(no subject)

[superslayer18.livejournal.com]

This post serves two purposes: my condolences and a request

I have been trying to keep up with everything that is going on in Russia, and I'm very sorry for all of your losses and your current situation. I wish more than anyone that we could all live in a peaceful world, and it's saddest when the people caught in the crossfire are innocent people, especially children. What these people have done is disgusting and barbaric, and nothing they could want could possibly be more important than the lives of those 150+ children killed simply for going to school. I wish that there was more that I could do, but I don't really think I can do any more than to say that I care.

I also have a request, though I feel incredibly selfish for asking this given what I'm sure a lot of you are going through right now. I'm currently in an International Relations class and we have a culture project due next week for a country of our choosing (of course I badgered people until I got Eastern Europe as my region and was able to chose Russia as my country ^_^). I thought it might be fun to bake or bring in a Russian dessert to share with the class, but can't really find too many good recipes online (either because they are way too advanced for a n00b like me when it comes to cooking, or because I wouldn't be able to get all the materials easily, or because it just isn't something that can be taken to school and distributed to 30-some-odd teens.)

Can someone please either 1) give me the recipe to a simple, practical (can take to school, give to 30 kids, easy to make, easy to get the materials for, etc.) for a good Russian dessert or

2) Tell me about one of them (I honestly don't even know what any of them are) so that I can just go out and buy them lol.

Thank you, and again, I'm very sorry...

Comments

[xxxaxa.livejournal.com]

What about bliny (блины)? This is, as far as I know, a very russian dish. I don't have a recipe, but I'll gladly find one for you if you're interested in that.
Shortly, bliny, have something in common with pancakes, but they are much much thinner, about 1-2mm. They can be eaten with different stuffing, such as meet, cabbage, carrot, fruits, kaviar, everything, actually... On the other hand, they can simply be spread with butter and honey or some jelly... They are quite simple to make :)

Some images to feel the touch :)

[mooze.livejournal.com]

It's pretty straightforward. Get some milk, say, a glass and a half. Add a dash of baking soda. Add a couple of teaspoons of sugar to the milk. Constantly stirring with a mixer or a batter, add flour to get a runny batter with a consistency of, mmm, say, runny yoghurt. In fact, the consistency is tested during the actual baking. Also, add an eggyolk to the mixture. After that, add a little bit, a couple or three, tablespoons of sunflower oil or any other odorless tasteless oil. All of that needs to be mixed together, obviously.

Baking. Get a round frying pan, grease it with the same oil or with butter a little bit. Heat it up well. To test, put a drop of bliny batter onto the pan and see if it gets fried almost instantly. Pour some of the batter (mix it again before baking to spread the oil in the batter) onto the frying pan with a very thin layer of batter (actually, rotate the pan around to spread the batter evenly) and fry until you can easily detatch the blin from the pan, then flip it over and wait for 20-30 seconds until the other side is done too.

Typically, the first one wouldn't unstick from the pan and it is normally thrown away (первый блин комом, which is roughly translated as the first blin is always wasted). The cook tests whether there is enough flour (it's best to not overdo with the flour at the beginning and add more later as required) or whether the pan is hot enough. You should experiment a little with this process and eventually you'll figure it out. Good luck!