Tag: appetizer (Page 3 of 4)
Layered Liver Cake
January 28th, 2012 in Appetizers & Snacks by Julia Volhina
Layered liver cake, dish of traditional Ukrainian cuisine, is often served as appetizer on various celebrations, in fact I tried it first time on a wedding.
For this recipe I used chicken liver, but beef liver will work good as well.
Carrots and onions stuffing can be skipped all together – it will decrease cooking time and reduce amount of mayo to be used (since layers will not need that much mayo to stick together). However carrots go great with liver.
How many layers you get from this amount of ingredients depends on the size of the frying pan you use. I think 11” frying pan is the best – not too big not too small. The ideal amount of layers for this recipe is about 12; if you get more split them in half and assemble 2 cakes.
Celery Root Salad with Apples and Eggs
January 14th, 2012 in Salads by Julia Volhina
Knowing me you can probably guess that this tender slaw-like salad made of grated fresh celery root, apples and chopped egg is dressed with mayo.
By the way, celery root here is hardly recognizable: it has nutty taste and (if you are not used to it) tastes nothing like celery stalks, maybe because of apples.
I would define this taste as unusual; if you stumble upon fresh celery root in a store – give it a try, after all celery is known as low-calorie source of dietary fiber.
Crab Sticks Salad with Pickled Mushrooms and Apple
November 19th, 2011 in Salads by Julia Volhina
I didn’t post salad recipes for a while now, so wanted to come up with something special this time.
I chose salad made of surimi crab sticks mixed with tender pickled mushrooms, grated apple, fresh dill and parsley and dressed with ground black pepper and a bit of mayo.
This mix may seem unusual (especially here in US), however it is very popular in post-USSR countries. You can find it under name “Salad Anshlag” in menus.
Some people use boiled mushrooms for this recipe, however I prefer mushrooms pickled following this recipe: they are very easy to do and are less plain than just boiled; but this is a matter of preference.
Homemade Pickled Mushrooms
November 12th, 2011 in Appetizers & Snacks by Julia Volhina
Taste of homemade pickled mushrooms can’t be beaten by any brand from the store. If you pickle mushrooms yourself you can control spiciness and acidity to make sure they taste exactly as you want them to.
Champignon mushrooms are most commonly available that is why I used them, but this marinate will work for edible wild mushrooms: boletuses, honey mushrooms and other edible mushrooms as well. However for wild mushrooms you will need to increase boiling time and maybe change water trough boiling at least once.
Mushrooms pickled this way can be stored in the fridge for long time, if you want to preserve them outside of the fridge – use sealing jars and follow the instructions for proper sealing; however I don’t see a reason to do so: champignons are commonly available in every store and you can pickle them as much as you want without actually sealing into jars.
Russian Zucchini Paste
September 24th, 2011 in Appetizers & Snacks, Main Dishes, No-meat, Sides by Julia Volhina
This is recipe of zucchini paste from my mom: easy to cook, contains only vegetables (zucchini, tomatoes and onions) and is very-very tasty.
I usually eat this paste on bread toast, for breakfast or as a snack; however it is also a nice side dish to help increase vegetable servings in your daily diet.
Zucchini paste can be served warm or cooled down.
Tomatoes Stuffed with Fresh Cheese
July 30th, 2011 in Appetizers & Snacks by Julia Volhina
These campari tomatoes stuffed with fresh quark cheese, chopped greens and garlic can be nice addition to any celebration table or a cookout: they look festive, taste good and can be easily eaten with fingers.
If you can’t find quark cheese (sometimes called farmers cheese, or fresh white cheese, or tvorog in russian) it may work with feta cheese, but I like it more with quark.
Seeds and pulp from tomatoes as well as top parts – once removed – are not needed for this recipe. You can discard them, or use in some other dish.
Many kind of stews and soups would only benefit from fresh tomatoes. I used seeds and juice from this batch to marinate a nice ribeye steak.
Cheese Balls Appetizer
February 12th, 2011 in Appetizers & Snacks by Julia Volhina
Cheese, clove of garlic, a bit of mayo, shredded coconut and about 20 mins of time it is all you need to prepare cheese balls appetizer.
Cheese goes great with wine. So cheese balls are great for wine tasting or wine party.
Cheese balls are finger food and can be served as is or on crackers.