Category Archives: Recipes

Shashlik ~ Barbecued Lamb Kebobs

1 leg of lamb de-boned
3 large onions sliced
Juice from 4 lemons mixed with 1/2 cup olive oil and 4 cloves of garlic crushed.
Lawry’s Seasoning Salt and pepper

Cut the lamb in pieces about 1-1/2 inches thick to 2 inches square. Trim off excess fat. Place a layer of onions in a large pot, then a layer of meat, season with Lawry’s and pepper, then sprinkle with lemon juice oil mixture. Repeat layers until all meat is in the pot ending with onions and lemon juice mixture. Cover and let stand in refrigerator for at least 4 hours or better overnight, stirring occasionally to let all the meat marinate thoroughly.

After the meat is done marinating, separate the meat from the onions. Thread the meat onto skewers, and broil outdoors over hot charcoal embers, turning the skewers occasionally to brown the meat on all sides. Now for the modern method you could use those fish cages to put the meat in and BBQ it on your gas grill. This is a lot simpler by far, but some swear by the old school method.

Serve with rice pilaf and a cucumber, tomato, onion salad.

Growing up when we were part of the Russian Molokan Church I remember the all church picnics we had at Brookside Park in Pasadena where there were several open grills cooking this wonderfully marinated lamb. So suculant, so yummy. We’d have rice and salads with it. What a highlight of the year those picnics were! For special family gatherings my father is the one who marinates and barbeques the lamb.

Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Bars with Chocolate/Butterscotch Topping

To make these wonderful bars you will need 1 cup sugar, 1 cup Karo Light Corn Syrup, 1 cup Creamy Peanut Butter, 6 cups Rice Krispies, 1 cup Butterscotch Chips and a cup of Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips. Bring 1 cup sugar and 1 cup karo light syrup just to a boil mixing well. Take off heat and add 1 cup peanut butter and mix till smooth.

Add 6 cups Rice Krispies and mix till all the krispies are coated well.

Put this mixture into a well greased 9×12 pan and press down evenly into the pan. Empty both cups of chips into a microwaveable bowl and microwave at 3-30second intervals, mixing well after each 30 seconds. Mix together till smooth. (You can use the double boiler method to melt your chips if you prefer). Pour entire mixture on top of the pressed down Rice Krispies and spread to cover.

Give it some time to cool and set then cut and serve. Enjoy!

Recipe Round-Up ~ Summer Salads ~ Applesauce-Raspberry Jello

 Applesauce-Raspberry Jello

1 – 3oz. pkg. raspberry jello
1   cup hot water
1 – 10oz. pkg. frozen raspberries
1 – Cup applesauce
1 – Cup sour cream
1 – Cup miniature marshmallows

Dissolve Jello in hot water. Add frozen raspberries and blend carefully. Add applesauce. Pour into 9-inch square pan. Chill until set. Combine sour cream and marshmallows and spread over top of set Jello. Cover and Chill. Serves 6-8. I have doubled this recipe and put it in a 9 x 13 pan. Refreshingly cool salad!

Now for more great salad recipes head on over to Violet’s at Promptings.

June Recipe Round-Up ~ Desserts ~ Praline Brie

 Praline Brie ~ serves six

Ingredients:
1 – 8 inch wheel of brie cheese
2 – tablespoons butter
4 – tablespoons brown sugar
1 – cup pecans, chopped (walnuts would work well also)

crackers
fresh fruit

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

Place brie on a baking sheet. Bake until soft, 15 to 20 minutes. Melt butter in a small saucepan. Add brown sugar and stir until dissolved. Stir in pecans. Place brie on a serving tray and pour pecan mixture over, letting it dribble over sides. Serve surrounded by crackers and fresh fruit such as sliced apples and pears, strawberries and grapes.

This recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks, Simply Classic ~ The Junior League of Seattle. I have had success with every recipe I’ve attempted from this book.

 

Avocado and Jicama Salsa ~ Tyler Florence

 

This salsa is really good. I’ve made it as an appetizer for a few dinner parties and everyone enjoyed it. Thanks to Tyler Florence for his recipe.

You’ll need to make the Chimichurri sauce a couple hours before you start getting your salsa ingredients diced and cubed…

Avocado and Jicama Salsa

4 ripe tomatillos, husked, rinsed and diced
1 medium jicama, peeled and cubed
2 avocados, peeled and cubed
1/2 red onion, sliced
6 red grape tomatoes, halved

To prepare the salsa: Toss together the tomatillo, jicama, avocado, red onion and grape tomatoes. Pour half the chimichurri sauce into the salsa and toss to gently to coat. Serve with chips.(You can use the other half of the chimichurri sauce to marinate steaks before you BBQ them).

Chimichurri:
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 jalapeno, minced
1/2 lime, juiced
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley leaves
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro leaves
1 teaspoon kosher salt

To prepare the chimichurri: combine garlic, jalapeno and lime in small bowl. Whisk in vinegar and olive oil. Stir in parsley and cilantro. Add salt, cover and let stand 2 hours to allow flavors to marry.

To see some other salsa or guacamole recipes go to the Hutch and What Matters Most.

http://www.henrysmarkets.com/content/avocado.jpg

http://www.texmex.net/Graphics/tomatillos.gif

http://img.timeinc.net/cooking/flavorprofiles/jicama2_m.jpg

Ht: Television Food Network

Vinegrette ~ Russian Salad

Happy Birthday to my sister Kathy today May 23rd! You’ve been a wonderful daughter, sister, friend, wife, mother and grandmother. May God bless you richly all the days of your life on this earth!

Her version of this Russian Salad is posted below.

Kathy’s Vinegrette Recipe (cut recipe in half for smaller families)

Although the Russian name for this salad is Vinegrette it shouldn’t be confused with the salad dressings called Vinaigrette. This was a traditional salad that we enjoyed growing up. It could be our version of potato salad. I’m sharing an easier version using canned beets but you can also cook and julienne your own beets. The photo is my sister Lana’s.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cans (15oz.) julienne beets (partly drained)
  • 2 cans (15oz.) kidney beans (drained well)
  • 3/4 – 1 cup sauerkraut (drained and squeezed)
  • 3 boiled potatoes
  • 3 large kosher dill pickles, diced
  • 1/4 onion, grated
  • vegetable oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • pickle juice from the jarred dill pickles

Method:

  1. Dice potatoes while warm then salt and coat with oil and chill.
  2. Once the potatoes are chilled add the remaining ingredients and toss to combine, add enough pickle juice to taste.
  3. Chill until ready to serve.
  4. Serves 8-16

Our family prefers using the Clausen Dill Pickles found in the refrigerator section. You will find some versions of this Russian salad using carrots and not kidney beans. This is the version our family has always enjoyed.

This is such a colorful salad, it goes well with meat of any kind. At our house it goes with lamb or a juicy steak or sometimes all by itself. Simple, pretty and delicious! Bon Appetit!

Borsch

Many Borsch recipes include beets in them. The familiar Borsch that we grew up with and that we had at Molokan Church Meals did not have beets in it. Here is my mother’s recipe.

Nadia’s Borsch

For the Stock:
1 Chuck Roast (with bone would be good)
1 onion
1-3 celery stalks with leaves
2-3 carrots
2 bay leaves
5-10 peppercorns
Salt to taste

In a big stock pot, cover chuck roast with good water. Add all the stock ingredients and bring to boil. Lower heat to simmer. Simmer until roast is fork tender. Strain the stock. Reserve the roast.

1 head of cabbage shredded (green is what we use)
1-3 carrots grated
1-2 onions diced
1 bell pepper diced

2-3 stalks of celery diced

(saute the bell pepper, onion, celery and jalapeno then blend before adding to stock)
2-3 potatoes diced
2 cans stewed tomatoes blended in blender (we have those that don’t like chunky tomatoes)
1 can tomato sauce
1/2-small bunch of dill (to taste)
1 handful of chopped italian parsley
salt and pepper to taste
optional – 1 can of Garbonzo beans
option #2 – add a small jalapeno diced to the saute group above.

Put the strained broth back into a stock pot. Add all the above ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer until cabbage and carrots are tender. Taste and see if the soup needs more salt or pepper at this time.

The Borsch is ready now.

My mother doesn’t include this in her recipe but when she made borsch at my house once I saw her add a half a cube of unsalted butter at the end. 🙂 My mother mashes most of the potatoes to thicken up the soup a bit.

You can bake the chuck roast with a little of the stock, salt, pepper, and sauteeed onions to serve alongside the borsch with a good loaf of bread and of course…sour cream. This was my welcome home meal for my kids last night.

 

Russian Noodle Soup ~ Lopsha

This soup (Lopsha) is made in huge quantities for Molokan Church Dinners. I have recipes to serve 200-250 people. They make their own noodles using 20 dozen eggs, 60 lbs. flour and 1 lb. salt, then make a stock from 35 lbs. of soup bones and 350 lbs of choice (kosher) beef. Usually Lopsha is served at funerals and Borscht (recipe coming soon) is made for Weddings. This is basic Russian Peasant Village Fare. I’m giving you a very simple quick recipe that you should enjoy. My family is not Molokan (we left the church in the ’60’s) We still have relatives and friends that are a part of this group.

All you’ll need is store bought (or home made) Chicken Broth and Jewish very fine egg noodles. ( Manischewitz or similar)

Bring the broth to a boil.

Add as many noodles as you like, but remember they expand while cooking. When the noodles are cooked the Lopsha is ready. Adjust your noodles as to how thick you like your Lopsha. If your soup gets too thick for your liking just add some more broth.

If you want a little more interest in the soup you can add cubed potatoes and carrots to the broth to cook them before you add the noodles. If you want those carrots and potatoes to be a lot tastier saute them in a little olive oil, salt and pepper before you add them to the broth.  Happy memories! If you want to see more yummy food, see what my mom was doing while I was making Lopsha, over at my sister’s blog.

The Molokans also make Maloshni Lopsha (Milk noodles) This recipe serves 30-40 people. Cut it down for your purposes. This Soup comes from my Recipes of San Francisco Russian Molokans cookbook that “Dear” and I received as a wedding gift in 1974.

 

Maloshni Lopsha (Milk noodles)

1-1/2 gallons milk

1 quart half and half

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. sugar

1-1/2 “chashki” noodles (about 5 LARGE handfuls)

Using a 2-1/2 gal. double boiler (another good reason to cut the recipe…who has a 2-1/2 gallon double boiler??), heat the milk and half and half till it forms bubbles. DO NOT LET IT BOIL. Now add the salt and sugar and stir well. Start adding the noodles, a handful at a time, stirring often. Simmer gently for 1/2 hour. Turn flame off and cover. Let stand in double boiler till it thickens (about 30-45 min.) and serve.

HT: Recipes of San Francisco Russian Molokans (for Maloshni Lopsha) , Bagdanov Family Recipes for Easy Lopsha

Blintzes

This is Nadia, she’s not making blintzes here. This was a photo from the 80’s in Wildomar for our Easter gathering.

Nadia’s  Blintzes

6 eggs
4 cups whole milk
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. sugar
1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 Tbsp. oil

Scald the milk. Beat the eggs. Slowly add the milk to the eggs while continuing beating. Add salt, sugar and oil, beat until blended. Slowly beat in the flour until combined.

I use two 10″ heavy Teflon pans to cook the blintzes. You might want to just start with one till you get this process down. Heat the pan. Coat the pan lightly with oil. (I use a piece of cheesecloth to coat the pan with oil and if needed I’ll coat again into the cooking process). Use a 1/3 cup measure to dip into the mixing bowl (you don’t have to fill to the top just use a uniform measure of the liquid for each blintz) Pour into frying pan and swirl the pan to coat the bottom evenly.

 

Cook until the blintz turns a nice golden brown. With a spatula loosen the edges and flip the blintz and brown on the other side. Remove from pan and let cool on a dish cloth.

Repeat the process. Sometimes the only hindrance to these flipping and cooking well is the temperature of the pan. You’ll have to experiment to get it at the magic temp. Start at medium.  After the blintzes are cooled you can stack them. They can be frozen at this time if you would like. This recipe will make approximately 24 blintzes.

 

Cheese filling for the blintzes:
1- cartons of ricotta cheese (8 oz. size)
(You can also use cottage cheese, hoop cheese or farmers cheese)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1-2 tbsp. sugar.
you will also need a small carton of half and half and a stick of butter (1/2 cup)

Beat all the ingredients till smooth except half and half and stick of butter. Spread about 1 Tablespoon of cheese onto one side of blintz. Roll up and place in a 9×13 baking dish. They can be layered. Melt one cube of butter and pour over the blintzes. Bake in 350 degree oven until heated through. Heat up to 8 oz. of Half and Half until is is warm but not boiling. Pour half and half over blintzes to cover and continue baking until half and half boils. Remove from oven and serve with sour cream and preserves or syrup.

For a savory filling:

Saute 1 large onion in oil and season with salt and pepper. Add 1 lb. hamburger (15%) and brown. Add salt and pepper to taste. Dice enough broccoli to make 2 cups. Steam until broccoli just turns bright green. Combine meat, broccoli and 1 can of cream of mushroom soup and heat through. Scoop about 2-3 T of mixture onto blintz and fold in the sides to form a square. Place in a baking dish. Melt butter and poor over the filled blintzes. Bake in a 350 to 375 degree oven until heated through. Serve and if you want to make additional sauce you can serve extra sauce with the savory blintzes. Oh I almost forgot, you can serve these with sour cream if you’d like, also. Enjoy Deena!

HT: Bagdanov Family Cookbook