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What are you planning to cook at your next family get together? Why not step outside your comfort zone and attempt something totally new and exciting. International cuisine is great way to show off your cooking talents and today we are going to talk about some Russian dishes that anyone can prepare. Blini - Traditional Russian 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: To make Blini you will need: 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) What To Do: Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk with the sugar and salt. Add the flower to the mixture and then slowly stir in the milk to avoid lumps. Mix well or blend in a food processor. You should have a thin batter 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). You can also stand the batter in the fridge for half an hour to let it 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. Heat a pan over medium heat and lightly coat the cooking surface with oil or butter. Pour about 2 tablespoons of the batter (or more if you want) onto the pan and spread the batter out evenly. Make it as thin as you can for traditional Blini. Each side should only take about a minute. When bubbles appear in the mixture or the centre of the uncooked side is dry, flip it over to finish it off. Take your finished blini, butter one side and stack them on a warm plate while you cook the rest of the batch. Eat them as they are or as a real treat, put jam into the centre and fold them in half. Fold them a second time to make a neat triangle. They are best enjoyed as an afternoon treat on a cold winter's day with a nice cup of tea. The tea should be black, no sugar and served with lemon. You can sweeten the tea with honey, but there will be plenty of sweetness in the blini. Russian Salads If you are use to salads of tossed lettuce, fresh vine ripened tomatoes and a light vinaigrette, then you are in for a bit of a shock with Russian salads. Russia is a cold country, so hardy root vegetables tend to feature on the dinner table that delicate spring salads. This is gives us the Russian salad – a salad with some grunt. A typical salad is the Dressed Herring Under Fur Salad. To make this salad you will need: 2 herring (salted) 5 potatoes 4 carrots 4 beets 5 eggs 1 lb mayonnaise What To Do: Bring a large pot of water to the boil and add the vegetables. 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 pototoes and mash them. Do no add butter or milk to the mash. Spread the potato as the second layer and cover with mayonaise. 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. 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?
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international cooking, russian food,
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