Kasha (Buckwheat)

Step 1: Chop mushrooms, fry with favorite seasoning with oil until mushrooms lose moisture

Step 2: Chop onions and carrots, add to mushrooms

Step 2.5: Add BACON (optional)

Step 3: Add frozen peas last, cover until they warm up

Step 4: Separately, boil water (or broth) and add buckwheat (2:1 ratio)

Step 5: Combine Steps 1-4, season to taste (garlic, salt, pepper - spicy is best!)

Step 6: Garnish with fresh-squeezed lemon juice

Butternut Squash Soup

Step 1: Peel, clean and cube 1 medium squash (~1"x1" cubes)

Step 2: Sear squash cubes in oil in a pot for ~2 min

Step 3: Add hot water to cover the cubes

Step 4: Season with fresh grated ginger, garlic, salt, pepper

Step 5: Cook on low for ~30 min, until cubes are soft enough to mush

Step 6: Mush cubes with fork, finish with hand-held mixer

Serve with a dollop of sour cream, garnish with green, squirt of lemon juice

Russian Meat Patties

Step 1: 1lb Ground meat - 80% beef/veal/pork mix (more fat content is better)

Step 2: Combine meat with 1 egg, salt, pepper, chopped parsley/dill/cilantro, garlic and mix by hand. Thoroughly mixing with hands makes patties fluffier later

Step 3: Soak ~1 cup bread crumbs in some milk and add to mixture from step (2). Add a bit of water. 

Step 4: Heat up oil on pan, hand-make small patties, and fry until both sides are brown

 Check thickest patty for readiness by cutting it in half

Step 5: Serve with mashed potatoes and fresh vegetables (cucumbers or tomatoes)

Alternative serving suggestions - brussel sprouts!

Roasted Fall Vegetables

Easiest thing in the world:

1 eggplant, sliced into ~1''x1'' pieces (with skin)

3 ripe tomatoes

2 peppers (I used one red, one orange)

oil

spices (cumin, garlic, cayenne pepper, salt)

Put all ingredients on pan with sides, or into a pot and stick in preheated oven (375F), uncovered.

Leave in for ~1hr

Take out, grate cheese on vegetables

Put back in oven for cheese to melt

Cool uncovered overnight

Enjoy alone, with bread, over rice/cous-cous/pasta!

Beef and Vegetables

Step 1: Fry pieces of beef chuck (for stew, has more fat) in oil until sides are brown

Step 2: Add chopped onions and carrots to same pan

Step 3: Add remaining ingredients: chopped peppers, jalapeños, carrots, celery, and canned (or fresh) diced tomatoes. If need more liquid, add water or beef/veggie broth. Bring to boil.

Step 4: Season to taste, garnish with fresh greens (dill/parsley/cilantro)

Step 5: Cover and simmer for 40min-1hr, or until meat is of desired texture.   

Enjoy alone or over mashed potatoes, rice, pasta, cous-cous, buckwheat, etc. 

Mushroom Soup

Step 1: Wash, chop and fry up any kind of mushrooms in olive oil

Step 2: Add chopped onions and carrots to the mix

Step 3: Peel and chop 1 large potato

Step 4: Rinse ~1/2 cups of barley

Step 5: Bring ~8 cups of water to boil. Add celery, carrot and bay leaf to water for flavor.

Step 6: Add all ingredients to boiling water and cook until potatoes and barley are soft. 

Step 7: Add seasonings to taste - salt, pepper, garlic.

Garnish with fresh dill. Enjoy with dollop of sour cream.

Stuffed Peppers

Green peppers are meatier and don't fall apart as much

Get ones similar in size

Cut off the tops and scoop out the seeds

Save tops as covers

Ground beef/pork/veal (meatloaf mix) 

Fry meat with chopped onions, carrots, jalapeños, parsley

Season with salt, pepper, garlic, cumin to taste

(Don't have to fully cook meat)

Simultaneously, rinse white rice with water a few times, and half-cook it

Mix rice in with meat and stuff the peppers (picture doesn't show rice)

Sauce contains 1 can of diced tomatoes and few spoonfuls of sour cream 

Add water to bring total volume to cover halfway up the peppers

Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for ~40 min

Peppers should be tender and edible

ALTERNATIVE FLAVOR RECIPE: Tex-Mex Stuffed Peppers
Use 1lb of each - spicy Italian sausage and 80% ground beef
6 green peppers
Add turmeric to half-cooked rice (1/2 cup, 1:1 ratio with water or stock)
Fry onions, garlic, jalapenos, and meat and combine with rice (undercook meat)
Season everything with oregano, chili powder and salt
Throw in some black beans (1/2 can) and frozen corn
Arrange peppers in a pot and stuff them
Add verde sauce (1-2cans), diced tomatoes (1 can), several spoonfulls of sourcream and chicken stock for liquid and cook covered for 30-40 min.
Garnish with fresh cilantro

Easy dinner ideas

Israeli Salad

Ingredients: cucumbers, tomatoes, red peppers, parsley/cilantro, red onions, feta cheese, garlic

Dressing: lemon juice and vinegar

Spices: cumin, black pepper

 

Oatmeal

Ingredients: steel cut oats, dried cranberries/apricots, cheese and nuts

Russian Cookie Pie

Russian Cookie Pie

Dough

3 egg yolks (keep egg whites in the fridge for filling) 

1.5 sticks of butter (150g)

<1 cup sugar

>2 cups flour

3 tbsp sour cream

1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp freshly ground clove/allspice mix
fresh zest from 1/2 of an orange

Combine in the order of the listed ingredients until have doughy homogenous mix

Should be able to finish by kneading the dough with hands

Divide dough in 3 even sections, wrap in Saran wrap and place in freezer for ~1hr

Meanwhile... work on the filling 

Filling

3 egg whites (make sure they're cold and eggs are fresh)

1 cup sugar

3 TBS jam/preserves (4-5 heaping tsp of orange marmalade)

Walnuts

1.5 tsp freshly ground clove/allspice mix

1 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice

1 tsp fresh orange zest

Whisk (or use mixer) egg whites until frothy

Start adding sugar (not all at once)

Mixture should become white and thick

Add jam/preserves (tart flavor works best)

Add crushed walnuts, dried berries (optional)

Take dough out of the freezer (should be hard enough to grate

Grate 2/3 onto a greased pan to create a layer

Grate 1/3 on top of the filling to cover

Add thin layer of remaining egg whites on top of the dough
Bake at 350F for ~30-45min (reduce temp to 325F if top layer is meringue)

Should see the edges and top become golden brown

Use wooden toothpick to test readiness

Cut up squares while still hot (otherwise it crumbles)

  

 Boom.

Homemade Hummus

I went home for lunch today and decided to whip up a batch of hummus. Been meaning to do it for a while and today was the day. 

Ingredients:

1 can of chick peas, drained (15.5oz)

2 TBS of tahini paste

1 TS garlic, chopped

1 lemon, squeezed

roasted red peppers (to taste)

salt, pepper, cumin, basil to taste

BLENDER!

Voila! 

Fall Food Fest (Russian-style)

I needed a good excuse to try out some new recipes. Here's what happened:

Pierogies (potato and onion)

Make potato and onion filling - boil potatoes like for mashed. Fry onions separately. Mix with mashed potatoes (butter, milk, salt, black and cayenne pepper, cumin)

Pre-made dough circles - put filling in, dab egg white on edges so the dough stays closed, and pinch it together using the red form.

Boil or fry (or both). Serve with sour cream.

Every meal needs a complimentary beverage. Eastern Europe has Compote - a mixture of fruits boiled and dressed in water. I stuck with dried fruit only in 8 cups of water.

- prunes

apricots

- berry mix

- cranberries

- dates (few, with pits)

- strawberries

I added all ingredients to water and brought it to a boil. Then simmered uncovered for ~20-30min. Added lemon juice, sugar and cinnamon to taste. Let cool. Transfered to a carafe (filtered). I added a couple of engorged apricots to the final vessel for looks.