Siberian Pelmeni

OK, I think I'm going to put the pasta attachment for KitchenAid mixers on my birthday and Christmas wish lists! I love the taste of the homemade pasta I made for tonight's dish, but would have loved to make it nice and thin. All in all though, I did a decent job rolling out the dough for these ravioli by hand.

The original pelmeni recipe says to make a half recipe of noodle dough, but didn't provide that recipe. So, I found this one for egg noodles and it worked well. Also, I didn't assemble tiny ravioli like the original cook(s) must have, since they said the recipe would yield 48 pelmeni!

The half-recipe of dough gave me enough pasta for 10 large ravioli, but I ended up with extra filling. Ten ravioli are plenty for our two-person household, but if you're feeding more people, make the full dough recipe and use all the filling.

Honestly, the ravioli are tasty but not very exciting on their own. It's the condiments that make this dish special. Instead of serving the ravioli in bowls of beef broth, which is an alternate preparation described in the original recipe, we opted for the second suggestion and enjoyed our pelmeni drizzled with a little melted butter and malt vinegar and dipped in mustard and low-fat sour cream. Now, that's unique! And, absolutely delicious.

Here's how I made them:

Pasta
1¼ cups flour
1 egg, beaten
½ Tbsp butter, melted
¼ cup milk
Pinch of salt

Blend the ingredients together, adding extra milk a teaspoon at a time, if needed. Knead the dough for a few minutes until smooth, then set it aside and let it sit for about 10 minutes while you prepare the filling.

Filling

Oil/butter/margarine

1 onion, finely diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

½ lb ground meatloaf mix

Salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

1 tsp hot sauce

Sauté the onion and garlic in the oil over medium-high heat till they're soft and golden. Add the meat and seasonings and par-cook only slightly, just to ensure the filling will be completely cooked.

Roll out the dough as thinly as you can, preferably to about an eighth of an inch. Cut out the ravioli using a 3" diameter cookie cutter (or juice glass). Add about a tablespoon of filling to the center of one circle and top it with another, then crimp the edges using a fork to seal them. Once they're all assembled, cook the ravioli in boiling water till al dente. Serve as described above, and enjoy!

Cook's Note: Since I rarely use fresh pasta, I wasn't sure how long to cook these ravioli. So, I boiled a couple scraps of the pasta dough with them. That way, I could fish them out for a taste test. Worked like a charm!

Sochi 2014

Today, March 1st, the greater Capital Region just completed its first significant snow event since Halloween. Snow reached about a foot at our house, with much higher totals to the north and in the hill towns.

That got me curious about snowfall in Russia. I found a couple stories about snowfall breaking 130-year-old records in St. Petersburg back in 2009, but not much else. But, I did find several updates about progress in constructing the venues for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. (Only 708 days left!) Here are a few highlights.

This past week, competitors including Lindsay Vonn tried out the newly built women's downhill course. Although there was some concern about jumps being too high, the overall opinion was that it's definitely an Olympic caliber venue.

Development of new mountainside villages within the "Olympic Zone" also is under way and a recent report indicates they're being built with sustainability in mind. The Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee, in partnership with Russian Regional Environmental Centre and the Sochi City Administration, are proposing developing these villages in accord with the U.N. global initiative "Agenda for the XXI Century." Some residents of the three villages - Esto-Sadok, Galitsyno, and Chereshnya - also were surveyed for input and feedback.

And, the 2014 mascots recently celebrated their first birthday! To mark the occasion, commemorative postage stamp sheets were issued featuring the three Olympic mascots, the Polar Bear, the Leopard and the Hare, and the two Paralympic mascots, the Ray of Light and the Snowflake.

Lastly, if you'd like to download wallpaper for your computer or mobile device, you can find them here within the official site.

Russian Winter Festival at The Egg

What an amazing concidence! A loyal follower (and active participant!) of this blog contacted me yesterday to make sure I knew that the 4th annual Russian Winter Festival culminates this weekend at The Egg Theater at the Empire State Plaza in downtown Albany. Go figure!?

From noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 3rd, you can enjoy traditional food including blini, music, costumes, crafts, art, exhibitions, films, a Tchaikovsky piano competition, poetry recital and more! Event sponsors are the New Russia Cultural Center, WAMC-Northeast Public Radio, Capital Repertory Theater and Magic of Music Studio.

It's supposed to be rainy all day on Saturday, so if you live in the greater Capital Region, then why not expand your "understanding and appreciation of Russian folk art, traditions and culture." Admission is $7 for adults, $3 for children ages 5 to 12, and free for children ages 4 and under.

Salmon Kulebiaka

This meal felt so elegant, we used the Limoges!

This is an EXQUISITE dish that takes a fair amount of time to prep, but the payoff is entirely worth your effort. I decided to try puff pastry instead of bread dough, which the original recipe used, and it added such rich flavor and crunchy, delicate texture that I highly recommend you do the same. The salmon comes out moist and flaky, and the fresh dill – both in the kulebiaka and the sauce – is wonderful. Please, don't skip the sauce. It's that bit of decadence that puts this recipe over the top. Whether you’re entertaining friends or celebrating a Tuesday, this dish will suit any occasion. 

Here’s how I made it:

One sheet of puff pastry dough, thawed

Filling:

Oil/butter/margarine

¾ cup brown rice, prepared as directed and cooled

1½ cups onion, finely diced

1 cup mushrooms, diced

2-3 lbs salmon filets, skinned and cut to uniform thickness

1 cup fresh dill, finely chopped

5 hard-boiled eggs, separated and finely diced

Salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Glaze:

1 egg

1 Tbsp skim milk

Sauce:

2 Tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped

½ cup butter

2 Tbsp white wine

Preheat the oven to 350°.

In a skillet over medium-high heat, sauté the onions and mushrooms in the oil till soft and golden, about 5 minutes.

On floured surface, roll out the dough into a rectangle roughly 18”x15”. Trim edges neatly, and keep the scraps of dough. Transfer the dough onto a large baking sheet. As you add the layers of ingredients, season as desired with salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

Spread rice along the one half of the dough (lengthwise), leaving a 1” border on the long edge and two short ends. Top the rice with the mushroom-onion mixture, then the salmon, dill, egg yolks and egg whites.

Lift the edges of dough up around the filling layers. Beat the egg and milk, then brush the glaze onto those edges. Fold remaining pastry over filling; overlap the edges and fold under gently.

Using the scraps of dough, decorate the kulebiaka with shapes, braids or other trimmings, adhering them to the loaf with some glaze. (The original recipe suggests holly leaves with diced red pepper for berries, perfect during the Christmas season.) Refrigerate, lightly covered, for about an hour. Set the remaining glaze aside.

When you’re ready to bake, brush the kulebiaka with the leftover glaze and bake for 40-45 minutes or till golden brown.

While the kulebiaka rests for a few minutes, heat the sauce ingredients, adding the dill just before serving.

Cook’s Note: If you’re using traditional bread dough, like in the original version, then increase the oven temp to 400°. Also, the sauce in the original recipe contains lemon juice, but I omitted it in favor of a creamier taste.

Maslenitsa

Yesterday marked the end of Maslenitsa or "Pancake Week" in Russia, a week-long annual festival similar to many celebrations worldwide that take place in the final days before the start of the Lenten season.

Photo: en.wikipedia.org

What was once a pagan custom marking the vernal equinox and casting off winter's chill has been adopted by the Eastern Orthodox religion and turned into a final feast before the requisite fasting begins. The strict Lenten diet forbids meat and dairy during the seven-week period leading up to Orthodox Easter.

Maslenitsa is derived from the Russian word for butter, "maslo," which is a popular topping for the pancakes. Other toppings and fillings include caviar, sour cream, jam, meat, cheese and so on. The pancakes are said to represent the sun, being warm, round and yellow. Here are a few recipes from foodperestroika.com.

Other events take place throughout the week, as well, including group fist fights to commemorate the country's military history, the building and "storming" of an ice fort, theater and puppet shows, music and dancing, performing bears. The celebration culminates with a bonfire, including the burning of a life-sized straw doll to bid winter a final farewell.

Here's a fun video by RT in Moscow, Russia's first 24/7 English-language news network, which features many scenes of the stalls, performances and - most importantly - the pancakes in Gorky Park.

Pirozhki

I absolutely love pirozhki! Once you read this recipe, you'll crave them. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time or grab some extra hands to help. Making the dough, letting it rise, rolling it out, this all takes quite a bit of time. You probably could get away with using premade dough, but trust me - the rich eggy bread in this recipe is worth the effort.

This recipe makes 25 pirozhki of each filling, but you also could make larger rolls, which would probably be just as good. Here's how I made them:

Dough
1 envelope dry yeast, dissolved in ¼ cup warm water
4 cups flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
¼ cup butter at room temperature
2 eggs
1 cup milk

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Add the dissolved yeast and butter and mix well, then stir in the milk and eggs. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead till soft and well blended. Form a ball, return it to the bowl, cover it and let it rise for about 40 minutes. Then, roll the dough into 1" balls and cover them with a damp cloth or papertowels while you work.

Meat Filling
Oil/butter/margarine
1 lb beef/pork meatloaf mix
1 onion, finely diced
Flat-leaf parsley, minced

Preheat oven to 400°. Saute the onions in the oil over medium high heat till golden. Add the meat and brown completely. Mix in the parsley right before you form the pirozhki.

Egg Filling
Combine the following:
2 bunches scallions, finely diced
5 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
Flat-leaf parsley, minced

Roll each dough ball relatively thin and fill with 1 Tbsp of the meat filling. Fold over each edge and place on a greased cookie sheet, seam side down. Repeat till the meat is gone. Brush the rolls with a beaten egg (thinned with water, if needed). Bake for 20 minutes till golden brown.

Repeat this process with the egg filling, and back at the same temp for the same amount of time.

Week #6: Russia

Доброе утро! [DO-bray OO-tra] (Good morning!)

This week, we're traveling 5,800 miles northeast to Russia! Because Russia sits so far to the north and endures very long, cold winters, most meals there are designed to boost energy. That translates to dishes that are high in carbohydrates and fat but low in protein. 

Matryoshka (nesting doll)

One of my favorite restaurant meals growing up was Chicken Kiev, a chicken breast pounded thin, sometimes breaded, and wrapped around a knob of cold, herbed garlic butter. It's so simple, yet truly decadent! That won't be one of my "official" Russian recipes for the week, but I might have to make it anyway. Sometime soon, for sure...

Two of the most popular dishes in Russia are pirozhki and pelmeni, and I'll be preparing both this week. Much to my delight, meatloaf mix is on sale this week at Price Chopper and both recipes call for it. How fortunate! 

I actually have another busy week on the docket, so I'm making the pirozhki today! They are small, baked bread rolls stuffed with various fillings, both sweet and savory. Both my versions will be savory, and the recipe makes a ton of them, so I'll be taking a bunch to work tomorrow for sure. 

Pelmeni are meat-filled ravioli, so I'm going to tackle homemade pasta for the first time! That will probably happen later in the week, most likely Friday or Saturday.

We had some salmon the freezer, so for my third meal I found a wonderful recipe that layers fish, veggies, rice and more inside pastry dough. In a way, it sounds to me like Russia's version of stromboli or garbage bread! But, I have something special in mind for this dish to make it even more elegant. So, stay tuned.

It's bound to be a fascinating journey, and I'm honored you'll be joining me.

За здоровье! [za zda-ROV-ye] (To health!)

Dominican Republic: In The News

This past week was a busy one for me, and I apologize for not posting on the days I didn't cook. To make amends, here are a few stories about the Dominican Republic that have recently made the news.

The Dominican Student Association at Utah State University (USU) held its 4th annual "Areito" on February 18th. A "cultural celebration of the Dominican Republic expressed through dance, music and food" designed to promote "intercultural connectivity," the event also included a religious performance by Tribu InDependient, a group of Dominican students from different Christian denominations. The event's name comes from a traditional dance often performed on Dominican Independence Day, February 27th.

Priscilla Gomez, Miss Bavaro Caribe, competed this month against 40 other women in the 2012 International Carnival Queen Pageant in Curaçao. The winner? Yasmin dos Santos Lima from Cape Verde. (You'll see the announcement at about 5 minutes in.)


The Dominican Republic Ministry of Tourism has launched a new, multi-channel marketing campaign that uses social media terminology as a metaphor for sharing the experience of a trip to the island. Magaly Toribio, Vice Minister of International Promotion, explains that a DR vacation should be "a status update, both literally and in the Facebook sense."


And finally, the newly minted Miami Marlins are having trouble getting their reliever Juan Carlos Oviedo to Spring Training camp due to immigration problems. Haven't heard of him? That's because he played with them during the last three seasons under the name Leo Nunez. Oviedo falsified his name and age when he was younger so that he could play professional baseball in America.

Ham & Plantain Casserole

Sweet, salty, cheesy goodness. 

Easter is coming and if you're planning to serve ham, then this dish is perfect for your leftovers. We had some in the freezer from Christmas that needed eating and we’re in love with plantains, so I was thrilled to find a couple recipes that use both ingredients.

One Dominican recipe rolls them with cheese into an hors d’oeuvres, and a Dominica recipe (another Caribbean island, situated about 625 miles to the southeast) uses similar rolls with a cheesy béchamel sauce in a baked dish.

I decided to combine aspects of both recipes into my own layered casserole. I guess this isn’t a truly authentic Dominican dish, but it’s darn close. And, it's DELICIOUS! This definitely isn't a flavor combination that we're accustomed to, but it absolutely works - a wonderful blend of salty and sweet. This recipe serves 4 to 6, and here’s how I made it:

2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp flour

3 ripe plantains, sliced into coins

2 cups leftover baked ham, cut into rough pieces

1 tsp Dijon mustard

Pinch of ground nutmeg

Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

1 cup fat-free half-and-half

6 oz grated cheese

Cover the bottom of an 8"x8" casserole dish with a single layer of plantain coins, top them with a layer of ham and then repeat both layers.

In a saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the butter, stir in the flour and cook for a minute or two. Whisk in the half-and-half, mustard and nutmeg. Bring to a boil and then add the cheese. Stir constantly till the cheese melts and the sauce thickens. 


Cook's Note: The kind of cheese you use really makes a difference in this dish. I used queso fresco, which I've always wanted to try, but it's not a good melting cheese that browns nicely and binds the layers together. If you want this recipe to be more like a lasagna, then I'd suggest a blend of cheddar or Manchego and mozzarella, or something similar.

Pour the sauce over the casserole. Bake in a 375° preheated oven for about 15 minutes till the sauce is bubbly. Allow the dish to rest for a few minutes before serving.

Servir y disfrutar! (Serve and enjoy!)

Pollo Guisado

Tonight, we made one of the Dominican Republic's most popular dishes. According to my cookbook, Extending the Table: Recipes and Stories from Argentina to Zambia in the spirit of More-with-Less, this is one of the recipes that every young Dominican learn how to make. Variations abound using alternate protein like pork, beef, fish - even goat. But, as I mentioned, we had pollo (chicken) in the freezer, so pollo it is!

Guisado means stew, but this dish comes together in a snap. The meat should marinate for about an hour, if possible, but after that it's not long till dinner time. Typically, it's served with rice and beans. We had some leftover rice from Saturday's feast, so we reheated that but skipped the beans.

Let me just say, smelling the ingredients as I mixed them together to marinade, I knew this meal was going to be delicious and it definitely didn't disappoint.

Here's how I made it:

3 large chicken breasts, cut into chunks
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 small onions, diced
1 bell pepper, sliced into strips
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (you can also use vinegar)
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp dried cilantro
1 bay leaf
2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
Pinch of ground allspice
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Mix all ingredients and allow to marinate for an hour, if possible. When you're ready to cook, heat some oil in a Dutch oven or large saucepan and add 1 tsp brown sugar. Brown the meat (not the rest of the marinade ingredients) in batches, if needed to get good color. Then, add the marinade ingredients along with a 15 oz can of tomato sauce, cover and cook till the meat is done. Garnish each serving with a handful of roughly chopped green olives.

Delicioso!