Food and Crafts for All Occasions

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.

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.  

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.

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.