(no subject)

[wolfie-18.livejournal.com]

Well, thanks to superslayer, I made blini today (although I didn't have sour cream... so I just used strawberry preserves and honey), although they really, really resembled crêpes... are they supposed to resemble crepes that much? I could even flip them and everything (as in, just using the pan and throwing it in the air).

Sooo... I was wondering if anyone here can give me a kick-ass recipe for Stroganoff. I feel like doing something Russian-originated. Thanks!

Comments

Blini trend

[happy-accidents.livejournal.com]

Thanks to superslayer, I made blini, too! Actually, it didn't come out too well at first.
First attempt: It looked like kasha.


Second attempt: It looked like pirogi.


Then, at last.. Well, it didn't turn out as a plate of blini, but, as I was later told: OLADUSHKI!


They were delicious though.

[logodaedaly.livejournal.com]

Yes, they should be almost exactly like crepes, in my experience.

It's the sour cream that makes them bliny. :-)

[mooose.livejournal.com]

omg those are such apt descriptions!

got a recipe for borsch?

[nadyezhda.livejournal.com]

From "A Taste of Russia" by Darra Goldstein (you really need to buy this cookbook)
Stroganoff, p 73
** the better the cut of meat, the better the dish!

1 1/2 lb tenderloin of beef, trimmed and cut into strips 2 inches long and 1/2 inch thick
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, sliced paper thin
salt, freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 cup rich beef bouillion (boil down 2 cups of basic bouillion to concentrate it, or else use commercial condensed broth)
1/4 cup sour cream

Cut beef into strips; set aside.

In a heavy frying pan melt the two tablespoons of butter and saute the onion until soft and just barely golden. Add the meat all at once and cook over high heat for just a few minutes, until it is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside, but keep warm.

In a small saucepan melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Mix together the flour and dry mustard and whisk into the butter. Cook for a minute, then gradually add the bouillion, stirring constantly until a fairly thick sauce has been formed. Stir in sour cream, mixing well. Pour sauce over the meat, check for seasoning and heat through, but do not boil.

Spoon meat and sauce onto a large platter (not a bowl) and garnish with parsley. Serve with straw potatoes mounded decoratively on top of the meat. Yield: 4-6 servings.

Mushrooms may be added although they are not strictly authentic.

A few notes: forming the roux (when you mix the flour and the butter) can be a bit tricky. You won't ruin the dish if the sauce isn't as thick as it should be, but if you're having trouble thickening the dish (it's really amazing when it works, and it's not all that hard once you've done it right) think about mixing a little corn starch and water to thicken the sauce.

I also serve this over fried potatoes (slice and pile potatoes in a pan with 2-4 tablespoons of oil. Add salt to taste. Stir frequently, but KEEP COVERED: the moisture in the potatoes is what cooks them in the oil. Add water if you need to but this takes about 20 min. Add dill, etc. to taste.)

This is a fabulous recipe. I make it frequently. My friends think I'm an amazing cook. (I just have good recipes to work from...)

[wolfie-18.livejournal.com]

Borsch, although always mentioned in my Russian books and whatnot, never struck me as authentically Russian. To me it's more of a German dish. Or something Germanic.

Recipe? Something tells me it's along the line of "Quart of water, add beets, boil, serve." :p

Щи on the other hand, more Russian. Instead of beets, add cabbage.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

[wolfie-18.livejournal.com]

Hrm... my Russian teacher had told me when Stroganoff had made it for that sickly person he was in charge of, he had also had a baking process where after he cooked the meat on the stove, he put it in the oven and made the beef so soft as to dissolve in one's mouth instantly. So goes the tale.

And mushrooms are not authentic!? Hrm... disappointment.

[burrru.livejournal.com]

Гурьевская каша is authentic and it's a real challenge...

[oryx_and_crake]

WHAT?!!!!! Borshch, Germanic??? Just never, NEVER EVER say this to anyone again and praise your good luck that no one else heard you... :-))))

[oryx_and_crake]

::Recipe? Something tells me it's along the line of "Quart of water, add beets, boil, serve."

He who told you that deserves to be boiled and served himself. This "recipe" makes swines' grubble, not borshch. If you want a proper recipe, I could give you one, but only if you say pretty please :-)

[mooose.livejournal.com]

my god, something tells me you've never had a decent борщ in your life!
unless of course you don't particularly like beets... (which are supposed to good for the liver and alcohol digestion)

and so not germanic...

on a side note, you could try making your own квас...

As my russian prof in moscow used to say:
Щи и каша, пища наша.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Germanic dish... May God save you. Amen :))))

[onodera.livejournal.com]

Well, you must've cooked blinchiki (i.e. without using any yeast). They are crêpes.
Blini are cooked using yeast (so one must wait for the dough to rise) and are somewhat porous and a tiny-tiny bit sour.

[wolfie-18.livejournal.com]

*hangs head down in shame*

[nadyezhda.livejournal.com]

Well, it HAS been two hundred years or so since the recipe was concocted, and we've had nice developments in cooking techniques (such as gas stoves, etc.) so I hope you can be a little forgiving. By all means, if you want to fiddle with the recipe, go ahead. ;)

That said, many of the dishes have french influence (the mustard base in particular) and mushrooms were peasant food...

[idealforcolors.livejournal.com]

Either I've never had a decent borshch in my life, or I don't like beets :) Do you have a recipe you'd recommend?

[mooose.livejournal.com]

well oryx_and_crake was offering...

i was thinking of the one my friend in moscow made for me a couple of times... sigh. he said he couldn't give me his recipe... would have to kill blah blah blah

i find it's not so much about the beets, but rather all the ingredients. in particuliar I remember the chicken stock, and of course parsley and dill

and i tried it with сметаной, but my friend suggested i eat it with mayo instead (he prefered mayo). ooooohhh heaven...

[wolfie-18.livejournal.com]

Pretty please!

[suku-vse.livejournal.com]

Well, I would say don't tell it to Ukranians. If it's not Russian specialty, it is the very authentic Ukranian specialty you can imagine.

Borsch that is sold in American supermarkets, the one in glass jars has nothing to do with real borsch. You can make an experiment: serve it to a Russian and ask what it is. He'll never say bortsch.

Real borsch is a very complicated dish and it has a whole bunch of ingridients (potatoes, carrots, beets and cabbage is a must.) Also, it's a multi-step cooking: you should first kind of fry beets, carrots and some other ingridients. True borsch is the one with beef.) BTW, I don't know how to do real borsch, with meat: it's too difficult. Though I do cook sometimes a creepy and strange vegetarian version of it.

Try to make сырники - it's simple and tasty.

:-)

[oryx_and_crake]

Here's one, my very own; it is in Russian; if you have any problems translating into English, please give me a shout. This recipe is pretty basic - every cook has its own recipe of borshch, I guess.

Если в борще участвуют сушёные белые грибы, их надо сварить заранее до мягкости. Вытащить грибы из бульона, мелко порезать. Бульон почти весь (кроме осадка на дне) аккуратно слить в другую кастрюлю, в которой и будет вариться борщ. (Это для того, чтобы избавиться от песка, который из сушёных грибов довольно трудно вымыть.)

Если в борще участвует фасоль или бобы, их можно начать варить вместе с грибами, хотя если мне хочется положить в борщ бобы, я беру уже варёные из банки. Тогда они кладутся в самом конце, где-то сразу после картошки.

Борщ можно варить и на мясном бульоне, но я это редко делаю. В этом случае бульон также надо сварить заранее (и процедить).

Также заранее следует сварить свёклу. Сварив, обдать холодной водой, очистить и натереть на крупной тёрке.
(Как вариант, можно очистить сырую свёклу, обжарить её соломкой на растительном масле, и, залив томатной пастой, разведённой водой до жидкого состояния, некоторое время тушить. Но так я тоже делаю очень редко.)

После этого почистить картошку, нарезать кубиками. К этому времени уже должна была закипеть вода в основной кастрюле - с грибным бульоном и брошенными обратно грибами. Кладём туда соль и картошку. Где-то одновременно с этим следует зажарить на растительном масле (как вариант - на сале, на топлёном масле, но ни в коем случае не на сливочном, потому что в нём при жарке коагулируют и горят белки молочной сыворотки, превращаясь в хлопья бурой гадости) тёртую на крупной тёрке морковь и (отдельно) мелко нарезанный репчатый лук до золотистого цвета. После этого сразу начинаем шинковать капусту. Когда картошка будет готова (не раньше!), вывалить в кастрюлю свеклу в томате, морковь и лук. Если используется не свекольная заправка, а варёная тёртая на тёрке свёкла, то выложить в кастрюлю морковь, лук и томатную пасту, и только после томата – свёклу (иначе потеряет цвет). Можно взять свежие помидоры (или консервированные кусочками), но томат-пасту всё равно лучше добавить. После этого высыпаем в кастрюлю нашинкованную капусту и всё остальное, что есть – по фантазии и сезону – брокколи (наломать кусочками), стручки сахарного горошка и др. Ещё в этот момент или несколько раньше можно добавить сушёную зелень (свежей лучше посыпать борщ прямо в тарелке). После этого бросаем лавровый лист и перец горошком (или свежесмолотый), засекаем четыре минуты, бросаем пару зубков чеснока, раздавленного в чеснокодавилке, досаливаем по вкусу, ждём ещё полторы минуты и выключаем газ. (Если плита электрическая, как у меня, можно выключить сразу после закладки чеснока, потому что электрическая горелка остывает не сразу, и минуты полторы ваш борщ еще покипит, что и требуется.)

Есть можно сразу, но на следующий день – вкуснее. При подаче на стол добавить сметану.

[oryx_and_crake]

Mayo?! yuck...

[irkin.livejournal.com]

I would argue with that! :)
For example, bliny with caviar are very traditional.

[irkin.livejournal.com]

Not necessary. I don't put yeast to bliny.

[logodaedaly.livejournal.com]

That's true—caviar works, too. :-)

[logodaedaly.livejournal.com]

In general, щи are a northern dish and борщ is a southern dish.

[wolfie-18.livejournal.com]

Although right after my Russian lesson today I finally learned words such as лук, марковь, солённый огурец, овощи and сварить, жарить, нарезать, I'm afraid I'm still going to need a translation.

Although I did understand that last sentence!

[oryx_and_crake]

OK, I'll try.

Optional ingredients:

If you use dried porcini mushrooms, soak them and boil for a while, then get out of water and chop; keep the water for future broth, but be careful, there might be some sand left on the bottom of the pan - leave it out.

If you use beans, boil them beforehand, until almost ready, or use canned beans (any variety will do.

You can use meat broth as a base of borshch, instead of water, if you want to. But no soup cubes, God forbid.

Mandatory ingredients: cabbage, beet, potato, garlic, tomato paste, fresh/canned tomatoes, bay leaf, carrot, onion, salt, pepper, veg. oil.

Wash beets, boil unpeeled until ready (soft when you stick a knife in it), peel, grate.
OR
Wash beets, peel, cut into strips, fry in some veg. oil (or with bacon), add tomato (paste or canned tomatoes) and stew for a while.

Put the water (broth, mushroom broth) into a pan and bring to boil. Meanwhile, peel and dice the potatoes (into cubes about 1 cm). When the water is boiling, put some salt and potatoes into it. Peel and grate carrots, fry with some veg. oil until golden, put aside. Peel and mince onion, fry with some veg. oil until golden, put aside.

When the potatoes are done (soft), add tomato paste, carrot, onion, beets, thinly sliced cabbage, dried parsley, bay leaf and pepper. Other fresh vegs according to season (sweet peas, broccoli and such). Bring to boil and wait for 4 minutes. Add minced garlic and take off stove. Close lid and let stand for a few minutes. Eat with sour cream. It is even better on the next day.

Quantities: flexible, but average estimate is one medium potato, about 100 g of cabbage, 100 g of beets per portion, 1 onion and 1 carrot per 3-4 portions, one small can of tomato paste for the whole borshch.

[oryx_and_crake]

oops - add mushrooms in the very beginning, if you use them.