Culture & Cuisine*

Our Favorite Recipe: Hands Down!

Presenting Ekaterina Mikova's

Shrimp a la Russe!

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"Ekaterina has really outdone herself on this one. This is the best dish to come out of Russia or anywhere else for that matter, in a long, long time. I give it five fat chefs" - Vincent Schmiltz, Overeating Digest

Looks good, doesn't it? Would you like the recipe? Just Click.

OTHER RUSSIAN CUISINE - "GLAZKY"

by Olga Timohina

Dear Friends,

I want to suggest a trivial little dish, but it doesn't reduce its important role in the morning. We are going to talk about fried eggs. To make this dish you need a little more time than usual and a little wish to make a pleasure to your close people. This dish has a funny name - "Glazky" ("Little Eyes") - but I can assure you, it's delicious.

The following recipe will yield two servings:
  • 4 eggs
  • 100g cheese
  • 6 tbsp. sour cream
  • salt to taste

Separate egg whites from yolks, be careful not to damage yolks. Whip whites, add salt and whip again. Pour it on the pan greased with oil. Cover with a half of ground cheese. Make little holes with a spoon and put yolks carefully in these holes. Add a little salt. Put sour cream very accurately around the yolks and cover with the rest of the cheese. Put the pan in the oven for 7 minutes.

Bon Appetit!
Olga

ANOTHER RECIPE FROM OLGA- "KOURNIK"

Dear Friends,

Hello. There is snow and frost in Russia, and most people go skiing and skating. I had a chance to recall good school times, skating with friends. Today we are talking about beautiful wedding pie. It was impossible to manage wedding events without Kournik. The necessary ingredient for Kournik was chicken. In days of old they used big slices of chicken even the bones. Chicken was a symbol of fertility. Kournik was baked in the houses of the bride and groom. The groom's pie was decorated with little human figurines and the bride's Kournik had flowers-symbols of beauty and femininity.

The following recipe will yield 6 servings:

Dough:
  • 3 c flour
  • 3 tb butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tb sugar
  • 1/2 ts baking powder
  • 2 tb sour cream
  • 1/2 c milk
  • salt to taste

Pancakes:
  • 1/2 c flour
  • 1 ts sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 c milk
  • salt to taste

First Filling:
  • 1/4 rice
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tb butter
  • 3 tb butter
  • 3 tb green parsley - chopped

Second Filling:
  • 500 g chicken meat
  • 2 tb butter
  • 1 ts flour
  • 4 c chicken broth

Third Filling:
  • 150 g fresh mushrooms
  • 1 tb butter

Dough making:

Melt sugar and salt in warm milk and put in half of the flour. Stir very well and add the rest of the flour and baking powder, mixing very quickly. Add sour cream and melted butter, stirring thoroughly. Divide dough into two parts, one slightly larger than the other. Roll out the smaller piece of dough into a round approximately 25-30 cm in diameter and 1/2 cm thick.

Pancake making:

Combine ingredients for pancakes. The batter will be very thin and use a small ladle to apply batter to skillet. The pancakes should be very thin when finished.

First Filling:

Boil rice, add chopped hard-boiled egg, parsley, butter and salt. Mix thoroughly.

Second Filling:

Boil chicken, and chop chicken meat finely. Fry the flour until golden brown. Add butter and a little chicken broth. Place chicken pieces in the skillet and and simmer in sauce for 10 minutes.

Third Filling:

Chop mushrooms and saute in butter, then add the sauce from the chicken.

Kournik baking:

Put some pancakes on the dough round, then put the chicken on the dough round. Add another layer of pancakes and then put the mushroom filling on them. Place another pancake layer on top of the mushroom filling. Place the rice filling on top of that layer and place the final layer of pancakes on top of the rice filling. If constructed properly, your Kournik should look like a little hill.

Roll out the second round (35-40 cm in diameter). Make four radial cuts in the round and cover the 'hill' with it. Pinch the edges of the two rounds and the edges of the four radial cuts. Pierce the top and brush lightly beaten egg for a glaze.

Bake at 350 degrees until crust is golden brown.

LET'S HAVE ANOTHER RECIPE FROM OLGA- "FISH BAKED IN THE MOSCOW WAY"

Ingredients:

  • 800 g fillets
  • 10 ea mushrooms, canned or boiled
  • 2 ea hard-boiled eggs
  • 2 ea onions
  • 50 g butter
  • 7 ea potatoes
  • 1-1/2 c sour cream
  • 1/2 c grated cheese
  • salt to taste
Sear the lightly salted fillets on high heat until golden brown. Grease a baking pan, put fish slices in the center. Make a layer of potato slices around the fish. Chop onions finely andy fry until light brown and sprinkle on top of the fish. Put egg slices and mushrooms on top and then pour scour cream and sprinkle with cheese. Bake in the oven until done. (Sorry there was no oven temperature or time on the recipe.) Read on for more recipes...

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"A TASTE OF RUSSIA"

by Darra Goldstein

This is the definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine, layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context. With over 200 recipes on everything from borscht to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies, A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.