What are you thinking about cooking at your next big dinner party? Why not try something different and exciting from an alternative culture. International dishes are a great way to show off your talents in the kitchen so today we are going to share with you some Russian recipes that anyone can master.
Russian Blini - Hot Pancakes
The French might have invented the crepe but it does not mean other countries don't have their own version they think is better. Russia is no different and they have the Blini:
Ingredients:
½ cup plain flour (sifted)
2 eggs
2 ½ cups of milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1/3 teaspoon of baking soda (optional if you want a lighter mixture)
Steps:
Start by whisking the eggs in a bowl with the sugar and salt. Add the flower to the mixture and then slowly stir in the milk to avoid lumps. Mix by hand or with a food processor to a smooth consistency. Your batter should be fairly runny at this stage.
If you are using baking soda in your recipe, add it now to make the mixutre more light (i.e. it adds air to the batter). For the best result, cover your mixing bowl and leave your batter in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest. Take the batter out of fridge when you are ready to cook. If the mixture is too thick, add water or milk. If your batter is runny, add a small amount of flour. What you want is a pancake batter that pours like fresh cream.
Start cooking the pancakes by warming a non-stick pan over a medium heat. Coat the pan with a light cooking oil or butter (though butter does give a better tasting pancake, it just depends on how fattening you want them to be). Pour a couple of table spoons of the mixture onto the pan and spreak the mixture out evenly into small pancakes. Make it as thin as you can for traditional Blini. When bubbles appear in the center or it starts to look dry, flip it over to cook the other side.
Move the cook Blini to a plate and butter one side and stack them. Serve them by putting jam in the center and folding them. Fold them a second time to make a neat triangle. They are best enjoyed with hot black tea with lemon.
Russian Salads
If you want to prepare a Russian salad, then forget about tossed lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber. Russia is a cold country where energy packed root vegetables such as potato fill the dinner plate. This is a country where an avocado or banana costs more than a bottle of vodka because all tropical fruits have to be imported.
This gives us a traditional Russian salad - a salad with some bite. A typical salad is the Dressed Herring Under Fur Salad.
Ingredients:
2 salted herring
5 potatoes
4 carrots
4 beets
5 eggs
1 lb mayonnaise
Steps:
Bring a large pot of unsalted to the boil and add the potatoes, carrots and beets. Boil until just soft and then drain.
Skin and debone the herring. Cut the fish into small bite size pieces. Take your serving platter and layer the herring on the bottom. Cover with a thin layer of mayonnaise.
Take the potatoes and mash. Spread the potato as the next layer and cover with a thin layer of moyonaise. Repeat the process for the beets and 3 of the eggs. Finish the with slices of the 2 remaining eggs. Cover the bowl and put in the fridge for an hour before serving.
==>> Michael Small: "Marketing is a challenge. It is an interesting mix of selling, education and entertainment. I have been learning this fine art for 15 years and continue to learn about this profession every day. My current client project is in the dating niche." Would you like to know more about Russia? If you want to check out St Petersberg we have some great Russian travel videos. Or why not take a tour through the beautiful Russian countryside?
Tags:
carrots, cold salads, cucumber, dressed herring, hot pancakes, international dishes, pancakes, potatoes, russian blini, russian recipes, salads, salted herring, st petersberg, tomatoes, tossed lettuce
Posted at: 08:54 PM | Add Comment
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