Dishes of Russian Cuisine

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Russian cuisine is well-known all over the world, and certain dishes of Russian cuisine are considered delicatessen far outside the country. In the vast territory of Russia different states with their culture, traditions and way of life appeared and crumbled during thousands of years. Being a successor to many culinary traditions, some of which are irretrievably lost, Russian cookery has incorporated and creatively processed a lot of national recipes of other peoples, mostly assimilated with the Russian people.
Any foreigner can straight off list the dishes and drinks he thinks belong to Russian national cuisine: caviar, vinaigrette, vodka… We should mention that this remarkable drink appeared in Russia in the 14th century. It came to supersede such drinks as sbiten and medovukha, and with time replaced them. Most salads were borrowed from European cuisine. Vinaigrette is not an exception. Caviar and pies are undoubtedly primordially Russian dishes. But there are many other tasty and healthy dishes.

Dumplings With Liver

200g beef liver
2.5 tbsp vegetable oil
3.5 tbsp butter
2 carrots
1 egg
1 bunch spring onions
2.5 cups flour
salt and ground black pepper to taste
bay leaf, water

Rinse, slice the liver, and fry it in vegetable oil, then add grated carrots, pepper, salt and continue frying 3-4 minutes more. Make dense dough from flour, eggs and water. Roll it out flat, cut out circles and put carrots fried with liver on each. Pinch the dumplings and boil them 8-10 minutes in salted water with bay leaf. Serve the prepared dish sprinkled with melted butter and fresh herbs.

Fish In Sour Cream

600g fish
8 potatoes
1 cup sour cream
salt, pepper
1 tsp powdered curry
coriander and fresh parsley, dill and celery
2 cucumbers
1 bunch garden radish

Clean, gut, rinse the fish, and cut it into portion pieces. Salt, rub with spices and combine with sour cream and finely chopped fresh herbs. Put in the fridge for 30 minutes. Peel potatoes, cut them into quarters, salt and rub with curry. Bake potatoes with fish on the charcoal grill. Serve sprinkled with fresh herbs, slices of cucumbers and garden radish.

Roasted Turnip

3-4 medium-sized turnips
1 onion
1/2 cup sour cream
fresh herbs
salt, pepper to taste

Peel the turnip, put it on a frying pan, add a half-cup of water, and roast in the oven until soft. Slice the chilled turnip finely, add finely chopped onions, salt, pepper, sprinkle with sour cream and fresh dill or parsley

Rybnik With Mushrooms

7-10 dry mushrooms
2.5kg hake fillet
2-3 onions
1 carrot
200-300g stale wheaten bread
100g margarine
3 hard-boiled eggs
salt, pepper to taste

Boil the mushrooms and chill them on the colander. Then julienne them and slightly fry in margarine. Cut onions and carrots finely, fry and combine with mushrooms. Add two chopped eggs to the chilled mass. Grind hake fillet twice, combine with bread soaked in mushroom broth, chopped egg, salt and pepper. Stir. Put half the fish mass on the buttered baking tray, put the mushroom filling on it and cover with the second layer of fish. Bake in the pre-heated oven. Serve the prepared dish with mushroom sauce. This dish is usually cooked on holidays when you expect guests. Therefore, the recipe is for 10-12 people. Alternatively, fish can be replaced with meat, potatoes or other vegetables. The amount of layers can vary, but the mushrooms are always inside.

Old Russian Meat

1kg meat (pork or beef)
2 onions
2 carrots
1 cup red dry wine
1 cup sour cream
sliced pork bacon
salt and pepper to taste

Mallet the meat thoroughly. Put sliced onions, bacon, carrots, spices (your favourite), bay leaf in the clay pot. Add meat, salt, pour wine, sour cream, put bacon slices atop. Then cover the top of the pot with dough and put it in the heated oven. As soon as the steam starts going out (through the dough), turn down the heat. Stew 2-3 hours. Do not eat the dough. Before serving, pour in a little vinegar, bring to boil, pour in sauce.

Stuffed Pig

1 gutted pig
1kg friable buckwheat porridge
300g champignons
200g onions
100g vegetable oil
Salt

Rinse mushrooms thoroughly, cut finely and fry in oil. Fry sliced onions in oil separately from the mushrooms. Stir in mushrooms and onions in boiled friable buckwheat porridge, add salt to taste. Rinse the pig thoroughly, and rub its inside with salt. Fill it with porridge through a cut in the belly, but not too dense. Saw up the cut, put it on a baking tray, place the legs under the body. Stuff the ears and snout with dough or foil. Put in the oven preheated to 190-200 C. Roast until golden crust appears. Regularly pour it over with appearing fat. Serve decorated with fresh herbs, on a big dish with pickled vegetables and fruit.

Mushroom Babka

1kg mushrooms
2 onions
50g butter
1 cup breadcrumbs
8 eggs
1 cup sour cream
salt, pepper to taste

Stew onions and mushrooms as described in the previous recipe. Rub egg yolks with salt, combine with sour cream and pour in the dish where mushrooms and onions are being stewed. Then cautiously stir in whipped egg whites with breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. Put the prepared mass into buttered form sprinkled with breadcrumbs, level the surface, cover it with sour cream, and bake in the oven. Take the baked babka out of the form, put on a dish with sliced raw vegetables and fresh herbs around.

Fish On Bread

1kg fish fillet
5-6 fresh cep mushrooms
1 cup dry white wine
1 lemon
10 slices wheaten bread
50g butter
potatoes for garnish
fresh parsley or dill
salt to taste

Boil the fish as described in the previous recipe, but with mushrooms. Shape bread slices as portioned fish and fry them in butter. Put a piece of fish and mushroom slices on each toast, and pour with the fish sauce. Decorate with lemon and fresh herbs. Put boiled potatoes around. Without potatoes, this dish can be served as a hot starter.

Kolivo

2 cups fine-ground barley
3L water
1 cup milk
0.75-1 cup poppy seeds
2-3 tbsp honey
2 tbsp cranberry or currant jam

Rinse fine-ground barley and boil it in water at medium heat skimming. As soon as the barley starts letting out mucilage, drain excessive water, put the porridge in another dish, add milk and cook until the barley is soft and dense, stirring slowly all the time. Prepare poppy seeds: pour boiling water over them, let them steam up, drain the water in 5 minutes, rinse the poppy seeds, pour in boiling water again and drain as soon as fat droplets start to appear on the water surface. Rub the steamed poppy seeds in a mortar (porcelain), adding a half teaspoon of boiled water to each tablespoon of poppy seeds. Combine the poppy seeds with the thickened, softened barley, add honey, keep 5-7 minutes at low heat, stirring slowly all the time, take from the heat, add with jam.

Vatrushki With Cottage Cheese

500g low-fat cottage cheese
1 tbsp sour cream
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp sugar
300g premium flour
1/2 packets baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
80g butter
1 egg
1/8L sour cream
yolk – for brushing

Press cottage cheese through a sieve, add sour cream, eggs, salt, sugar, and put in the fridge for 45 minutes. Knead pastry from the flour combined with baking powder and salt, butter, eggs and sour cream. Roll it into a ball, wrap in parchment, and also put in the fridge for 45 minutes. Heat the oven to 200 C. Roll out the pastry into a layer 3mm thick and cut out an equal number of circles 12cm and 9cm in diameter. Put 2 tablespoons of the cottage cheese filling in the middle of each big circle and cover it with a smaller circle. Brush the edges of the bottom pastry with yolk and bend them upwards as is shown in the photo. Brush the tops of vatrushki with yolk too and bake them 20 minutes on the second lowest level of the oven.

Bon appetite!