Food and Crafts for All Occasions

Belyashi

Belyashi (singular: belyash) are pan fried yeast dough pies stuffed with raw ground meat and onions seasoned with garlic, black pepper and salt. Despite their seeming simplicity, belyashi are probably the tastiest pies I’ve ever eaten. They have an extremely juicy, very flavorful filling which is surrounded by delicious dough that is crispy outside and light and fluffy inside.  

Pork Shoulder Roast

This pork roast works equally great as an entree right after roasting or the next day cold on sandwiches.  It is very flavorful, super tender and unbelievably juicy.

As a rule, pork shoulder has lots of intramuscular fat (and this is what makes it juicy), but it also contains big knots or strips of connective tissue, which needs to be taken care of or the meat will be too tough to eat. The secret of roasting shoulder is cooking it for a long time at medium low temperature until the connective tissue has broken down and the fat has melted, making the meat succulent and tender.

Paella, My Thoughts on Successful Paella Making

From the vast variety of one-pot meals, paella is one of the world’s most famous and most delicious. It can be colorful and complex, containing all sorts of seafood, meats and vegetables, or simple and unpretentious, consisting only of a few ingredients, as it, most likely, traditionally was.

Cuban Sandwich Style Puff Pastry Pie

My husband is a big fan of sandwiches. Huge. I always laugh how he can turn any meal into a sandwich, even a soup!

Since currently he works from home most of the time, I try to make his lunch – usually a sandwich and salad – more fun. Like, for instance, turning his favorite Cuban sandwich into a Cuban puff pastry pie.

Borsch (or Sweet and Sour Soup, Russian Style)

What is your favorite Russian dish? Questions of the kind “what is your favorite something” have always puzzled me. Are you kidding? In my forties (just like in my thirties, twenties, but unlike in my teens, however) I cannot single out any particular writer, book, band, movie, restaurant or food that I would call my favorite. I do enjoy variety.

Surprisingly though, in Russian cuisine, with all its diversity and complexity, I can name one dish as my all-time number one favorite. Yes, it’s in the title of this post; it is borsch.

Pirozhki

The other day, I decided to treat Ilya and myself to homemade borsch and pirozhki. Interlaced with a couple of shots of ice cold vodka, of course. (Sort of Russian MSG - makes everything tastier and give you a headache if you overdo it).

This whole combination has a great warming up quality and so is best served when it’s chilly outside. Judging by the weather forecasts, this could've been the last borsch and pirozhki this season. Till October, perhaps. Though, occasionally, June in Seattle feels more like "Junuary," as my neighbor Jean calls it, and then this hearty meal can be quite useful.  

Lamb Ragout with Ricotta and Arugula

Here's my take on the popular Italian Bolognese sauce. I make it quite nontraditional so I just refer to it as 'meat ragout' in order not to tease authenticity advocates. (Who knows how pissed I would be if someone served me borsch with sweet potatoes instead of regular ones…)

Instead of beef I take lamb as it has more robust and pronounced flavor that is not easily overpowered by tomatoes. I also add ricotta, which softens the acidity of the sauce and gives it a nice creamy texture, and arugula to balance out the richness with its fresh peppery bite.

Hearty Kale and Bean Soup with Italian Sausage

This simple soup turned out a great hit at our recent Society lunch. I've never heard so many ravings about a soup before, and being a devoted soup lover myself I'm happy to share the recipe.

To my taste, kale and beans are a perfect match. Red kale and fava beans in puff pastry turnovers. Sautéed green kale and garbanzo beans as a side for grilled sardines. This time it is green kale and cannellini beans in a soup with mildly spicy Italian sausage.

Golubtsy or Meat and Rice Stuffed Cabbage rolls

Golubtsy (gah-loob-tsEE) are stuffed cabbage leaves. Large, flat and tender cabbage leaves make a perfect natural wrap. In Russian, they are usually stuffed with ground meat/poultry/fish and grains like rice or millet and then braised in a sauce.  

I’ll give you my favorite recipe of meat and rice golubtsy, cooked in tomato and cream sauce with onions and carrots. This is one of my favorite winter time comfort foods. A bit time and effort consuming – no lying here! – but so tremendously delicious!

Green Egg Smoked Pork Baby Back Ribs

Have you watched So I Married an Axe Murderer? If you have, you should remember how Charlie’s mom got herself a Juice Tiger and announced that she juices everything now. Well, the same happened to us after we'd bought a Green Egg grill. We grill and smoke everything we can put our hands on. For the smoking purposes we also got a special blower/fan called BBQ Guru that lets the Green Egg maintain the same low temperature for a long time. We also bought a plate setter for indirect heat.

Pizza, Part III: the Toppings

Besides a good dough, the success of pizza depends on its toppings. A tasty topping means a tasty pizza, right?  And to make a tasty topping is quite easy – all we need is quality components and a balanced combination of them.

Lazy Dolma: Ground Lamb and Vegetable Stew

This fragrant and hearty lamb and vegetable stew is truly delicious and liked even by those who swears that they wouldn't eat eggplants or lamb to save their lives.

Pork Rillettes

The colder it gets outside, the more time I spend in my kitchen cooking and baking. Nothing warms the house better than the heat from the running oven and stove.

This Wednesday I was heating the house by cooking a batch of rillettes. I’ve been making them every fall and winter for several years now, so it’s become a tradition.

Grilling Season: Rib Eye Steaks in Ancho Chile Powder and Rosemary Marinade

Moving from theory to practice, here is a recipe for grilled rib eyes Ilya and I cooked the other day. I was prepping the steaks and the sides and he was in charge of grilling.

A Perfect Steak: Some Thoughts

The secret of a good steak is quite simple. All you need is a proper cut of a good quality meat, delicious marinade, right cooking technique and a reliable way to figure out when the steak has reached the desired doneness.