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.  

Nectarine and Blueberry Crisp with Almonds and Rolled Oats

Here’s one more delicious dessert to make with nectarines and blueberries. Hurry up while the nectarine season still lasts! It’s almost almost over!

My nectarine crisp is not super sweet and has a nice crunch that comes from rolled oats and almonds. You can whip it up in 5 minutes and cook in 20, which makes it a perfect weekday dessert. Put it in the oven before you sit to have dinner - with cooking and cooling it will be ready right about you’ve finished your meal.

Puff Pastry Tarts with Goat Cheese, Blueberries and Nectarines

Here’s another delicious recipe for the nectarine and blueberry combination. And almost as easy to make as the clafoutis if you use a store bought puff pastry.

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.

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.  

Rich and Airy Chocolate Mousse

This mousse is everybody's favorite. It's so light and fluffy and creamy and velvety and melting in your mouth and so deliciously chocolaty, it will make you go 'wow' and squint your eyes until the last bite.

Sharlotka, an Easiest Ever Apple Pie

 

This simple apple pie was a great hit in Russia in late 80s and 90s. It take minutes to put together and about an hour to bake, so it would be a first choice when one was pondering what to make for dessert. It seemed like everybody was baking this pie nonstop. It was ubiquitous.

Pizza, Part IV: Baking

In winter, we bake pizzas in the oven on a pizza stone; in the summer, we prefer cooking it on the Green Egg. Here’s how it goes:

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.

Pizza, Part II: the Tomato Sauce

While the dough is rising, we have enough time to make the tomato sauce and prep the toppings.

Traditionally, the sauce would be made with fresh skinned and seeded tomatoes, but I haven’t yet come across the tomatoes in Seattle that would inspire me to make sauce out of them. Even during the tomato season, I find local tomatoes either not meaty and sweet enough for the sauce or super expensive to use for it. The latter I would better eat fresh!

Pizza, Part I: the Dough

I’m a big fan of pizza and have been perfecting my recipe for a long time. Still haven’t reached the ideal, but getting close with practice.  

Puff Pastry Turnovers with Lamb and Curried Potato Fillings

Despite all my proclaimed love to cooking from scratch, I have no problem with occasional semi-homemade cooking, i.e. using some commercial foods like cooked beans, frozen puff pastry or fresh pasta when I don’t have time to make them myself.

For these turnovers, I used good quality store bought puff pastry from Aussie Bakery, which saved at least a couple of hours of my time while giving very satisfying results. For the fillings, I used ground lamb, sautéed with fenugreek and mashed potatoes with curry powder and green peas.