut chicken breasts into flat portion pieces: so if you are wondering how to do that – keep reading :)

Chicken tenders are perfect for dinner; you can store leftover tenders in the fridge and warm them up for lunch or eat cold and they are great for sandwiches.

Veal Shish Kebab with Onions

Cookout when we had these veal shish kebabs was rather extreme: we went to the lake (about 50 miles away), fired up grill, skewered meat, set it on the grill and then... rain started.

And it appeared to be not the light summer rain which we hoped for when we first saw clouds, but the cloudburst with thunders, lightnings and a hail in between, the cold one.

I don't know how we managed to keep that meat cooking, but it turned out good, maybe it even tasted better because we were guarding grill for half of hour with towel above it to keep it from getting wet.

By the way, to cook such shish kebab (“shashlik” or “shashlyk” how we call this dish in Russia) you will need skewers of some kind and of course grill (make it a charcoal one to get better taste) in additional to meat, onions, vinegar and spices. If you use wooden skewers, don't forget to soak them in the water at least for 1 hour before skewer meat on.

Russian Beze Cookies (Meringues)

Beze cookies or meringues (probably more familiar name for you) are one of those desserts you can put together literally from almost nothing.

2 egg whites and a bit of sugar – that is all you need prepare a nice finishing for the romantic dinner or something to sweeten your life with when you need it.

Using of pastry bag, when you operate with sugary and bubbly “batter”, can be hard at the beginning, but it goes easier once you get used to it.

If you have choice – pick bigger bag so you have more room for maneuver when loading it with “batter”.

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.

Meatballs with Carrot-Tomato Sauce

Russian meatballs (or “tefteli” how they are called in Russia) are prepared from ground beef and rice mix and cooked under some kind of sauce. They usually have big size (1 or 2 meatballs is enough for a serving).

This is a recipe for “tefteli” my mom uses: big meatballs, dipped into flour, then fried over in some oil and cooked with vegetable sauce (carrots, tomatoes, onions and dill) until ready.

I've modified recipe a bit to use freshly pureed tomatoes instead of tomato paste. However, if you don't have fresh tomatoes under your hands, you can use canned tomatoes or tomato paste diluted with water.

Boiled potatoes or mashed potatoes are usually the first choice of side dish for tefteli for me, boiled buckwheat or pasta work good too.

Russian Kefir Pancakes (Oladi)

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.

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.

Fried Potato with Porcini Mushrooms

Potatoes 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.

Russian Sauerkraut Soup (Schi)

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.

Deruny (Potato Pancakes)

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.

Minced Beef Cutlets

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.

Uzvar (Dried Fruit Kompot)

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!

Bigos (Cabbage and Pork Stew)

Bigos, as a cabbage and meat stew, is very popular second course dish in countries of East Europe. I believe it was originated in Poland, however recipes similar to polish bigos can be found in cuisines of Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine and maybe some others. In Poland bigos is traditional dish to be served on Second day of Christmas.

Ingredients for bigos vary, some of them may or may not include tomatoes, mushrooms, carrots, onions, garlic, honey and even prunes; beef, veal, pork, bacon, smoked ham, smoked sausages or a combination of those.

I cook bigos (by the way it is called “solyanka” in Russia and Ukraine, even though there is a soup with the same name) with pork, a lot of cabbage (fresh and sour), carrots, onions, bay leaves and spice it with whole black peppercorns, just like it was always cooked in my family. Hope you will like it too.

Cabbage Rolls in Tomato Dill Sauce

Cabbage rolls (stuffed cabbage) dish is very popular food in Eastern Europe. No wander you can easily find cabbage rolls among traditional recipes in cuisines of Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Romania and many others countries.

Making of cabbage rolls from the scratch (including grinding meat, boiling and separating cabbage and then preparing them one by one) would take some time, so it is better if you start cooking in advance. However you can leave prepared cabbage rolls in the oven with heat turned off for up to 1 hour, so they stay warm if you want to postpone serving.

This recipe describes step-by-step process of preparing cabbage rolls in tomato-dill sauce. Enjoy the taste of traditional dish of Eastern European.

Okroshka

Okroshka is traditional russian cold soup. It is perfect meal for hot summer weather as it is prepared on the base of kvass - russian bread drink – and it is light and very refreshing.

Finding good fresh kvass for okroshka can be challenging outside of former-USSR. You may try russian or ukrainian shop, or, of course, you can prepare kvass yourself. But If you are not lucky with any of these, you can also replace kvass with mineral water, kefir diluted with boiled cold water or even light beer.

Crepes with Fresh Cheese

If you've got some crepes left or thinking about how to make them more tasteful and nutritious then stuff them with fresh cheese. You can prepare stuffed crepes and store them for future in the freezer. After, all you have to do to get a fresh and tasty crepe with cheese is to get it out of freezer and warm it up.

The only hassle with this recipe can be to find (or prepare) good quark-kind fresh white cheese. Try Russian, Ukrainian or Polish shop if you can't locate it local supermarket.

Crepes with Fresh Cheese are good for breakfast or snack, also they make perfect food for kids.

Lazy Varenyky (Fresh Cheese Lazy Dumplings)

Lazy Varenyky (lazy vareniki, fresh cheese lazy dumplings) is a dish of Ukrainian cuisine. To prepare it you will need fresh white cheese (tvorog, quark) which can be hard to find in a local shop, so try Ukrainian / Russian / Polish shops for more luck.

The word “lazy” in the name reflects the fact how fast and easy this dish is to prepare. It takes less then 20 mins from putting simple ingredients together till Fresh Cheese Lazy Dumplings are ready to be served, and that includes boiling.

Lazy Varenyky dish is good choice for children breakfast: they include fresh cheese - a good source of the calcium for growing body. And of course they are tasty, your kids will love them!

Fresh Cheese Pancakes

Fresh Cheese Pancakes are good choice for the family breakfast or snack. Fresh cheese is a source of the calcium, therefore this is very good food for kids whose growing body needs a lot of calcium.

Cheese pancakes are very fast and very easy to do. The only hassle with this recipe can be to find good quark-kind fresh cheese. So try Russian, Ukrainian or Polish shop if you can't locate it local supermarket.

Herring Under Fur Coat (Herring Salad) Recipe

To prepare russian herring salad, “Herring Under Fur Coat”, you need to have whole salted herring. And of course you need to know how to fillet it, so read this post if you don't.

Herring Under Fur Coat is a word-to-word translation of russian name of this salad: “Seledka pod Shuboj”, which represents salted herring under a “coat” of boiled vegetables. So, as you've probably guessed, you will also need boiled vegetables (potatoes, carrots and beats) and green onions. In the rest this is 5-layers salad with a lot of mayonnaise.

This salad requires some time and agility to assemble it, also it needs at least 12 hours for layers to soak after it is assembled. So make sure you have enough time if you decide to make it.

Borscht (Beetroot Soup)

Borscht (borsch, borshch) or beet root soup is very popular in a Eastern and Central Europe countries. Who of you didn't hear about russian or ukrainian borscht?

It is one of 3 common things which usually come to people minds when they are asked about Russia or Ukraine. Well, other 2 would be: good looking girls and vodka, of course.

As you've probably noticed, this blog is about cooking (not about dating or drinking), so I will show you how to make Borscht (Beetroot Soup) in this post, please use Google to find more info on slavic brides or famous russian alcoholic beverages if you feel like this.

Crêpes (Thin Pancakes)

But in any case you will need to prepare crêpes first and that requires agility and some kind of training. Read how I prepare them in the step-by-step guide.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

My better half doesn't like fresh bell peppers, so I do stuff them with ground beef and rice and stew for a bit and here we go, it is his favorite meat dish.

Stuffed Bell Peppers are easy and fast to do. They are being served without side dish and are tasty!

Fast Salted Salmon

Even though it is called fast salted it still requires at least 12 hours to be ready for eating. So it is good idea to start preparing Fast Salted Salmon an evening before you are planning to put it on the table.

Due to the big amount of oil it is good to be served with simple boiled potatoes and bread.

Russian Salad (Olivier)

Usually people outside of former-USSR call it Russian Salad, however its original name is Salad Olivier.

This salad was and maybe still is the most traditional dish for the home New Year celebration for russian people.

Russian Fish Soup (Uha)

Eating fish at least once a week is one of a rules you follow to stay healthy. At my home we like to eat a russian fish soup, called uha in russian, to keep brain working better.

Uha can be prepared of pretty much any kind fresh fish you can find in your shop. I prefer to make it with atlantinc salmon. Try it?

Crab Sticks & Rice Salad

Everybody who tried my crab stick salad fell in love with it after first bite. Now I have no problems deciding what to bring to the party.

This salad is easy and fast to do and the taste is just great. Try it, you will like it!