Tag: new year (Page 1 of 1)
Jellied Beef Tongue
December 30th, 2017 in Appetizers & Snacks by Julia Volhina
This recipe will probably excite these few who either grow up in USSR or have relatives from that country/time.
I am both, and this dish brings a lot of childhood memories of New Year celebrations and other family gatherings.
For the rest of you jellied beef tongue (zalivnoj jazyk, zalivnoe) may be more of an exotic something you may never try, here are some pictures to a look at in case you don’t feel that adventurous to cook it.
Few notes to the recipe. I’ve ended up using more gelatin than the ingredients picture shows, that is because I’ve decided to do more than one plate. Rule of the thumb 1 pack (1/4oz) for about 1 cup of broth.
Second note is about execution: I’ve realized that it may be easier to arrange the decoration pieces when gelatin starts to settle a bit, and not before pouring the broth in (as I did), because broth moves them around :).
Whole Roast Turkey with Couscous Stuffing
November 21st, 2012 in Main Dishes, Turkey by Julia Volhina
I am publishing this recipe earlier than usual schedule, just in case some of you find it interesting enough to cook for your Thanksgiving dinner.
It was my first attempt to prepare a whole roast turkey. And I must say it was a good one: turkey turned out very juicy, by the way I used cranberry sauce from last week post for this recipe.
If you are using turkey bigger than 11lbs, you may need to adjust cooking time and maybe use meat thermometer (which I never can figure out how to use myself) to make sure meat is properly cooked through.
Jellied Meat (Kholodets)
November 10th, 2012 in Appetizers & Snacks, Beef, Chicken, Main Dishes, Pork by Julia Volhina
Another traditional dish of various east and west european cuisines (russian, ukrainian, polish, and many others): jellied meat, also knows as kholodets, studen, dragli, aspic, and many other names.
Main ingredient to successful preparation of jellied meat is using meat with cartilages (hocks, years, tails, etc), without these broth will not jelly (pig or chicken skin helps too).
If broth doesn’t jelly (too less cartilages used) you can dissolve a bit of gelatin in the broth before pouring it to the dish. I don’t like using gelatin, but it can be a fail-safe mechanism if you want to make the dish is ready in time for an important event.
Horseradish and Beets Relish
November 3rd, 2012 in Salads, Sauces & Dips & Spreads by Julia Volhina
Yuriy calls this relish, made of horseradish and beets, Ukrainian wasabi: it is sharp and flavorful and goes great with meat dishes, sausages, jellied meat.
In Ukraine it is often served on Christmas and New Year.
Fresh horseradish can be tricky to handle – vapors may irritate nose and eyes, especially when chopped. That is why using blender or food processor is the best choice here.
Mimosa (Layered Fish Salad)
January 9th, 2010 in Salads by Julia Volhina
Mimosa, as a fish layered salad, is very popular in all countries of ex-USSR. As well as Herring Under Fur Coat and Salad Olivier, Salad Mimosa finds its place on the table for big holiday celebrations, such as New Year, Christmas, birthdays and others.
It is easy and fun to cook, and due to the layered structure of the salad it should be prepared several hours in advance before serving to allow layers to soak. So the good idea would be to assemble the salad a night before you are going to put it on the table.
By the way this salad name – Mimosa – comes from the bright yellow color and a texture of its last layer which looks very similar to the yellow blossoms of the plant called “mimosa” in Russia.
Duck Baked with Apples
August 8th, 2009 in Duck, Main Dishes by Julia Volhina
I find duck dishes somehow not so popular in US. Not every Asian restaurant has duck on the menu, which surprises me a lot as I always thought about ducks being almost national Chinese food.
Maybe it has something to do with the so called “bird flu” which caused the panic a few years ago, or maybe it is related to the fact that duck meat is not considered “healthy” due to the amount of fat it contains, or it could be just because people are too used to see those birds alive on the streets (yes, I live in Columbus, OH and there are tons of ducks and Canadian geese slugging around on every parking lot, as a result I see more ducks on the city streets than on the plates, which would be unbelievable in let’s say Europe 🙂 ).
Nevertheless, I like duck meat. Taste of baked duck with apples reminds me of family celebrations in my childhood, such as New Year or birthdays parties. Fortunately I could find a deeply frozen duckling in the local Kroger. I baked it and, must say, the taste was delicious. So now I can share with you my article about how to prepare Duck Baked with Apples with step-by-step guide and photos included.
Russian Salad (Olivier)
February 22nd, 2009 in Salads by Julia Volhina
Usually people outside of former-USSR call it Russian Salad, however its original name is Salad Olivier.
This salad was and maybe still is the most traditional dish for the home New Year celebration for Russian people, and some other family holidays also. Hope you will like it too.
Different cooks may use slightly different ingredients in the salad, and the taste will vary because of this.
This recipe describes Salad Olivier how it us being prepared in my family.