Authentic Russian Cuisine

Ingredients:

4 cup milk
1-3 tbsp sugar
2-4 tbsp starch
1-4 tbsp fruit syrup
Pinch of vanilla (optional)

Method:

Pour 3 cups a milk into a sauce-pan, and bring to boil on a low heating.

Put a sugar into the boiling milk, and stir to sugar dissolving.

Stir a starch and 1 cup milk to an even consistency.

Pour the starch mix into the boiling milk, and boil stirring for about 3 minutes.

Add a vanilla, and a syrup, stir well, and turn the heating off.

Serve hot.

Note:

You may do not add sugar and syrup, but serve with 5-minutes varenie.

5-minutes varenie method: Clean any fruits, remove seeds if necessary, and place into an enameled dish for about 7 hours.

Pour a sugar on top (1 part sugar to 2 parts fruits).

Stir sometimes.

After that, place sugar-fruits mix into a sauce-pan, and bring to boil 3 times.

5-minutes varenie is ready.

Ingredients for 8:

17.5 oz (500 g) sauerkraut
17.5 oz (500 g) beef with bone
4 medium potato
2 medium carrot
2 small onion
2 tbsp tomato paste
1.7 oz (50 g) celery root, shredded
2 tbsp butter
5 dill stalk
5 parsley stalk
3 garlic clove
1-2 bay leaf
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp flour
1 pinch dill seed
1 pinch cumin seed
4-5 peppercorn

Method:

Bring to boil ½ G (2 L) water in a sauce-pan, put a meat, and bring to boil.

Remove a foam.

Peel onions and carrots, and shred them separately.

Put ½ the shredded vegetables (onions, carrots, and a celery root) into the sauce-pan, turn a heating to low, and boil for 1.5 hour.

Meanwhile, cur a sauerkraut into short strips.

Melt the 1 tbsp butter in a thick-bottom sauce-pan, put the sauerkraut, 1 tbsp a flour, 1 tbsp a tomato paste, and cumin seeds, stir well, and simmer for about 30 minutes under a lid.

Pre-heat a vegetable oil in a skillet, put dill seeds, the carrot and onion leftovers into the skillet, and stir-fry for about 5 minutes.

Then, add the tomato paste leftover, stir, and cook for about 7 minutes together.

Peel potatoes, wash, and cut into small cubes.

Chop greens.

Press a garlic.

Cut the meat into small pieces, and strain a meat broth into a clean sauce-pan.

Put meat pieces and the potato cubes into the broth, bring to boil, and boil for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, stir-fry 1 tbsp the flour with 1 tbsp the butter, until a nice aroma increases.

Put all ingredients but bones into the broth, bring to boil, and boil for about 5-10 minutes (add a salt if you like).

Let to sit under a lid for about 30 minutes.

Serve with 1 tbsp sour cream.

Ingredients:

2 lb (about 1 Kg) fresh mushroom
1/3 G (1.5 L) water
2 – 4 bay leaf
10 black peppercorn
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 can white bean
1 large onion, chopped
1 large carrot, thinly ground
1 parsley root (or 5-6 oz celery root), thinly ground
3-5 tbsp lard, or 3.5 oz bacon
2 tbsp wheat flour
3-5 tbsp chopped dill
Sour cream, salt, and ground pepper on your taste

Method:

Clean mushrooms, wash, and cut their cups into quarters, and slice their legs across.

Put the mushrooms into a large sauce-pan, pour 1/3 G water into the pan, add a vegetable oil, bay leafs and peppercorns, and turn a heating on.

When a boiling starts, turn the heating to low, and boil for about 1 hour under a lid.

Note:

You need to add the vegetable oil to keep mushroom's aroma.

If you take fresh beans, not canned, then boil them in another sauce-pan for 1 hour too.

Meanwhile, melt a lard in a large skillet, put onions, mushrooms, and other roots into the skillet, and stir-fry with medium heating until a softness.

Then, add a flour into skillet, stir well, and stir-fry until color of flour turns dark-brown, and a fresh bread aroma increases.

Wash the beans under a cold water, and put them into sauce-pan with mushrooms.

Put everything from the skillet into sauce-pan with mushrooms.

Bring to boil, and turn the heating off.

Put a chopped dill into sauce-pan, cover with a lid, and let to sit for about 10 minutes.

Serve a soup with 1 tbsp a fresh sour cream per portion, and with a sliced fresh bread.

Ingredients:

5.2 oz (150 g) sauerkraut
5.2 oz (150 g) canned bean
4 boiled potato
2 boiled carrot
2 medium boiled beet root
2 medium salted cucumber
2 medium onion
5 tbsp vegetable oil
Salt and sugar on your taste

Method:

Peel potatoes, carrots, beets, onions, and cucumbers.

Press a sauerkraut to remove a sour juice, and cut into 1" length pieces.

Cut all other vegetables into small cubes.

Stir all ingredients, let to sit for about 15 minutes, and serve.

Ingredients:

3-4 lb (1.5-2 Kg) fresh mushrooms
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vegetable oil

Method:

Clean mushrooms, and cut large ones into quarters.

Put the mushrooms into a large sauce-pan.

Turn a heating to low, and simmer mushrooms in their own juices.

Stir some times.

When the juices are almost evaporating, add a salt and a vegetable oil, stir well, and continue to simmer for about 10-15 minutes, stirring periodically.

Let to cool.

Place cooked mushrooms into 1-portion plastic bags, and freeze.

Use during 6 month when necessary.

Note:

This is one of traditional Russian ways to keep mushrooms for winter-spring consumption.

Ingredients per portion:

1 cup dry millet
1 medium yellow turnip
1/3 cup seedless raisins
2 tbsp butter
Salt and sugar on your taste

Method:

Wash raisins, and soak in a hot water for about 15 minutes, then dry them out.

Wash grains 3-4 times.

Put into a portion pot with a lid.

Peel a turnip, and grate on a large grater.

Stir the turnip and raisins with the millet grains in the pot.

Cut a butter into medium pieces, and stir-in to grains.

Add ½ tsp (or more, or less) a salt, and 2-3 tsp a sugar, and stir well all together.

Pour a boiling water on top, to cover grains on 2” in a height.

Pre-heat an oven to 340 F (170 C).

Cover the pot with the lid, and place into the oven.

Bake for about 30-40 minutes, or until a liquid totally soaks.

Turn the heating off, and let to cool to warm.

Then, take out pot, and serve kasha.

Ingredients:

1 large frozen mackerel
1.2 oz (30 g) salt, without jodine
2 large garlic clove (or 4 small clove)
2 large bay leaf, ground
Ground black or white pepper on your taste, at least 2 pinches per fillet

Method:

Take 2 mackerel fillets without skins.

Remove all bones.

Wash the fillets, and dry them out on paper towels.

Take a glass, or an enameled dish with a lid.

Sprinkle first fillet's skin side with ¼ part of a salt.

Put this fillet into the dish (skin down), and sprinkle with another ¼ of salt.

Sprinkle second fillet's meat side with ¼ part of salt.

Put this fillet into the dish (skin up) on top of the first fillet, and sprinkle with last ¼ of salt.

Cover the dish, and set in a room temperature for about 12-15 hours in a dark place.

Then, take out fillets, and wash them slightly, to remove the salt exceeds.

Dry out on paper towels.

Meanwhile, press a garlic, and stir with a pepper and a ground bay leaf.

Divide to 2 equal parts, and spread each fillet with a spice mixture on the meat's side.

Place fillets one to another one, meat to meat, and roll tightly in a piece of a plastic wrap.

Place in a freezer for 3-4 hours.

Then, remove the wrap, slice the fish across into equal-size pieces, and let to de-freeze slightly.

Serve as a cold appetizer, as a sandwich top, or as a main dish with a boiled potato.

Note: A ratio salt to fillet weight is 1:10. Change a quantity of the salt depending of fillets weight.

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant
1 large onion
5.2 oz (150 g) sour cream
2 garlic cloves
Greens, salt, and pepper on your taste

Method:

Peel onions, and chop thinly.

Wash an eggplant, and cut into small cubes.

Place the eggplant pieces into a salted water for 30 minutes.

Pre-heat a skillet with a vegetable oil, put the onions into the skillet, and stir-fry until color turns gold.

Dry out the eggplant pieces, put them into skillet, and stir-fry together with onions for about 5 minutes.

Pour a sour cream into skillet, add a pressed garlic, a salt, a pepper, and greens, and stir well.

Simmer all together for 5-7 minutes on a medium heating, then serve.

Note: You may serve it cold also.

Ingredients:

3-6 lb pork leg, with bones
10 garlic cloves, peeled and pressed
1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper on your taste

Method:

Wash a meat, and bring to boil in a salted water that covers the meat.

Boil for about 3-4 hours, depends on a meat weight, with a low heating.

Remove bones and skins, and chop the meat.

Stir chopped meat with greens and spices.

Cover a deep dish with a plastic wrap.

Put the skins over it.

Put chopped meat into the dish evenly, and cover with the plastic wrap.

Place a weight over it.

Let to chill, and set into a refrigerator overnight.

Remove plastic wrap, slice, and serve.

Note:

You may keep pressed meat in refrigerator for up to 1 week.

This is a basic recipe, so you may add your favorite meats, greens, and spices.

Ingredients:

1 L (35 fl oz) 3.5% milk
17.5 fl oz (½ L) whipping cream
(or
1 L (35 fl oz) 0% milk
17.5 fl oz (½ L) 3.5% milk)

2 lemon, or 2 fl oz (60 mL) lemon juice, or 2 fl oz (60 mL) white vinegar
¼ tsp salt

Optional spices: oregano, anise, ground muscat nut, ground cinnamon
Optional add-ons: chocolate chips (to add to chilled cheese), ground nuts, ground dried fruits and berries

Method:

Press lemons to get a juice.

Pour a milk and a whipping cream into a sauce-pan, pour the juice into the sauce-pan.

Stir, and heat with a low heating, stirring permanently.

When bubbles increase around, check a temperature of a mixture.

It must be lower than 190 degrees F (88 degrees C).

Note: At that time, mixture looks like an oatmeal.
Continue stirring permanently!

When the temperature is 190 degrees F (88 degrees C), turn the heating off, and let to sit for 10-15 minutes.

Cover a colander from inside with a 4-folded clean fabric, and pour milk mixture into it.

Let to drip for about 10 minutes, when consistency of mixture is like a puree.

Roll the fabric ends, and press mixture until it's weight is about 12.2 oz (350 g).

Unroll fabrics, and sprinkle a cheese with a salt.

Stir a little.

Place the cheese into a clean dry dish, and set into a refrigerator to make cheese more dense.

Add spices and add-ons, if you like.