Food and Crafts for All Occasions

Tomato Bisque with Cinnamon and Fresh Dill

Despite being a huge fan of soups in general, I've always felt indifferent toward cream soups. Mostly because of their quite monotonous, smoothie-like texture with nothing to chew on.

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.

Baked Eggs, aka Shirred Eggs, aka Oeuf en Cocotte

When it comes to breakfast, Ilya's and mine first choice is always eggs. Simply boiled – hard-boiled to eat with mayo or soft-boiled to spoon out. Sunny side up or over easy on a bed of slowly sautéed onions. Scrambled with hot peppers and ham. Poached in spicy tomato sauce, Shakshuka style.

Today I'd like to share with you another favorite recipe of ours - baked eggs (sometimes also referred to as shirred eggs). In France, this dish is known as oeuf en cocotte. Everything sounds so much cuter in French, doesn't it?

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!

Tomato Season: Two Favorite Salads

Tomatoes are my most favorite veggies and the only edible plant (besides cooking herbs) that we grow in our yard. We don’t have much of a planting space around the house, but whatever little we have Ilya turned into very tall raised beds. Which is perfect for tomatoes because, as those of you who grow tomatoes know, the deeper you plant tomatoes, the larger the root system, and the larger the root system, the larger the tops of the plants. And the larger the tops, the more tomatoes you’re going to harvest.

We usually plant cherry and grape tomatoes simply because Seattle summer is quite short and other kinds may not have enough time to mature and ripen to perfection. Our cherry tomatoes always turn out great and taste like little sugar bombs, as our neighbor and friend calls 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!

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.

Korean Carrots

First of all, I have to explain what this salad has to do with Korea because you wouldn't find this dish in Korean restaurants either here or in South Korea. Only in Russia or the countries that once were USSR republics.  

Do Chua, Vietnamese Sweet Pickled Daikon and Carrots

To continue the tasty theme of Asian style pickles, here’s another great recipe for you. Do chua is Vietnamese daikon and carrot pickles that are served alongside a variety of dishes, in salads and in famous Banh Mi sandwiches.

Sautéed Eggplants with Soy Sauce, Rice Vinegar, Garlic and Dill

I don’t know what took me so long to post my best-loved eggplant recipe. I’ve been cooking it quite often for the last ten years and every time I’m amazed all over again how delicious it is. The recipe takes almost no time and effort to make, so all you busy bees out there can easily cook it on a weekday night.

Blistered Shishito Peppers with Garlic Aioli

With all the holidays and then my B-day, I have completely abandoned my blog.

Well, I'm back now with my new favorite appetizer – blistered shishito peppers with garlic aioli.

Shishito peppers are slender and relatively small peppers with a mild flavor. In Seattle, you can buy them at Uwajimaya. They can be substituted with Spanish padron peppers, which have similar taste, but are shorter and rounder and look more like miniature green bell peppers.

Russian Style Wild Mushroom Gratin, aka 'Julienne'

Mushroom julienne is a dish made with sautéed mushrooms (preferably, wild) combined with sour cream or béchamel sauce and baked in small individual ramekins or cocottes under a cheese crust. It's one of those treats, eating of which is always accompanied by joyful moaning and multiple "OMG" exclamations. No exaggeration here!

Julienne is quite rich, so a small serving is enough to enjoy it. It’s served as a hot appetizer and I prefer to eat it with a teaspoon.

Half Sour Pickles

So called “half sour pickles” are little cucumbers that have spent no more than 2-3 days in brining solution. Because of the short brining time the cucumbers don’t get completely pickled, though don’t taste raw anymore either. Half sour pickles are the best of the two worlds - they retain perfect fresh crunch, sweetness and, sometimes, natural green color too, while acquiring light pickled taste and saltiness.  They are a perfect chaser for a shot of ice cold vodka!

Kvashenaya Kapusta, Russian Sauerkraut

Every year somewhere in the mid fall, Ilya and I make a batch of Russian style sauerkraut. It is called Kvashenaya Kapusta and tastes significantly less tart than regular sauerkraut. It is made only of shredded white cabbage, salt and carrots that are tossed together and then the nature does the rest with the lactic acid fermentation. You can eat it as it is, only lightly drizzled with unrefined sunflower oil, or use it for soups, salads, stews, and fillings for dumplings and pies.

In Loving Memory of the Summer Gone Too Fast: A Salad with Avocadoes, Tomatoes, Palm Hearts and Bell Peppers with Cilantro Dressing

Summer is suddenly gone and just like most Seattleites I am not ready to let it go. I’m currently in the denial stage of grief, especially because of the sun peeking out from behind the clouds more and more often and a patch of blue sky here and there becoming larger and larger. A perfect setting for me to pretend that it is as warm and vibrant outside as it was just a month ago.