Grandma Katrina's Russian Pancakes"Blini" ♥

Happy Saturday! Here is a special recipe that is near and dear to me...
My Grandma Katrina used to make the best blini, (these are russian pancakes), they can be served for breakfast, or for lunch or dinner, with a dollap of jelly, or sour cream, with salmon or caviar. enjoy! ♥

Ingredients ♥

3 large eggs
3 1/4 cups milk
3 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2.5 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
2-2.5 tsp dry yeast
Oil to grease the skillet
1 stick margarine to oil ready blini ( I use Smart Balance for a healthier approach)

Makes about 18-20 blini

Tools needed...
1/2 small raw unpeeled potato and a fork for greasing tool
3 quart covered pot (better enameled or at least stainless steel)
Non-stick skillet, 8-9" diameter
Ladle or a big spoon
Wooden spatula
Heat-proof dish to stack ready blini

Garnishes ♥
Salted herring, thinly sliced 
Caviar
Melted butter
Soft boiled eggs, chopped
Sour cream
jelly

Directions ♥

1. Scald 1.25 cup of milk in a pot. Separate 1/4 cup and mix it with yeast until dissolved. Beat eggs, stir them in milk, along with yeast, salt and sugar. The mixture must be lukewarm, so if it cooled down, warm it up on very low heat constantly stirring.


2. Add flour and mix well until you get the batter/dough of rather thick consistency, like thick sour cream. Cover the pot, and let the dough rise in a warm place.  About 1 hour.

3. While the dough is rising, prepare garnishes (caviar and herring should be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated) and lay the table. Blini are served hot, so later you will have no time for this. Leave boiling of eggs to the end though - it's nice when they are served warm, just take then out of the fridge to acquire room temperature before boiling.

4. When the dough rises and at least triples in size, scald the remaining milk, and mix it in the dough in small portions (about 1/2 cup each), stirring well every time. Small portions of hot milk will not kill the yeast, but will keep the mass very warm. After all milk is in, leave the dough to foam for about 30 minutes, covered.  Don't mix the foam!

5. Prepare your baking tools. Pour some olive oil in a small bowl - for greasing your skillet. Make a greasing tool with a half of potato and a fork.
5. Your dough/batter will look like a thick foam when ready to bake. Heat the skillet on high heat, grease it with the potato dipped in oil, scoop a ladle of dough on the skillet, and smear it around. The thick foam will not spread easily just by tilting and turning the skillet. 

6. Bake on one side until bubbles form and the surface becomes mat, check if it's nicely browned by lifting the edge a little, then flip over with the spatula and bake on the other side. Adjust the heat so your blini don't burn, but bake through and are beautifully browned. Grease the skillet before each blin, otherwise your blini will not get a nice pattern.

7. Stack blini on the heat-proof dish, second side up (it is smoother and easier to oil), and gently oil each blini with the butter stick. Butter will prevent blini from sticking to one another.

8. When all blini are ready, loosely cover the dish with foil, and toss it into the 175 F oven to keep warm. At this point boil soft eggs. 

Serve everything with favorite garnishes. Herring, eggs, caviar, sour cream, jelly.enjoy! ♥

Leftover blini, if any, should be refrigerated. Blini will stick all together, so don't try to separate one blini - it will break. Warm them up all together in a microwave or an oven at 325 F, loosely covered with foil.

Grandma Katrina's Russian Borscht ♥

Here is a traditional russian borscht recipe my Grandma Katrina used to make,  I made a healthy version of it, on a chilly night like tonight ( a balmy -1 )for dinner  it's perfect!  ♥

Ingredients ♥

2 quarts beef stock
3 tablespoons margarine
1 cup cabbage, finely chopped
1 cup potatoes, diced
1/2 cup carrots, diced
1 stalk celery, minced
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups canned tomatoes
1/2 cup juice (from can of beets)
1 cup cooked or canned beets, diced
a pinch of sugar
1 teaspoon vinegar
chopped dill or parsley (for garnishing)
sour cream ( light ) 
1/2 sliced hard boiled egg

Directions ♥

In a large heavy pan, melt margarine and lightly sauté cabbage, potatoes, carrots, celery and onion for approximately 5 minutes. Add beef stock. Blend canned tomatoes or press through a sieve until fine. Add pureed tomatoes and beet juice to stock. Cover and simmer over low heat until vegetables are firmly tender but not soft.
At this point, add the chopped beets and vinegar. Season well with salt and pepper, and a pinch of sugar  and remove from heat before the beets begin to lose their color.
Serve with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of dill or parsley, add your sliced hard boiled egg over each bowl and enjoy!  ♥

Russian Sauerkraut "Kapusta" ♥

Here is a tasty homemade russian sauerkraut recipe, you can use it as a topping on brats, sandwiches, or alone as a side salad. It's tangy and tasty! enjoy! ♥ 

Ingredients ♥ 

2 medium/large cabbages ( about 5½ lbs)
2 Tbsp sea salt

1 Tbsp sugar


Directions ♥ 
Remove the outermost leaves of the cabbage, cut it into quarters and shred cabbage finely  Grate the carrots.
1. In a large silver bowl, place cabbage, carrots, 2 Tbsp sea salt and 1 Tbsp sugar and scrunch and knead it together really well for the juice to be released from the cabbage. Now scrunch it together.
2. Fill a glass jar with the cabbage mixture and pack it in very tightly so that the juice from the cabbage covers the cabbage completely. You want a jar big enough to be filled only about 2/3 full so it has room to expand.( tip I use the big sams club pickle jars ) 
3. Make a press over the top of the cabbage by pushing down with a plate (or the lid from a large sour cream container). Top with a small jar of water, a super clean rock or whatever else would make a good weight.  Place the lid on the jar but do not tighten (this is just to keep bugs out). Its a good idea to keep the bottle in the sink or over a dish since there is risk of it overflowing (this is also why we only fill it 2/3 full; it grows!). Let stand at room temp for 4 days or until sour. It will stop fermenting/rising when it’s done.
3. While it sits at room temperature, once each day: poke a few holes through the cabbage with the back of a wooden mixing spoon to release the gas that this process produces and pack the cabbage down tightly. 
4. After 4 days, refrigerate until ready to serve. Can be stored for a few weeks if kept very cold
To serve, drain the amount of cabbage that you would like to eat by firmly squeezing out the excess juice with your hands. enjoy! ♥ 

Grandma Katrina's Russian Cabbage Rolls Golubtsy ♥

So I decided to make something warm and healthy since I was at the horse stable earlier and was freeeezing! 
I needed some comfort food, I fell and bruised my tailbone and messed up my back! Oh well I am used to it after years and years of hunter/jumper competition horsebackriding.
          
 Here is my grandma Katrina's russian recipe for stuffed cabbage rolls, only I made them healthier! ♥ 

Ingredients ♥ 

1 big loose head of white cabbage

1 lb turkey ground 

1 + 1 onions, chopped

1/2 cup rice pre-boiled in 2 cups of water( I omit this for a low carb option)

1 small carrot, finely grated 

2 big ripe tomatoes, diced

3 tbsp olive oil 

Salt

Pepper

Red pepper (optional)

Filtered water, about 1 - 1 1/4 cups 

1 big pot to boil cabbage

1 frying pan 

1 Dutch oven or big shallow pot with lid

Preparation time: about 2 hours

Directions ♥

  To be able to wrap meat in cabbage leaves you have to slightly boil the cabbage to soften it.

In a big pot bring water almost to a boil. Cut (slightly, but do not tear off from the head) a few cabbage leaves near the root and place the whole cabbage head in hot water. It should be covered completely. If your pot is not big enough, you have to carefully turn the cabbage head to soften all sides.  Let it boil on low heat for a few minutes, then using two forks, turn the cabbage head in a handy position to cut off the leaves that are already softened. 

  Set them on a separate dish to cool. Do this with the rest of the leaves while you can: the smallest leaves are too wrinkled to be used for rolls, so the center part of cabbage head is usually discarded.

When the leaves are cool enough to handle, cut off the thickest parts of the leaves with a sharp knife. Tap the leaves dry with paper towel.

Rinse uncooked rice in cold water, drain, and boil for 7 min in 2 cups of water - rinse in cold water and drain, then use in the filling.

Prepare the filling: mix well meat, rice, 1 chopped onion, salt, black pepper, carrot, 1/2 cup water.

To make a roll, place a cabbage leaf on a board, scoop out about 2 tbsp meat, and place as you see on the picture. Then fold and press slightly the leaf at the thickest part nearest to you, then fold the sides, then roll it away from you, and form a  tidy pocket.

Make sure that the final flap is not hanging, but is nicely bent.

Your rolls will be of different  sizes and shades of green , the biggest will hold about 2 tb spoonfuls of meat, the smallest 1 tb spoonful. You can put more meat or less,Heat oil in the pan on medium heat, and caramelize your rolls on both sides, begin with the side where the end flap is, to secure the shape of the roll and prevent unwrapping.

Traditionally the rolls are just boiled, but this is how they were cooked in my family. Caramelized cabbage gives the dish a completely different aroma and taste.

Make a bed of 1 onion and diced tomatoes in a shallow pot with lid, add salt and red pepper, if you wish. Transfer caramelized rolls on the bottom and arrange in an overlapping manner rather tightly, with the final flap facing down.

Fill the pot, sprinkle with salt, add about 1/2 - 2/3 cup boiling water, cover, put on medium to low heat, and simmer for about 1 hour. The cabbage must be completely soft, and the meat will be ready by that time. Try not to overcook cabbage.

Serve them hot with chilled sour cream on top! enjoy! ♥ 

Mamma's Christmas Sweet Bread ♥

Had to repost this as one of my favorite Christmas recipes...My mother used to make this bread every christmas... its like a stollen, or a panettone,  she loved making it and am glad I will have memories helping her in the kitchen. ♥

 Serves: Makes 1 – 1.5 lb loaf.
 

Ingredients ♥

• ½ cup milk (at room temperature)
• 2 eggs (at room temperature)
• ½ – 1 tsp salt (I always use less salt, so I added ½ tsp)
• 3 tbsp liquid honey
• ¼ cup butter cut into 1 inch cubes
• 2½ cups all purpose or bread flour
• 1 tbsp grated orange zest
• 1 tbsp grated lemon zest
• 1 tsp anise seeds (I left these out)
• 1 tbsp bread machine or instant yeast
• ½ cup golden raisins
• ½ cup mixed candied peel (see notes)
• ⅓ cup candied citron (see notes)
• ¼ cup silvered almonds

Instructions ♥

1. Add all of the ingredients EXCEPT for the raisins, peel, citron and almonds, to the bread machine, in the order listed above.
2. If you are baking the bread in the bread machine, select Sweet Cycle.
3. Add the raisins, peel, citron and almonds at the “add ingredient” signal. OR

I did not bake my bread in the bread machine, so I selected the “Dough” cycle. Here’s How To:

1. When the dough cycle is up, remove the dough, and knead in the raisins, cherries and almonds.
2. Then let the dough sit on a floured surface for 15 minutes, covered with a bowl.
3. After this time, split the dough into 3 pieces, and roll it out into long ropes, about 1 inch thick.
4. On a parchment lined baking sheet, braid the ropes, pinching the ends together.
5. Let it rise, in a warm place covered with a tea towel, for 30-45 minutes, or until doubled in size.
6. In the meantime preheat your oven to 350.
7. When the dough has doubled in size, you can add an egg wash to make the crust shiny. Just mix together 1 tbsp water with 1 egg yolk, and brush the surface of the bread.
8. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes – until the bread sounds hollow when you tap the bottom.

Notes

Instead of the candied peel and candied citron, I added a generous ½ cup of chopped glace cherries.

Peppermint Meringue Cookies ♥

Here is a russian cookie named" Beezeh" my mother and grandmother used to make every christmas. It's really just a simple meringue cookie, its so light and airy! enjoy! ♥

Ingredients ♥
   
2 egg whites
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp peppermint extract

Directions ♥

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.

Whip the egg whites until thick and foamy. Mix together the sugar, peppermint extract and cream of tarter, and add the mixture gradually. Continue to whip until the mixture forms stiff peaks (you can turn the bowl upside down and nothing falls out).

Bake for 90 minutes to two hours, or until meringues are firmly set.

Makes about 20 meringues.enjoy!♥

Russian Tea Cakes ♥

Here's a sweet russian treat for christmas, russian tea cakes. This is from grandma Katrina's recipe, but I altered it using Smart balance butter instead for a healthier version
enjoy! ♥

Ingredients ♥

1 cup butter ( softened) Smart balance brand

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

2 1/4 cups sifted flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup finely chopped nuts (grated)

Directions ♥

Mix all ingredients together until blended. Form into 1 inch balls. Bake at 400 degrees for 14 to 17 minutes. While hot, roll in additional confectioners sugar.see above you can also dust them when finished with extra powdered sugar using the old flour sifter!  Cool, roll in sugar again. Makes 5 dozen.enjoy!♥

Grandma Katrina's Black Russian Rye Bread ♥

I remember my grandma making this bread, it was always served with kapusta,(russian cabbage)  or reuben sandwiches, or mainly as a dinner bread.  It will go perfect with my russian sauerkraut and sausage dinner tonight! stay tuned enjoy! ♥

Ingredients ♥ 

4 cups rye flour
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups 100% all-bran cereal
2 tablespoons caraway seeds, crushed
2 teaspoons instant coffee powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1/2 teaspoon fennel seed, crushed
2 (1/4 ounce) packages active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup dark molasses
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate
1/4 cup butter or 1/4 cup margarine
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 cup cold water

Directions ♥ 

Combine flours. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix 2 1/3 cups flour mixture, sugar, salt, cereal, caraway seed, coffee powder, onion powder, fennel seed and undissolved yeast.

In a sauce pan combine 2 1/2 cups water, vinegar, molasses, chocolate and butter.

Heat liquid mixture over low heat until liquids are very warm (120°-130°F), butter and chocolate do not have to be melted.

Gradually add heated liquid mixture to dry ingredients and beat (with electric mixer) for 2 minutes at medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally. Add 1/2 cup flour mixture. Beat at high speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in enough additional flour mixture to make a soft dough. Turn dough on to a lightly floured board. Cover dough and let rest for 15 minutes.

Knead dough until smooth and elastic (about 10-15 minutes), dough may be sticky. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning dough to grease the top. Cover bowl and place in a warm, draft free place to rise until doubled in bulk (about 1 hour).

Punch dough down; turn out onto a lightly floured board. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into a ball, about 5 inches in diameter. Place each ball into the center of a greased 8-inch round cake pan. Cover; let rise in a warm, draft free place until doubled in bulk (about 1 hour). Bake at 350°F for 40-45 minutes, or until done.

Meanwhile, combine cornstarch and cold water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture stats to boil; continue cooking mixture for 1 minute stirring constantly.

As soon as bread is baked, brush cornstarch mixture over top of loaves. Return bread to oven and bake 2-3 minutes longer, or until glaze is set. Remove loaves from pans and cool on wire racks. enjoy! ♥

Russian Kapusta "homemade sauerkraut" ♥

 Made this a couple days back...Here is a traditional russian dish, russian kapusta which is homemade sauerkraut... you can use as a side dish in russian piroshki, or in the meal thats for dinner tonight.... coming up my slow cooker russian sausages and kapusta dish! enjoy! ♥ 

Ingredients ♥ 

2 medium/large cabbages (2 1/2 kg or about 5 1/2 lbs) 
2-3 medium carrots, grated
2 Tbsp sea salt
1 Tbsp sugar

Directions ♥
Remove the outermost leaves of the cabbage, cut it into quarters and shred cabbage finely
In a large silver bowl, place cabbage, carrots, 2 Tbsp sea salt and 1 Tbsp sugar and scrunch and knead it together really well for the juice to be released from the cabbage (4-5 min). You don’t want it to be super juicy, just enough to cover the lettuce when you really pack it down in a jar.
Now mix it together with your hands to squeeze out the juice
 Fill a glass jar with the cabbage mixture and pack it in very tightly so that the juice from the cabbage covers the cabbage completely. You want a jar big enough to be filled only about 2/3 full so it has room to expand.
Make a press over the top of the cabbage by pushing down with a plate (or the lid from a large sour cream container). Top with a small jar of water, a super clean rock or whatever else would make a good weight.  Place the lid on the jar but do not tighten (this is just to keep bugs out). Its a good idea to keep the bottle in the sink or over a dish since there is risk of it overflowing (this is also why we only fill it 2/3 full; it grows!). Let stand at room temp for 4 days or until sour. It will stop fermenting/rising when it’s done.
While it sits at room temperature, once each day: poke a few holes through the cabbage with the back of a wooden mixing spoon to release the gas that this process produces and pack the cabbage down tightly.
After 4 days, refrigerate until ready to serve. Can be stored for a few weeks if kept very cold.
To serve, drain the amount of cabbage that you would like to eat by firmly squeezing out the excess juice with your hands. mix well and serve.enjoy! ♥

Grandma Katrina's Russian Pelmeni ♥

Pelmeni is a national Eastern European (mainly Russian) dish usually made with minced meat filling, wrapped in thin dough (made out of flour, eggs, optional milk or water might be added). For filling, any kind of meat (pork, lamb, beef, or any other) can be used, mixing several kinds is also popular.  My Grandmother Katrina used to make great tasting pelemeni! :)

This is my own, healthier version of Pelmeni. It is healthier primarily because I used all organic ingredients and substituted white flour with 100% Whole Wheat organic flour.enjoy! ♥

                                    
Ingredients ♥

2 Cups of Whole Wheat Organic Flour
1 Organic Egg
1 Cup of Water
Salt to taste (I skipped it, as I do most of the time)
For the Filling I used:
About a pound of Organic Ground Beef or you can use turkey lean ground beef
2 Medium Onions-Grated
3-4 Cloves of Garlic
Salt, Pepper
The whole process took about an hour and I got about 60 Pelmeni, which would be about 8-10 servings.

I always make dough in a bread maker, it does a great job of making dough, it’s very simple and doesn’t take more than a 20 minutes. Bread maker makes the exact consistence of dough we need to cook a good pelmeni. Very elastic, soft but not too sticky. If you don’t have bread maker sift the flour into a table. Make a dimple in the top and crack the egg into that. Add 1 teaspoon salt. Adding the cold water gradually, knead the dough vigorously 15-20 minutes.

For filling add lean ground beef or turkey ground beef, ground or grated onion, salt and pepper. I prefer to add 1 chopped clove of garlic. Combine all ingredients and filling is ready.

Assembling pelmeni.

 Cut the dough into 2 pieces, one piece cover with something (kitchen towel, bowl) or wrap in a plastic bag otherwise the dough will dry up. Roll the dough into a long “snake” one inch in diameter. Cut the dough at one-inch intervals and roll the pieces out into circles using floured rolling pin 1/16 to 1/32 of an inch thick. Place a teaspoon of the meat filling in the center and fold the dough over, pinching edges firmly to completely seal each pelmen into a small packet. There should be no holes in the dough to preserve the flavor and consistency of the meat inside. Than pinch 2 sides of pelmen to get the final shape.

Tip

If dough circles are still available and the filling comes to an end I also boil the circles without filling. They are too good with a sour cream to through them out.

The final step is boiling.

Boil a generous amount of water with 1-2 tsp. salt. Drop enough pelmeni into the boiling water. They are ready to eat when they floating to the top for 3-4 minutes and stay there. Take pelmeni out using skimmer. Add 1-2 teaspoon butter. Serve with a  fat free sour cream. If you did everything right each pelmen should look as shown in the picture, without holes and with a drop of delicious broth inside. Yummy! enjoy! ♥

grandma katrina's cabbage rolls (russian golubtsy) ♥

Here is my grandma's recipe for russian golubtsy, I made it healthier! I also summerfied it with a light brown rice and lentils,  instead of the traditional meat version. Healthy and delicious for a filling summer meal! ♥ 

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus a little for garnish
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 2 cups vegetable stock or water
• 1/2 cup brown rice
• 1/2 cup dried brown lentils
• 1 tsp cumin
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 8 large cabbage or collard greens, see below for preparation
• Feta cheese ( optional)

1. Put the oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat.  When hot, add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until it’s soft, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for another minute, then add the stock and bring to a boil.
2. If you’re using brown rice, add it to the pot along with the lentils. Turn the heat to medium-low so that the mixture bubbles gently, cover, and cook until the lentils and rice are tender and the liquid is mostly absorbed (you don’t want it completely dry), 25 to 30 minutes.  If there is excess liquid, take the cover off, turn the heat to high, and boil it off, being careful not to burn the bottom.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, use a thin-bladed sharp knife to cut a cone-shaped wedge out of the bottom of the cabbage, removing its core.  Pull off 8 to 12 large, untorn leaves and put in a steamer above a couple inches of salted water.  If you are using kale, simply Cover and cook until the leaves are just flexible enough to bend.  Make a V-cut in each leaf to remove the tough central stem.
4. To stuff the cabbage or kale leaves, put a leaf, curved side up, on a counter or cutting board.  Put 1/4 cup or so of  filling in the center of the leaf, near where you cut off the stem.  Fold over the sides, then roll up from the stem end, making a little package.  Don’t roll too tightly — the mixture will expand as it cooks.  Skewer the rolls with a toothpick or two to hold them together or just put them seam side down.
5. Put the cabbage packages in the steamer and cook until the cabbage is tender, 10 to 15 minutes.  Top with a slice of cheese and run under the broiler until bubbly if you like or drizzle with olive oil or melt a pat of butter on top.  Sprinkle with herbs and serve.enjoy! ♥

Russian Easter Ham" Buzhenina" ♥

Even though the russian orthodox easter falls in May this year. here is a healthy russian recipe for easter ham.. enjoy! ♥

Ingredients  ♥

1 (8 -10 lb) fresh ham extra lean

1/3 cup Dijon mustard

1/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed

salt, to taste ( you can use low sodium  salt)
1 cup beer (miller 64 )

1 cup apple cider

3 cloves
2 bay leaves
fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Directions ♥

1. 
   
   Using a sharp knife, score the skin of the ham in a diamond pattern.
2. Mix together the mustard, brown sugar, and salt and spread all over the ham.
3. Place the ham on a rack in a roasting pan, add the remaining ingredients, and roast, basting with the juices, until a meat thermometer reads 170 degrees F or the juices run clear when you insert a skewer into the thickest part of the roast, about 3 hours.
4. Let the roast stand, covered with foil. for 15 minutes.
5. Carve into thin slices and serve with gravy, if desired. enjoy!

russian turnip soup ♥

When I was a child my Grandma Katrina used to read me russian fairytales, one of these was the "Turnip"
 I thought I would make a healthy version of russian turnip soup today! Since I was feeling under the weather with a cold ( all winter no cold, even a got a flu shot and then woke up with the sniffles!) so this should warm me up.. try it, it tastes yummy and so healthy for a cold winter night dinner! ♥

 

Ingredients ♥
5 medium-sized potatoes
1 large carrot
1 red paprika
1 small zucchini
1 white turnip
1 large parsley root
500 g pumpkin
100 g butter
Fresh thyme
1 fresh chili pepper
1 ½ cup croutons
Salt to taste or salt free substitute
Serves 8

 

Chop carrots and parsley root in circles. Chop zucchini, unpeeled, and potatoes into medium-sized pieces. Chop white turnip coarsely. Finally, chop pumpkin into large pieces and halve the paprika.
Chopping the vegetables into pieces of different sizes ensures simultaneous cooking, so you don’t need to boil each of the veggies separately.
Boil the vegetables in an amount of water just enough to cover them, seasoning with salt to your taste. Make sure you remove skin from the paprika as soon as the pepper becomes soft. Just take out the paprika, peel the skin and continue boiling it together with the other vegetables.
When the vegetables have cooked tender (the main indicator of readiness is the potatoes of course), separate vegetables from the liquid they’ve been boiling in, and blend them into a smooth, creamy paste. Stir the butter into the paste. Add the remaining liquid, making the soup as thick as you like.
Serve with warm croutons, fresh thyme and slices of red pepper. and enjoy! ♥

 

 

 

a medley of russian dishes for today's russian christmas ♥

the russian christmas is today! :) here are a medley of russian dishes I put together from my family to yours! :)

Thirteen days after Western Christmas, on January 7th, the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates its Christmas, in accordance with the old Julian calendar. It's a day of both solemn ritual and joyous celebration

here's a collection of my recipes....

grandmas russian borscht  ♥
♥ http://europeancutie.blogspot.com/2011/08/grandma-katrinas-russian-borscht.html

low fat golubtsy ♥

http://europeancutie.blogspot.com/2011/08/russian-golubtsy-low-fat-version.html

low fat russian piroshki ♥

http://europeancutie.blogspot.com/2011/08/low-fat-version-of-russian-piroshki.html

russian beet salad vinegret ♥

http://europeancutie.blogspot.com/2011/08/grandma-katrinas-russian-vinegret-beet.html

  grandpas russian three bean salad with a twist

http://europeancutie.blogspot.com/2011/08/grandpas-russian-three-bean-salad-with.html

low fat russian blini for christmas morning ♥

http://europeancutie.blogspot.com/2011/08/low-fat-russian-blini-pancakes.html

russian pirog   ♥
http://europeancutie.blogspot.com/2011/08/grandma-katrinas-russian-apple-pirog-my.html

russian tea cakes  ♥
http://europeancutie.blogspot.com/2011/11/russian-tea-cakes.html

russian matroyshka cookies ♥

http://europeancutie.blogspot.com/2011/11/russian-matryoshka-cookies.html

russian christmas mint tea  ♥

http://europeancutie.blogspot.com/2011/11/russian-christmas-mint-tea.html

hot white russian christmas drink  ♥

http://europeancutie.blogspot.com/2011/12/hot-white-russian-christmas-drink.html

enjoy! :)
♥