Winter salad

Winter salad

Today I'll tell you Russian recipe about salad, we call it "Winter". I think it is the most favourite Russian salad and we cook it on especial days. At the same time you can cook it with no problems, very easily.

Ingredients: 4 eggs, 5 potatoes, 4 sausages or ham, 3-4 pickled cucumbers, tinned green peas (as much as you wish), finely cut 1 onion clove, mayonnaise, salt and pepper to your taste.

Step 1: Dice eggs, potatoes, sausages or ham, cucumbers, cut onion fine. Combine it together.

Step 2: Add tinned green peas.
Step 3: Season salad with salt and pepper.
Step 4: At the end add mayonnaise and mix prudently.


It is great! Cook it!

Cheese cakes

Cheese cakes

Today I had a guest, she is my old friend. We haven't seen each other a long time because she studies in another city (and another country) - Omsk (Russia) and comes here very rarely. She likes cheese more than any other food and can eat it every time, she likes any dish if it contains cheese. So, I decided to rejoice her and cook some dishes with cheese. At first, I'll tell you about cheese cakes…

Ingredients for dough:
250 g flour
150 g butter
180 g grated hard cheese
½ tsp. baking soda
100 ml cream
½ tsp. salt
yolks from two eggs

For decoration: poppy-seeds, sesame, caraway-seeds

Step 1: combine butter, grated hard cheese, add cream and salt, than mix it with bolted flour and baking soda. Make dough.


Step 2: now divide made dough into 3 parts, every of each one wrap in a foil and place into refrigerator for 2 hours.
Step 3: Over 2 hours take out one part from refrigerator, roll it out as a layer (thickness 6mm) and smear it with whipped yolks.


Step 4: Sprinkle this dough layer with poppy-seeds and cut out by means of forms of different shapes like circles, hearts, stars and so on.


Step 5: Take out second part from refrigerator and do the same as first; smear this layer with sesame. Third part of cakes decorate with caraway-seeds;
Step 6: Lay out cakes on baking tray. Bake it during 10-15 minutes in temperature 220-230oC.


I advise you to try it!

Wait next recipe tomorrow…

Mants

Mants

Today, I'll introduce you a recipe for mants - excellent combination of meat and dough. It is traditional dish of people Central Asia, but Russians cook it in their own way (little difference). Mants are relatives of Italian ravioli. Usually, we cook this dish on high days and holidays.

Ingredients for dough:
flour - 1 ½ cup
water - 1/3 cup
1 egg
kefir or plain yoghurt - ¾ cup
salt - 1/2 tsp.

Ingredients for filling:
Beef or pork (you use both) - 500 g
onion - 3 cloves
slab bacon - 2 tbsp.

Step 1: Combine flour, yoghurt (kefir), egg, salt and water - make dough. Unroll from it long plait and divide it into equal parts about 20 g. Roll out these parts into circles but make edges thinner than centre;


Step 2: Make or buy minced meat. In the right way, you must cut meat yourself into small pieces - than dish will be unbelievable savoury. Add to minced meat finely diced onion, a little cold water, season salt and pepper and mix it very thoroughly. For better taste, add garlic and fine chopped greens of parsley and fennel.

Step 3: Forming mants: put our meat filling to the centre of dough circles and nip dough edges as shown in figure.


Step 4: Ready mants put on greased layers of steamer and cook about 35-40 minutes.

Step 5: Cooked mants serve with sour-cream or slice of butter.


Bon appetite!